Continuously Programmed Environments
and the Experimental Analysis
of Human Behavior

Continuously programmed environments represent an approach to the study of complete repertoires of human behavior by combining the conceptual framework of experimental analysis with the naturalistic goals of ethological observation. There are many areas of application of behavior analysis that could benefit greatly from research in a programmed environment. For example, the conditions of an employment situation can be simulated in a programmed environment for research on management and performance maintenance (NASA has been interested in simulating working conditions under extended confinement and isolation). Also, drug self-administration and feeding behavior have been studied over extended periods in a programmed environment. No reader interested in complex human behavior is likely to come away from reading this monograph without a sense of excitement about the avenues of experimental exploration made possible by continuously programmed environments. Brady’s work evokes innovative responses from others, as is evident in the breadth of the topics considered by commentators Morris, Logue, and Branch.