Bobby Newman

This book reminded me of the choose-your-own-adventure novels I read and wrote when I was just a sprout.

Behavioral Detectives is an excellent book for fresh paraprofessionals, BCaBAs, and BCBAs looking to hone their case problem-solving skills. The book has dozens and dozens of real-life case samples featuring at least one problem: excessive manding, unpredictable aggression, inappropriate touching, etc. After reading the case, you are prompted to ponder what is causing the issue and how to address it before flipping to the back of the book for the solution.

The solutions, while concise, are in-depth, and account for all aspects of a program: assessment, data collection, training, continued evaluation, setting events, etc. Often the author walks through the elimination process, covering multiple possibilities and demonstrating how an experienced behavior analyst handles such issues. The difficulty level ranges from "This is stupid obvious" to "The author is a genius for thinking of that solution; I'm sure would have missed it."

The writing is very clear, although the authors assume a familiarity with behavior analysis, making the book inappropriate for those just learning the basics. The tone is casual, infused with humor, and easy to read.

There were a few minor negatives with the book. The format made it a bit unwieldy to read, constantly flipping back and forth between the front and the back of the book. Perhaps having solutions immediately after the problem, or at the end of the chapter, would have improved accessibility. With the large number of cases, there were a few that were similar enough to be redundant, which should never happen given the huge range of behaviors and issues available to us as behavior analysts.

(This is where I become completely hypocritical and say this book made me want a truly CYOA-style book. "For this case, do you use: Punishment page 81 or Reinforcement page 36. The behavior increases! Do you want to re-do the FA page 45, or turn to page 67 to evaluate staff implementation of the program?)

TL;DR An ABA puzzle book resembling a CYOA novel that is as helpful as it is fun to read.… (plus d'informations)