Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T01:17:31.020Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Remembering Jay S. Birnbrauer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2018

B. Max Jones ,
Alan Ralph  and
Trevor G. Mazzucchelli Open the ORCID record for Trevor G. Mazzucchelli [Opens in a new window]
B. Max Jones
Affiliation:
Behaviour-Analytic Special-Education Services, Perth, Western Australia
Alan Ralph
Affiliation:
Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Trevor G. Mazzucchelli*
Affiliation:
Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health Research Group, School of Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Trevor G. Mazzucchelli, Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health Research Group, School of Psychology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia6845. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Professor Jay Spencer Birnbrauer peacefully passed away on November 1, 2017, aged 83, in Perth, Western Australia. Known to his friends and colleagues in Australia as ‘Birny’, he was a pioneer of applied behaviour analysis on both the Australian and world stage. He contributed to the development of behaviour-analytic technology for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the 1960s and played a central part in the formation of the Australian Behaviour Modification Association (known today as the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy) in the 1970s. He was a purist in the field of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) and was relentless in his efforts to see ABA being provided to children with a developmental disability and their families. Birny's influence in Australia, and particularly Western Australia, was mainly imparted through his role with the Master of Applied Psychology program at Murdoch University. His most widely known piece of work, the Murdoch Early Intervention Program, was an early and important replication of Lovaas's evaluation of early intensive behavioural intervention for children with autism. Birny contributed significantly to our field and to many people's lives. He is remembered often and fondly by his many friends and colleagues.

Keywords

Applied behaviour analysisDisabilityAutismBehaviourismMurdoch University faculty
Type
Shorter Communication
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 279 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baer, D.M. (1993). A brief, selective history of the Department of Human Development and Family Life at the University of Kansas: The early years. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 569–572.Google Scholar
Baer, D.M., Wolf, M.M., & Risley, T.R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91–97.Google Scholar
Bijou, S.W., & Baer, D.M. (1961). Child Development I: A systematic and empirical theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S. (1963). An application of reinforcement principles to retardate education. The Bulletin, Washington State Division of Mental Health, Division of Institutions, 7, 123–124.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J. (1964). Some multiple schedule effects in retarded adolescents. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 7, 168.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S. (1968). Generalization of punishment effects–a case study. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 201–211.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S. (1985). Two factors are quite enough: A response to Molloy (1984). Behaviour Change, 2, 2–5.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S. (1990). Responsibility and quality of life. In Repp, A.C. & Singh, N.N. (Eds.), Perspectives on the use of nonaversive and aversive interventions for persons with developmental disabilities (pp. 231–236). Sycamore, IL: Sycamore Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S. (1994). The first 20 years of the Australian Behaviour Modification Association. Behaviour Change, 11, 76–81.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S., Bijou, S.W., Wolf, M.M., & Kidder, J.D. (1965). Programmed instruction in the classroom. In Ullmann, L.P. & Krasner, L. (Eds.), Case studies in behavior modification (pp. 358–363). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S., & Leach, D.J. (1993). The Murdoch early intervention program after 2 years. Behaviour Change, 10, 63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birnbrauer, J.S., Wolf, M.M., Kidder, J.D., & Tague, C. (1965). Classroom behavior of retarded pupils with token reinforcement. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2, 219–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.Google Scholar
Horowitz, F.D. (2002). Donald M. Baer remembered. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 313–314.Google Scholar
Lovaas, O.I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.Google Scholar
Morris, E.K. (2012). Sidney W. Bijou: Outstanding (and out standing) in his fields. In Pickren, W.E., Dewsbury, D.A., & Wertheirmer, M. (Eds.), Portraits of pioneers in developmental psychology (pp. 205–227). New York, NY: Taylor and Frances.Google Scholar
Skinner, B.F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar