SOCIAL VALIDITY: THE CASE FOR SUBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT or HOW APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IS FINDING ITS HEART 1

Wolf, Montrose M.

doi:10.1901/jaba.1978.11-203

Cited by 3,176Behavioral and Psychological StudiesPsychology Research and BibliometricsPublishing and Scholarly Communication

SOCIAL VALIDITY: THE CASE FOR SUBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT or HOW APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IS FINDING ITS HEART 1

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Wolf, Montrose M.·1978·Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

DOI 10.1901/jaba.1978.11-203PMC PMC1311293

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Abstract

I apologize, but I must begin making my case for subjective measurement by recounting to you my own experiences with it over the past few years.Almost a decade ago, when the field of applied behavior analysis was beginning to expand so rapidly, we were faced with the task of putting together the Journal of Applied Be- havior Analysis.For a period of several months Garth Hopkins, who was our managing editor, presented us with a series of unexpected deci- sions to make; like: What color should the paper be?And did we need a paper that would hold together for two thousand years or were we willing to live with a shelf-life of only a thousand years?And so on.Just a couple of days before we were sched- uled to go to press with our very first issue, Garth called with one more question."What is the purpose of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis?", he asked.He said we needed to put a description of the purpose on the inside front cover, as one finds in other journals.He needed an answer almost immediately.

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With input from Autistic individuals, intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes are likely to be seen as more acceptable, useful, and effective.
“With input from the most important stakeholders—Autistic individuals themselves—intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes are likely to be seen as more acceptable, useful, and effective (Wolf, 1978)”
From Neurodiversity and Autism Intervention: Reconciling Perspectives Through a Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Framework (2022) · cites this paper as Wolf, 1978
In the social-validity discussion (page unavailable in our copy), Wolf argues for consumer input when judging intervention goals, the acceptability of procedures, and the importance of outcomes. The paper does not address Autistic individuals specifically or establish that obtaining their input makes interventions more acceptable, useful, or effective; it says acceptability may be related to effectiveness. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
If an intervention does not have high social validity, meaning it is not viewed as acceptable, useful, and feasible by deliverers and/or recipients, it is likely to fail.
“if an intervention does not have high social validity, meaning that it is not viewed as acceptable, useful, and feasible by intervention deliverers (e.g., school staff) and/or recipients (e.g., pupils), then it is likely to fail [16, 17].”
From Study protocol for the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) project: A regionally based feasibility trial of an integrated response to suicide risk among UK secondary school pupils (2024) · cites this paper as [17]
The indexed passage labeled Abstract (page not provided) describes social validity in terms of whether participants and caregivers consider procedures acceptable, including their practicality. It says acceptability may be related to effectiveness and adoption, and that participants who dislike treatment may avoid it. The claim’s assertion that an intervention lacking high social validity is likely to fail is stronger than the paper’s qualified account. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors: Wolf, M. M.
Affiliations: University of Kansas (US)
Corresponding author: Wolf, Montrose M.
Venue: Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 1978-06
Volume: 11
Issue: 2
Pages: 203-214
ISSN: 0021-8855 (ISSN-L)
1938-3703
DOI: 10.1901/jaba.1978.11-203
PMC: PMC1311293
OpenAlex: W2020279449
Cited by: 3,176
References: 23
Citations by year: 2026: 135 · 2025: 130 · 2024: 130 · 2023: 165 · 2022: 147 · 2021: 149 · 2020: 114 · 2019: 123 · 2018: 94 · 2017: 94 · 2016: 82 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 93 · 2013: 77 · 2012: 80
FWCI: 64.92
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: bronze
doi.org
Licence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 12690 d)
Locations: Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Publishing and Scholarly Communication
Keywords: social validity, subjective indicators, applied behavior analysis

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SOCIAL VALIDITY: THE CASE FOR SUBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT or HOW APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS IS FINDING ITS HEART 1

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