Murray Sidman

Methodologically, a "Sidman avoidance procedure"[10] is an experiment in which the subject is periodically presented with an aversive stimulus, such as the introduction of carbon dioxide or an electric shock, unless they produce a particular response, such as pulling a plunger, which delays the stimulus by a certain amount of time.[11]

His work on methodology for behavioural psychologists[12] is the standard textbook in its field.[13]

Sidman took his PhD at Columbia in psychology from Columbia University 1952 under the advisorship of William N. Schoenfeld. He has worked at many research institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He served as director of the Behavioral Sciences Department at the E.K. Shriver Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Until his death, he was professor emeritus at Northeastern University.[14] Dr. Sidman has held academic appointments at the University of São Paulo in Brasil, Keio University in Tokyo, Japan and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Sidman initiated the research on stimulus equivalence, and has made important contributions to the field; this is described in Equivalence relations and behavior: A research story.[15] His book Coercion and its fallout[16] is often required reading when discussing ethics and behavior analysis.

Sidman has contributed three major publications to the field of applied behavior analysis. First, his most classic book Coercion and Its Fallout. This book set the groundwork for understand how everyone uses coercion and how to ethically use it to get meaningful behavioral changes. His second book is entitled Equivalence Relations and Behavior: A Research Story. Finally, his third major work is titled Tactics of Scientific Research, which has become a staple for research based psychology.

Dr. Sidman’s publications in peer-refereed journals number close to 100 and have defined much of our current understanding of stimulus control, stimulus equivalence, and avoidance behavior. His 1960 text, Tactics of Scientific Research, is considered the first primer on within- subject research methodology. It is a classic that is still used today. Other contributions have extended to important social problems. The second edition of his book Coercion and Its Fallout was published in 2000, and his treatment of “Terrorism as Behavior” was published in Behavior and Social Issues.

• Experimental analysis of behavior
• Behavior analysis of child development