Association for Behavior Analysis International
An international professional association that advances behavior analysis through research, practice, education, conferences, publications, and professional networking.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) is a nonprofit professional association serving researchers, practitioners, educators, students, and affiliated organizations in behavior analysis. Legally incorporated as the Association for Behavior Analysis Inc., it developed from the MidWestern Association for Behavior Analysis, founded in 1974 to provide an interdisciplinary forum for people whose work was not always readily accommodated by broader psychology conferences. Its first headquarters were located at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The organization adopted the name Association for Behavior Analysis in 1979 and later moved off the university campus in 2002. In 2008 it relocated to nearby Portage and added “International” to its name. ABAI supports the principal domains of behavior analysis: the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and the philosophical, conceptual, and theoretical foundations of the discipline. Its activities span basic and applied research, professional practice, education, clinical and educational intervention, organizational applications, animal behavior, and the dissemination of behavioral science. The association provides an institutional structure through an elected executive council, boards, committees, staff administration, special interest groups, and affiliated chapters. Reference material describes a membership of more than 9,000 people and approximately 28,000 affiliate members, although membership totals may change over time. The association's principal public-facing activities are conferences, journals, professional awards, position statements, task-force reports, and member services. ABAI organizes an annual convention focused on advances in behavior analysis, an annual autism conference, biennial international conferences, and specialist meetings addressing subjects such as behavior theory and philosophy, behavioral economics, education, climate change, substance abuse, and cultural behavior science. It also supports more than 50 special interest groups and roughly 90 national and international affiliated chapters. ABAI publishes six scholarly journals: The Analysis of Verbal Behavior; Behavior Analysis in Practice; Perspectives on Behavior Science, formerly The Behavior Analyst; The Psychological Record; Behavior and Social Issues; and Education and Treatment of Children. It also publishes the newsletter Inside Behavior Analysis. Through these publications and its conferences, the association connects experimental researchers, applied practitioners, teachers, students, and professionals in related fields. The association has issued member-voted statements on effective education and behavioral treatment, facilitated communication, restraint and seclusion, equity, conversion therapy and related practices, support for the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community, and contingent electric skin shock. Its relationship with the Judge Rotenberg Center has been a persistent source of controversy. Critics, including the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, have argued that ABAI gave the center and its representatives a platform and historically recognized legal advocacy connected with the center's use of aversive punishment. In 2022, ABAI members voted for a position statement unconditionally condemning contingent electric skin shock. The issue nevertheless remained contested within the organization and resurfaced through later task-force discussions and conference and continuing-education appearances involving Judge Rotenberg Center personnel. ABAI is financially supported in part by the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, which also helps channel external support for activities associated with behavior analysis. It remains an active international field association rather than a commercial consumer brand, and its influence is primarily institutional: setting professional discourse, facilitating research communication, organizing events, publishing scholarship, and articulating positions on ethically disputed practices.
History
ABAI began in 1974 as the MidWestern Association for Behavior Analysis. Its creation reflected the need for a dedicated interdisciplinary forum for behavior analysts who encountered difficulty presenting behavior-analytic work at general psychology and related conferences. Early participants included Sidney Bijou, James Dinsmoor, Bill Hopkins, and Roger Ulrich. Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo provided the association's first headquarters and an institutional base during its early development. In 1979, the organization changed its name to the Association for Behavior Analysis. During the following decades it developed from a conference-centered professional group into a broader field association supporting research, applied practice, education, publications, organizational networking, awards, and professional policy discussion. Its activities came to encompass the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and conceptual and philosophical behaviorism. The association also created structures for special interest groups, affiliated chapters, committees, and boards. ABAI moved its headquarters away from the Western Michigan University campus in 2002. In 2008 it relocated to Portage, Michigan, and adopted the name Association for Behavior Analysis International, reflecting an expanded international scope. It subsequently supported a large network of members and affiliate members, as well as national and international chapters. Its conference program grew to include an annual convention, autism-focused meetings, biennial international conferences, and specialist conferences on theoretical, educational, cultural, economic, environmental, and clinical topics. Publishing became another central part of the association's identity. ABAI's journal portfolio includes research, theory, professional-practice, social-issues, verbal-behavior, and child-treatment publications. The association also publishes Inside Behavior Analysis and disseminates position statements and task-force reports concerning client and student rights, evidence, professional ethics, and disputed interventions. ABAI's history has also included sustained controversy about aversive interventions and its relationship with the Judge Rotenberg Center. Critics have objected to the center's participation in ABAI conferences and to the association's 1987 Humanitarian Award for the Right to Effective Treatment to attorney Robert A. Sherman, whose legal work supported the center's use of aversive punishments. Activist organizations have characterized the center's graduated electronic decelerator as abusive and have criticized ABAI for providing institutional legitimacy or speaking opportunities. In 2022, ABAI members voted to adopt an unconditional condemnation of contingent electric skin shock. Subsequent task-force material revealed continuing internal disagreement about whether exceptional circumstances could justify the practice. The controversy continued when JRC personnel appeared in ABAI continuing-education programming in 2024 and 2025. ABAI remains an active nonprofit professional association. Its current role is to convene the field, publish scholarship, support professional communities, organize educational events, and provide a membership-based process for developing statements on scientific, ethical, and social questions affecting behavior analysis.
- 2022
Members approve unconditional condemnation of contingent electric skin shock
[1]A membership vote produced a position statement rejecting contingent electric skin shock without an exceptions-based qualification.
- 2008
Organization relocates to Portage and adopts international name
[1]The association moved to nearby Portage, Michigan, and became the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
- 2002
Headquarters move off the Western Michigan University campus
[1]ABAI ended its campus-based headquarters arrangement in Kalamazoo.
- 1987
Robert A. Sherman receives Humanitarian Award for the Right to Effective Treatment
[1]ABAI honored the attorney for legal work associated with the Judge Rotenberg Center's right to continue using aversive punishments, a decision later criticized by activist organizations.
- 1979
Name changed to Association for Behavior Analysis
[1]The association adopted a shorter name as its professional and conference activities expanded.
- 1974
MidWestern Association for Behavior Analysis founded
[1]The organization was established as an interdisciplinary association for behavior analysts, professionals, paraprofessionals, and students.
Products and positioning
A field-wide nonprofit association positioned as an international convening, publishing, and standards-discussion institution for behavior analysis. It serves both the scientific study of behavior and applied practice in settings including education, clinical services, workplaces, and animal care.
Scholarly journal
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior
A journal devoted to experimental and theoretical work on verbal behavior and its relationship to applied behavior analysis.
Professional-practice journal
Behavior Analysis in Practice
A peer-reviewed publication focused on the practical delivery, implementation, and improvement of behavior-analytic services.
Scholarly journal
Perspectives on Behavior Science
ABAI's primary general journal, formerly titled The Behavior Analyst, covering reviews, reinterpretations, theoretical contributions, experimental work, and behaviorism as a philosophy.
Scholarly journal · 1937
The Psychological Record
A journal covering behavioral analysis, behavioral science, and behavior theory. The publication was founded in 1937 by Jacob Robert Kantor and is part of ABAI's journal portfolio.
Scholarly journal
Behavior and Social Issues
A publication addressing behavior analysis in relation to social issues, institutions, and broader community concerns.
Informational and professional journal
Education and Treatment of Children
A journal describing educational and treatment approaches for children with behavioral problems and related support needs.
Controversies
2025
Continuing-education webinar involving JRC board member
ABAI released a webinar presented by JRC board member Margaret Uwayo, leading to renewed criticism of the association's continuing relationship with the center.
2024
Judge Rotenberg Center personnel appear at ABAI convention
ABAI allowed multiple JRC staff members, including Clinical Director Nathan Blenkush, to conduct a continuing-education symposium at its 50th annual convention. Disability and neurodiversity advocates condemned the decision.
2006
Criticism over conference access for Judge Rotenberg Center representatives
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network criticized ABAI for not barring Judge Rotenberg Center employees from submitting conference presentations while the center faced scrutiny from United States authorities and United Nations mechanisms concerning its aversive practices.
1987
Award to attorney associated with Judge Rotenberg Center litigation
ABAI awarded Robert A. Sherman its Humanitarian Award for the Right to Effective Treatment after his legal defense of the Judge Rotenberg Center's continued use of aversive punishments. Critics later cited the award as evidence that the association historically accepted or legitimized practices they considered abusive.
Brand decisions
2022
Adoption of position statement on contingent electric skin shockStrategyBackground
The decision followed longstanding criticism of aversive interventions, particularly the Judge Rotenberg Center's use of electric-shock devices.
Action taken
ABAI members voted to issue a position statement that unconditionally condemned contingent electric skin shock.
Aftermath
Internal disagreement continued. A later task-force report stated that only 35 percent of voting members supported a draft that would have allowed the intervention in extraordinary circumstances.
2008
Expansion under the Association for Behavior Analysis International nameStrategyBackground
The association had developed beyond its original Midwestern base and maintained national and international chapters and affiliations.
Action taken
It relocated to Portage, Michigan, and added “International” to its name.
Aftermath
The organization continued operating as an international field association with conferences, publications, chapters, and special interest groups.
Sources2 sources
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