Standing on the Shoulders of a Giant: Remembrances of Jack Michael, Part 2

Abstract

In Part 1 of these remembrances of Jack Michael, we briefly described Jack's history in terms of how he became a behavior analyst (Sundberg & Schlinger, 2021). We pointed out that he was one of the first to apply the principles of behavior analysis discovered in the experimental laboratory to the area of rehabilitation. In so doing, Jack was perhaps the first applied behavior analyst. In Part 1, some of his former students and close associates from his early years at the University of Houston, Arizona State University, and Western Michigan University-John Mabry, Grayson Osborne, Jon Bailey, Mark Sundberg, and J. Vincent Carbone-provided their personal tributes to Jack. In Part 2, we offer six more tributes that-with one exception, that of Ted Ayllon-provide insight into Jack's work in the latter part of his career. In addition to Ted Ayllon, these tributes are from Jack's students and close associates Hank Schlinger, Dave Palmer, John and Barb Esch, Carl Sundberg, and Caio Miguel. The authors provide insights not only into their views about Jack but also into their own lives. Collectively, they paint a picture of people from different backgrounds that all found their way to Jack Michael and to behavior analysis. To a person, they describe how their behavior, whether as scientists, practitioners, or both, was radically transformed as a result, and how they attribute that change largely to Jack's influence.

Keywords: B. F. Skinner; Jack Michael; applied behavior analysis; behavior modification; history of behavior analysis.