Sammendrag:

Vollmer and Pendergrass (2025) recently provided commentary on the implications of social validity in contemporary applied behavior analysis. In the current presentation, Dr. Vollmer will extend this discussion by showing specific examples of challenging decisions related to social validation. Social validity (Wolf, 1978) refers to the extent to which goals, procedures, and outcomes are acceptable to consumers. Wolf’s seminal introduction to social validity remains crucial for present-day research and practice. However, it is difficult at times to ascertain who should be considered the consumer (e.g., Parent? Child? Teacher?), and to identify boundaries and guidelines for social validation. By way of medical analogy, a child may actively dissent receiving stitches as treatment for a severe wound, but a parent and physician agree there is medical necessity and that stitches are needed in the patient’s longer-term best interest. Similarly, behavior analysts face challenges with many goals (e.g., oral hygiene, self-feeding, bedtime management, classroom management) where a client may dissent, but others consent based on perception of the client’s longer-term best interest. Also, procedures (e.g., escape extinction) and outcomes (e.g., less than perfect behavior change) can be controversial and require special consideration when social validation is balanced. Examples from clinical cases and behavioral research will be described.

Sammendrag:

Mye av det som gjøres og skrives rundt sosial validitet og akseptabilitet handler om å samle inn ulike lokale interessenters synspunkter på foreslåtte tiltak og tiltak som allerede er i gang. Typisk spør man foreldre, nærpersoner og personale. Dersom interessentene går god for tiltaket har vi oppnådd det vi kan kalle "lokal enighet". Å bygge etiske evalueringer på lokal enighet av denne typen har noen velkjente utfordringer. Blant disse er manglende etisk forestillingsevne og endringer i begreper om hva som er greit og ikke.

Jeg vil foreslå noen atferdsmål som kan komme i tillegg til lokal enighet og som kan hjelpe oss å sikre tiltakenes etiske standard og sosiale validitet.

Sammendrag:

User involvement is a legally mandated right in Norway and affirms the right to be involved in one’s own treatment. Social validity assesses whether interventions are perceived as useful and acceptable. Together, they can help ensure that health and social services are tailored to individual needs and societal values.
Social validity is typically based on stakeholders’ subjective opinions. Unfortunately, assessments are most often collected from parents and close caregivers, and less commonly from the users themselves. Many users may be young, have communication difficulties, or an intellectual disability, which makes this especially challenging. An attempt to develop a measurement tool to gauge social validity from users themselves proved difficult; these challenges will be highlighted, and possible solutions discussed.

Sammendrag:

Social validity has been a core dimension of applied behavior analysis since its early conceptualization, emphasizing the social significance of intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968; Wolf, 1978). Despite this, applied behavioral interventions are sometimes portrayed in contemporary practice as insufficiently attentive to social validity, while alternative approaches are proposed as more socially acceptable.

This presentation explores how such critiques may rest on a narrowed conceptualization of social validity as a singular and immediate judgement of acceptability, rather than as a construct that unfolds over time and must be evaluated in relation to long-term outcomes. From a behavioral perspective, values and ethical judgements — including evaluations of social validity — are themselves forms of behavior shaped and maintained by cultural contingencies, and must therefore be understood as contextually and temporally situated (Skinner, 1953; 1971).

Drawing on clinical examples from habilitation and mental health services, the presentation discusses how this shift may challenge empirically supported interventions that involve short-term discomfort or adult-guided control as mechanisms for long-term functional change. At the same time, interventions perceived as immediately acceptable may be favored, despite the risk of poorer long-term outcomes and reduced autonomy for the individual. Implications for clinical decision-making and professional responsibility are briefly considered.

Sammendrag:

Social validity represents something different from the seven dimensions described by Baer et al. (1968), it refers to the subjective and less easily measurable notion of “social importance” (Wolf, 1978). Even though more than 40 years have passed since Wolf’s article was published, Eilifsen and Vandbakk (2021) found that social validity had been assessed in only about 10–20% of published research articles, and that there was considerable methodological variation in what was measured and how social validity was evaluated. This highlights the need for more standardized and user friendly measurement instruments. In our project, we aimed to examine the usability of the scale translated and validated by Strømgren et al. (2020), as well as to develop and test a simplified version designed to support each individual’s opportunity to rate social validity. Several research questions will be presented, and key findings from the project will be discussed.

Sammendrag:

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is facing increasing public scrutiny, making social validity a central concern for the field’s future. In line with Vollmer and Pendergrass (2025), this presentation argues that social validity must be understood as an ongoing, self-reflective practice rather than a one-time evaluation.

We present a Norwegian study by Hay-Hansson, Eldevik, and Strømgren (2022) that examined the use of videoconferencing for supervision in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI). Particular attention is given to how participant acceptance and perceptions of the study procedures were measured, and how these data informed both the interpretation of results and reflections on practice.
Using this study as a case example, we discuss ethical dimensions of assent—understood as the child’s or service user’s active participation and willingness—and its relationship to social validity. These issues are examined in light of the BCBA Ethical Code, highlighting tensions between procedural compliance and genuinely client-centered practice.

The presentation takes an explicitly forward-looking perspective, asking how the Norwegian ABA community can develop stronger practices for assessing and safeguarding both social validity and assent. We offer concrete proposals, including improved measurement strategies, systematic use of technology to amplify stakeholder voices, and the need for cultural change within organizations and training programs.
The overall aim is to foster a shared awareness that social validity is not peripheral, but fundamental to ethical practice and to the long-term relevance and credibility of ABA in Norway. This presentation will be of interest to practitioners, supervisors, researchers, and educators engaged in the quality, ethics, and future development of behavior-analytic services.

Sammendrag:

Behavior analysis is a cohesive field which extends from the philosophy of science to service delivery. Ever since the introduction of behaviorism by Watson there has been a focus on how knowledge should be obtained. Simultaneously there has been a theme which appears to have gotten less attention, namely, how the knowledge obtained should benefit human beings and society as a whole. By focusing heavily on the scientific purpose of description, prediction and control, the ultimate aim, to enhance quality of life, based on specific analysis of behavior, appears to have been underemphasized. Furthermore, this historical lack of balance could be a contributing source of misconceptions about the science. The seminal work of Baer and Wolf made social validity a central dimension of applied behavior analysis, and has been decisive in shaping discipline. By analyzing contingencies of behavior which are important to humans and other living beings, we are inherently concerned about ethics and values. As the field continues to develop, it is increasingly important to underscore that ethics and values constitute the core of social validity – and that social validity has been and will continue to be an natural part of the science.