Selection by consequences

P1: JRC
Prevention Science [PREV]

PP996-prev-473910

September 26, 2003

17:26

Style file version Nov. 04, 2000

Prevention Science, Vol. 4, No. 4, December 2003 ( C 2003)

Selection by Consequences: One Unifying Principle for a Transdisciplinary Science of Prevention
Anthony Biglan1

The principle of selection by consequences is critical to the analysis of a broad range of phenomena in the biological and behavioral sciences from the evolution of species to the selection of cultural practices. This paper reviews the role of that principle in diverse areas of the biobehavioral sciences and discusses how it can provide one dimension along which the diverse disciplines relevant to the prevention of problems of human behavior can be integrated. Such integration should improve the ability of prevention science to reduce the incidence and prevalence of human behavior problems.
KEY WORDS: consequences; parenting interventions; prevention science; reinforcement; selection.

and maintained by the consequences of that organization at any given time. The principle provides a good account of the evolution of species, the shaping and maintenance of behavior, and the evolution of cultural practices. In this paper, I will describe the scope of the principle in analysis of the behavior of individuals and the actions of groups and organizations and will discuss ways in which the recognition of the scope of the principle could contribute to progress on some important current problems in prevention science.

Kellam (in press) noted that prevention science is characterized by diverse theoretical and methodological paradigms with origins in diverse disciplines.
He argues that many of the features of paradigms developed to work with one problem may have value when applied to a different prevention problem. For example, design and analytic techniques have been borrowed from one area of substantive research and applied to another, as have general