Corrigan, P. (2002). The data is still the thing: A reply to Gaynor and Hayes. The Behavior Therapist, 25, 140.
(Beginning of article.)
I have different replies to the two responses to my recent paper (Corrigan, 2001). Thanks to Gaynor (2002) for providing single-subject evidence about Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). My goal was not to dismiss FAP or any of the other therapies as ineffective. Rather, I wanted to encourage researchers to look at the data, much as Gaynor has done here. It also seems that Gaynor and I agree that “going beyond the data in promoting and disseminating new treatments” should be a matter of concern to behavior therapists. We seem to part company in considering when specific therapies fall in this error. Gaynor seems to view behavior therapy more liberally, suggesting the dissemination of FAP before its empirical findings are obtained serves the purpose of promoting discussion and research. I have a more conservative view. Therapies and data are co-synchronous; one should not precede the other.
I have two responses to Hayes...