Behaviourism and the science of behaviour: Its development in Italy

The development of behaviourism in Italy is presented, beginning with Virgilio Lazzeroni, who in 1942 published a paper in which he claimed that behaviour was the subject matter of psychology. The behaviourist tradition is relatively young in Italy, due to the influence of the cultural environment centred on idealistic philosophy. The tree of Italian behaviourism has two roots, which can be labelled Pavlovian- reflexiological-psychiatric, and Skinnerian-operant-psychological. The founding of the Italian Association for Behaviour Analysis and Modification (AIAMC, for its initials in Italian) in 1977 was particularly influential. The first ABA International Convention was held in Venice in 2001 and the first Conference of the European Association of Behaviour Analysis was held in Parma in 2003. Other national and international scientific meetings have been organized, and also 4-year postgraduate courses in behaviour analysis and therapy. Almost all of the main books of the behavioural literature have been translated into Italian, and a number of original books by native authors have been published. At the present time behaviourism has reached a fairly good critical mass within psychology in Italy, though it is still a minority if compared with the psychoanalytic approach or to the systemic approach. There is research and practical work on theoretical, clinical, educational, and organizational topics.