Sidney William Bijou (November 12, 1908 – June 11, 2009) was an American

developmental psychologist Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...

who developed an approach of treating childhood disorders using

behavioral therapy Behaviour therapy or behavioural psychotherapy is a broad term referring to clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviourism and/or cognitive psychology. It looks at specific, learned behaviours and how the environment, or oth ...

, in which positive actions were rewarded and negative behaviors were largely ignored, rather than punished.

Early life

Bijou was born in the Arlington neighborhood of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with his family when he was 10 years old. He earned a degree in business administration at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1933. He was awarded a master's degree in psychology at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1937 and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in the field at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1941. Together with Joseph Jastak, he developed the

Wide Range Achievement Test The Wide Range Achievement Test, currently in its fifth edition (WRAT5), is an achievement test which measures an individual's ability to read words, comprehend sentences, spell, and compute solutions to math problems.Wilkinson, G. S., & Robertson ...

, a comprehensive assessment of an individual's ability in reading, comprehension, spelling, and mathematics.Reynolds, Cecil R.; and Fletcher-Janzen, Elaine
"Encyclopedia of special education"
p. 248.

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

, 2007. . Accessed July 23, 2009. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

.Carey, Benedict
"Sidney W. Bijou, Child Psychologist, Is Dead at 100"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 21, 2009. Accessed July 22, 2009.

Career in psychology

He was hired by

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1946, where he spent two years under pioneering behaviorist

B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. ...

. While other child psychologists had focused on the use of techniques such as

play therapy Play therapy refers to a range of methods of capitalising on children's natural urge to explore and harnessing it to meet and respond to the developmental and later also their mental health needs. It is also used for Anatomically correct doll, f ...

to identify the motives and causes of problematic behavior, Bijou used Skinner's behavioral techniques to encourage positive behaviors through such rewards as praise, hugs and pieces of candy. Children who were defiant would be given a time-out and separated from a group activity, with the expectation that the bad behavior would be its own punishment, and that any additional sanctions would not have a positive effect. A child isolated from a group would strive to behave appropriately in order to have the opportunity to rejoin the group. He relocated to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in 1948, where he applied Skinner's techniques on children at the Institute of Child Development, and wrote several textbooks in the field together with Donald Baer. Studies he performed there showed that encouragement of good behavior would elicit more good behavior even from unruly children.

Ole Ivar Lovaas Ole Ivar Løvaas (8 May 1927 – 2 August 2010) was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most well known for his research on what is now called applied behavior analysi ...

of the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, one of the developers of

applied behavior analysis Applied behavior analysis (ABA), also called behavioral engineering, is a psychological intervention that applies empirical approaches based upon the principles of respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior of social significance. ...

therapy for

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, adapted Bijou's techniques to develop one of the most commonly used techniques of using rewards to enhance social skills of autistic children. In 1968, together with Donald Baer,

Todd Risley Todd Robert Risley (September 8, 1937 – November 2, 2007) was an American psychologist. He is credited with helping to create the field of applied behavior analysis, and has been described as a "pioneer" in this field. He is known for the study ...

, James Sherman, and

Montrose Wolf Montrose Madison Wolf (May 29, 1935 – March 19, 2004) was an American psychologist. He developed the technique of " time-out" as a learning tool to shape behavior in children in the 1960s. He was a leader in creating the discipline of problem-so ...

, he established the ''

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis The ''Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis'' (JABA) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal which publishes empirical research related to applied behavior analysis. It was established in 1968 and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of t ...

'', as a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

journal publishing research about

experimental analysis of behavior The experimental analysis of behavior is school of thought in psychology founded on B. F. Skinner's philosophy of radical behaviorism and defines the basic principles used in applied behavior analysis. A central principle was the inductive reasoning ...

and its practical applications. He relocated over the years to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

(from 1975 to 1993) and the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

(from 1993 to 2001), where he established similar behavioral programs.

Personal life

Bijou died at age 100 on June 11, 2009, after collapsing at his home in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. He had moved there to live with his daughter

Jude Bijou Jude Bijou (born 1946 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a licensed psychotherapist, lecturer, and multi-award winning author of ''Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life'' (Riviera Press, Revised November 2011). Her approach to unde ...

following his wife's death.Morris, Edward K
"Sidney W. Bijou: November 12, 1908 to June 11, 2009"

Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American psychologist, professor, author, and journalist. He was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology by Harvard University in 1981, was editor in chief of ''Psychology Today'', and has held positions at sever ...

. Accessed July 23, 2009. He was survived by Jude and a son. His wife died in 2000; they had been married for 67 years. His son recalled taking the family car for a joyride when he was 15 years old and being arrested by the police. At the police station, the officers offered several ideas for punishments for the misdeed, but Dr. Bijou rejected them all, stating that "he's already had punishment enough". His son recalled the incident, stating that "sometimes it can pay off to have a psychologist for a father".

Books by Bijou

Behavior Analysis of Child Development (1993)

New Directions in Behavior Development by Sidney W. Bijou and Emilio Ribes (c1996)

Behavior Modification: Contributions to education by Sidney W. Bijou and Emilio Ribes-Inesta

New developments in behavioral research: theory, method, and application: In honor of Sidney Bijou

Child development: the basic stage of early childhood
by Sidney Bijou (1976)
The exceptional child: conditioned learning and teaching ideas
Papers by Sidney Bijou

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

(1971)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bijou, Sidney 1908 births 2009 deaths American centenarians 20th-century American psychologists Child psychologists Columbia University alumni Indiana University faculty Men centenarians People from Baltimore People from Brooklyn People from Santa Barbara, California Warrington College of Business alumni University of Iowa alumni University of Arizona faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty University of Nevada, Reno faculty University of Washington faculty United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II