ENVISIONING CULTURAL-PRACTICES

Graphic visualization has demonstrated its value for organizing transa ctional data and modeling complex phenomena in a wide variety of field s, from theoretical physics to medicine. Behavior analysts have histor ically used a variety of graphic tools not only for presentation but a lso for analysis and teaching. As they turn increasingly to the analys is and design of cultural practices, the phenomena behavior analysts s tudy are becoming increasingly complicated. Many cultural practices of interest are embedded in extensive webs of interlocking practices and contingencies that can be difficult to grasp comprehensively. Buildin g on contingency diagrams, which have proven to be useful for the anal ysis of operant behavior, and graphic tools developed for object-orien ted systems analysis, this paper suggests graphic tools for capturing the interlocking contingencies that constitute cultures. These diagram s offer a broad-bandwidth technology for analyzing and designing cultu ral practices.