Beyond the surface: a descriptive analysis demonstrating a lack of “emotional depth” in behavioural analytic journals

Purpose Recognising and interpreting emotions are fundamental to social interaction, and autistic and non-autistic individuals may differ in how emotions are expressed, recognised and interpreted. When individuals prioritise developing shared understanding in this area, applied behaviour analysis (ABA) practitioners can partner with them to support those objectives, representing a notable shift from the field’s initial lack of attention to internal states. The purpose of this review is to examine research on emotion recognition over the past 40 years, summarising contributions and identifying directions for future work. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive search was conducted across 13 behaviour-analytic and autism research journals (see Table 1) from 1982 to 2022. Search terms included “feeling”, “emotion”, “facial”, “expression” and “private event”. Articles explicitly listing tacting or assessing emotions in the title or objective were included. The search produced 721 articles, of which 63 met inclusion criteria, published across four journals: JADD, RIASD, JIDR and BAP. Interrater reliability was assessed using Cohen’s kappa for a subset of double-coded items. Findings Most studies focused on assessing emotions rather than teaching, with children comprising 83% of participants. Few studies used stimuli that were diverse (covering multiple populations) or validated (verified via interrater agreement). Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is among the first comprehensive analyses of emotion recognition research in behaviour-analytic and autism research journals. It highlights underexplored areas, including limitations in interventions, participant populations and validated, diverse stimuli, which are valuable for developing socially meaningful interventions in ABA practice.