Summary
My students and I conduct research across the applied, basic, and conceptual/philosophical domains of behavior analysis. This reflects my training and research across these areas, and I believe that regardless of the specific interests students develop, they benefit from an eclectic intellectual environment and exposure to different areas of research to help them refine their views and evoke novel research ideas.
The work of our research team is held together by two overarching values. One is the importance of philosophical and conceptual coherence in guiding research. To this end we have focused on articulating and clarifying several philosophical issues related to subject matter of behavior analysis, interdisciplinary relations and levels of analysis, and contextual thinking in behavior analysis that guides our basic and applied research activities. The second is exploration. Science is cumulative and progresses via research that extends the boundaries of what we know about the world and/or how we talk about it. We have intentionally pursued research that is somewhat outside of mainstream behavior analysis with the intention of expanding its scope.
I am the director of UNR’s Animal Behavior Laboratory (ABL), which conducts research with mice on motivation, associative and nonassociative learning and the contextual control of behavior, and interdisciplinary research on mouse models of autism. The team’s research has also been conducted in schools and other community settings.
Research interests
- Learning, memory, and the contextual control of behavior
- Motivation and emotion
- Role of biological factors at the psychological level of analysis
- Interdisciplinary learning-based mouse models of human conditions
- Logic and decision-making in applied behavior analysis practice
- Evaluation of scientific constructs
Professional certifications
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctoral (BCBA-D)
- Licensed Behavior Analyst (NV)
Education
- Ph.D., Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, 2017
- M.A., Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, 2013
- B.A., History, University of Arizona, 2001
Selected publications
Conceptual
- Lewon, M., & Domjan, M. (2026). Toward a modern understanding of Pavlovian conditioning in applied behavior analysis. Perspectives on Behavior Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-026-00494-4
- Lewon, M., Echevarría Escalante, D., & Galvis Quintana, D. (in press). Cultural aspects of motivation and emotion. In L. J. Hayes & M. J. Fryling (Eds.), Cultural psychology: Behavior analysis in context.
- Ferrari, C., & Lewon, M. (2025). Context and meaning in acts of translation and interpretation. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 41, 179-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-025-00223-z
- Belo da Fonseca, T., Lewon, M., & Laurenti, C. (2025). Precurrent behavior in B. F. Skinner’s writings: A contextual analysis. The Psychological Record, 75, 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-025-00641-4
Basic
- Vitale, N. L., Lewon, M., Peters, C. M., & Hayes, L. J. (2026). Interactions between food and water motivating operations under concurrent food and water reinforcement schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 126(1), e701105. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70115
- Vitale, N. L., & Lewon, M. (2023). A preliminary evaluation of habituation and dishabituation of operant responding in mice. Behavioural Processes, 213, 104967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2023.104967
- Lewon, M., Peal, C., Peters, C. M. & Hayes, L. J. (2022). Motivational state-dependent renewal and reinstatement: Discriminative and motivational functions of food deprivation and satiation states. Learning and Motivation, 79, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101820
- Lewon, M., Wang, Y., Peters, C., Peterson, M., Zheng, H., Wang, Z., Hayes, L., & Yan, W. (2020). Assessment of operant learning and memory in mice born through ICSI. Human Reproduction, 35, 2058-2071. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaa167
Applied
- Ferrari, C., Lewon, M. & Faletta-Cowden, N. (2024). Structured peer observation and targeted training to increase consistency of classroom practices in a self-contained school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 35(1), 88-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474412.2024.2352471
- Lewon, M. (January, 2024). The end is the beginning: Tying applied behavior analytic treatment methods and goals to consumer contexts. Invited online seminar for UK Tizard Behavioural Talks series, University of Kent, UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f9k5KKU5xs
- Green, K., Lewon, M., Lewon, A. B., & Ghezzi, P. M. (2023). All things must pass: Termination of services in behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 854-869. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-023-00854-5
- Faletta-Cowden, N., & Lewon, M. (2023). The fundamental importance of social validity in behavioral consultation in schools. Psychology in the Schools, 60(6), 1918-1935. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22841