Brian Iwata

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Brian A. Iwata (August 20, 1948 – October 7, 2023) was an American psychologist and Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida. He was known for applied behavior analysis and functional analysis of self-injury. In 1982, he co-authored “Toward a Functional Analysis of Self-Injury,” which explained how to study why self-injury happens by looking at how environmental factors influence it. This work helped create interventions based on reinforcement rather than punishment.

Iwata briefly worked on SIBIS, a self-injury suppression method using electric shocks, but left the project after one study. He did not help develop the GED device and spoke against its use, even testifying in court. He found success treating difficult self-injury with less punitive methods.

GED devices were banned by the FDA in 2020. In 2022, the Association for Behavior Analysis International issued a position against contingent electric skin shock. He was born in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, studied at Florida State University, and spent his career at the University of Florida. He died in Gainesville, Florida, at age 75.