B.F. Skinner Foundation - International

Society

Liaison: Paolo Taras

Paolo Taras, Italian liaison

2009 Italian Summer Intern, Anna Luzi, translated much of the website and Operants into Italian: Watch for new postings.

Anna Luzi, 2009 Summer Intern from Italy

Paolo Taras: Dr. Paolo Taras is liaison for the B. F. Skinner Foundation in Italy and is a passionate scholar of B. F. Skinner’s science. He earned his Doctorate Degree in Psychology at the University of Padua, Italy, and holds postgraduate Specialization Diplomas in Organizational Psychology and in Training Methodologies and Design. He is also member of the National Italian Order of Psychologists. Last year he was certified as an Instructor in Performance Management from A.D.I. International, Atlanta, USA. Since 1983, he has been active as a consultant in the field of Human Resources Management for primary consulting firms in Milan and Rome, and since 1998 he has been leading his own consulting firm, in partnership with a selected group of colleges. “We provide a set of consulting services aimed at developing human resources in a variety organizational environments such as Banks and Insurance companies; Manufacturing Firms; Public Institutions; and Telecommunication Companies. We specialize in designing and planning instruments for people management, including, for example, Potential Appraisal Systems especially through the Assessment Centre method, Organization check-up and analysis of Training needs, Managerial Training, Performance Appraisal, Organizational Change, culture and climate analysis, and focus groups.”

Dr. Taras contributes to the Foundation’s efforts to facilitate access to behavioral science in languages and in countries beyond the borders of the United States. Typically, the liaison connects others with the Foundation’s resources and works to establish a network of peers to share and promote practices based on the Skinner’s science. Dr. Taras’s leadership in the international community helps keep the academic and private sector of behaviorology visible outside the USA. More importantly, Dr. Taras, as do all the Foundation’s liaisons, helps to diminish the isolation of experimental behavior efforts in other countries. He was also instrumental in the plans for his associate Anna Luzi to visit the Foundation as a staff volunteer for the summer.

Anna Luzi: “The idea of coming over to the Foundation from Italy was the result of two concurrent wishes: to improve my English, mustering the courage to dive into action at last, and to know more fully the work of B.F. Skinner. In the last few years I assisted in some research matters with Paolo Taras, one of the International Liaisons of the Foundation, representing Italy, who is also a colleague of mine in the Organizational Consulting business in which we both work. He is an enthusiastic scholar of Skinner science and has inspired me to read and acquire knowledge of behavior analysis and the Skinnerian radical approach.”