March 2020
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 22
” . . . applied behavior analysis. That term is better than behavior modification because it does not mean prescribing drugs, implanting electrodes, or performing surgery. It means improving the strengthening contingencies of behavior.” (p. 27)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 20
“Strength is a basic concept in the analysis of operant behavior, but there is no good word for it in everyday English . . . It is possible that a word is lacking because behavior is often regarded as a mere sign or symptom.” (p. 26)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 18
“What is wrong with life in the West is not that it has too many reinforcers, but that the reinforcers are not contingent upon the kinds of behavior that sustain the individual or promote the survival of the culture or species.” (p. 24)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 17
“Beautiful pictures reinforce looking at them, delicious foods reinforce eating them, entertaining performances and exciting games reinforce watching them, and interesting books reinforce reading them—but nothing else is done.” (p. 24)
Skinner’s Birthday 2020
B. F. Skinner was born on March 20, 1904. As always, we want you to be a part of the celebrations. We understand that in this time of social distancing you may be looking for something to do at home. To celebrate B. F. Skinner’s birthday, we are offering a free book. For the next […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 14
We escape not only the painful extremes of temperature and exhaustive work but also the mildest discomforts and annoyances. As a result, there is very little left to the strengthening consequences of negative reinforcement that we enjoy as relief have been lost. We are suffering from what might be called libertas nervosa. (p. 21)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 11
“We give heroes medals, students degrees, and famous people prizes, but those rewards are not directly contingent upon what they have done, and it is generally felt that they would not be deserved if they had been worked for.” (p. 19)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 8
“Workers do not work “in order to be paid,” if that means that the money they will receive at the end of the week affects their behavior during the week. They work to avoid being discharged and losing the money they would otherwise receive.” (p. 19)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 6
“When we repeat behavior that has been reinforced, . . . we do not feel the pleasing effect we felt at the time the reinforcement occurred. Pleasing appears to be the everyday English word that is closest to reinforcing, but it covers only half the effect.” (p. 17)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 5
“When we feel pleased, we are not necessarily feeling a greater inclination to behave in the same way. (Indeed, when we call a reinforcer satisfying rather than pleasing, as Thorndike did, we suggest that it reduces the likelihood of acting in the same way, because satisfying is etymologically close to satiating.)” (p. 17)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 4
“The association of reinforcement with feeling is so strong that it has long been said that things reinforce because they feel good or feel good because they reinforce. We should say, instead, that things both feel good and reinforce because of what has happened in the evolution of the species.” (p. 17)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 2: What Is Wrong with Daily Life in the Western World? Quote 2
“Because what we feel is within our skin, we cannot escape from it. The sense organs with which we feel it are not as easily observed as those with which we see things in the world around us. And we cannot report what we feel as accurately as what we see because those who teach […]