November 2020
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 10:Intellectual Self-Management in Old Age. Quote 17
In talking with another person we have ideas that do not occur when we are alone at our desk. Some of what we say may be borrowed from what the other says, but the mere effect of having someone to say it to is usually conspicuous. (p. 156)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 10:Intellectual Self-Management in Old Age. Quote 15
Learning to enjoy good literature is essentially learning to read for longer and longer periods of time before coming upon a moving passage—a passage all the more moving for having required a long preparation. (p. 156)
On passing of Jack Michael (1926-2020)
Statement from Julie Vargas, Chairman of the Board and Chief Science Officer: “It is with sorrow that the B. F. Skinner Foundation shares the news that one of its founding members, Dr. Jack Michael, passed away on November 12. Jack, along with Ted Ayllon, was one of the first professionals to apply reinforcement principles to human behavior. […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 10:Intellectual Self-Management in Old Age. Quote 7
“I could have doubled my readership by calling this article “Cognitive Self-Management in Old Age.” Cognitive means so many things that it could scarcely fail to apply here. But I could have described the field much more accurately by speaking of verbal self-management, because the problems are primarily verbal.” (p. 152)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 10:Intellectual Self-Management in Old Age. Quote 4
If the stages in our lives were due merely to the passage of time, we should have to find a fountain of youth to reverse the direction of change, but if many of the problems of old people are due to shortcomings in their environments, the environments can be improved. (p. 146)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 10:Intellectual Self-Management in Old Age. Quote 3
Much of what seems to be the unfolding of an inner potential is the product of an unfolding environment: A person’s world develops. The aging of a person as distinct from the aging of an organism, depends upon changes in the physical and social environments. (p. 146)