December 2020
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 14:Some Thoughts about the Future. Quote 5
I think the experimental analysis of behavior can best proceed as it started, until the control of the behavior of an organism in an experimental space is very nearly total. A science of behavior will then have given neurology its clearest assignment, will have left nothing for cognitive science to explain with its mental operations, […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 12:The Contrived Reinforcer. Quote 2
In general, by allowing natural contingencies to take control whenever possible we generate behavior that is more likely to be appropriate to any occasion upon which it may occur again, and in doing so we promote the survival of the individual, the culture, and the species (p. 175)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 9
Another source of misunderstanding of the relation between operant conditioning and natural selection is the strong inclination to look inside a system to see what makes it tick. Those who use operant conditioning are criticized when they refuse to do so . . . I am sure there are mechanisms, but they belong to a […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 8
Several writers have recently implied that organisms may have been sensitive to an increase in the mere probability of reinforcement when no reinforcer is immediately contingent upon a response. I do not think that the possibility of a conditioned reinforcer has been satisfactorily eliminated as an explanation, but I will rest my case on the […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 6
I see no reason why there should not be a drift toward phylogenic behavior [in experiments on superstition]. It would be something like the Breland Effect unopposed by operant contingencies. (p. 164)
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Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 5
I am quite sure of my original observation [of “superstition in the pigeon”]. I have repeated it many times, often as a surefire lecture demonstration. Deliver food every twenty seconds to a hungry pigeon and it will soon exhibit a food-getting ritual of unpredictable topography. (pp. 163-164)
20/20 t-shirts are on sale
The B. F. Skinner 20/20 t-shirts are on sale at the Foundation’s online store for $19.99. Limited quantities in black, blue, and red are still available in all sizes. All proceeds go to benefit the B. F. Skinner Foundation. A reminder: For delivery by Christmas, orders that require shipping to an address in the US […]
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 4
The effect of an accidentally contingent reinforcer offers some of the best evidence of the power of operant conditioning, and possibly for that reason it has been challenged—as, for example, by Staddon and Simmelhag. (p. 163)
Upon Further Reflection. Chapter 11:Can the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Rescue Psychology?. Quote 2
The experimental analysis of behavior . . . is steadily building upon its past and proceeding in a reasonably ordered way to embrace more and more of what people are actually doing in the world at large. (p. 163)
PDF version of Verbal Behavior:Extended Edition is now available
December 1, 2020. Today the B. F. Skinner Foundation launches the new Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition in PDF format. It is available for $2.50. We keep PDF editions as Name-Your-Price products. That means that while we set a minimum, you can add an amount over the minimum if you wish. All additions support the Foundation’s […]