February 2024
Cumulative Record. Chapter 33: The Concept of the Reflex in the Description of Behavior. Quote 4
The definition of the subject matter of any science, however, is determined largely by the interest of the scientist, and this will be our safest rule here. We are interested primarily in the movement of an organism in some frame of reference. (p. 494)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 33: The Concept of the Reflex in the Description of Behavior. Quote 3
Lacking some arbitrary distinction, the term behavior must include the total activity of the organism—the functioning of all its parts. Obviously, its proper application is much less general, but it is difficult to reach any clear distinction. (p. 494)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 33: The Concept of the Reflex in the Description of Behavior. Quote 1
The operational analysis of Sherrington’s synapse and the more generalized statement . . . in which I suggested that C.N.S. might be taken to stand for the Conceptual Nervous System, have been interpreted as showing an anti-physiological or anti-neurological bias. I was, however, merely protesting the use of inferences from behavior to explain behavior, while […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 26
Perhaps human behavior can be controlled via the environment, but who will exert the control? . . . What [those who ask that question] should be asking is: “What kinds of cultural contingencies induce people to engage in the control of other people? Under what contingencies do people act like tyrants? Under what contingencies do […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 25
Governments still hold the individual responsible and are said to be best if they govern least, because a person is then free to behave well because of inner virtues. All this continues to divert attention from the task of building a social environment in which people behave well with respect to each other, acquire effective […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 24
And industry still selects workers who are industrious, skilled, and careful; it has not given serious attention to the design of contingencies under which everyone works hard and carefully and enjoys his work. (p. 473)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 23
In psychotherapy, the medical analogy persists: the problem is mental illness, and it is the patient who must be cured. The therapist tries to reach his patient by making an interpersonal contact, not by changing an environment. (p. 473)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 21
New practices in child care, in the management of institutionalized retardates and psychotics, in individual psychotherapy, in classroom management, in the design of incentive systems in industry and elsewhere are being tested. We are, I think, on our way to the technology we need to solve many of our problems. But progress is dishearteningly slow […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 20
It is hard to imagine a group of young people more completely out of control of the culture of their country [than young offenders living in a school for juvenile delinquents]. But they are not out of control of their own culture, and they may be brought under the control of a better one. (p. […]
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 17
If a young person does not work productively, it is not because he does not like his job or is lazy; it is because the contingencies are defective. His feeling about his job, and the traits of character he displays in it, are by-products of the same contingencies. (p. 471)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 16
If a young person often stays away from school or drops out, it is not because he is shiftless, or lacks curiosity, or is dull; it is because the contingencies of reinforcement do not keep him at school. (pp. 470-471)
Cumulative Record. Chapter 32: Why Are the Behavioral Sciences Not More Effective. Quote 15
What happens when a student behaves well toward his teachers and other students, and what happens when he behaves badly? Does he study mainly to avoid the consequences of not studying or are there positive effects—such as conspicuous progress toward the mastery of a subject or skill? How long will it be before the behavior […]