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"One form of precurrent behavior may precede different kinds of reinforcers upon different occasions. The immediate stimulation from such behavior will thus become a generalized reinforcer. We are automatically reinforced,…

"Although it is characteristic of human behavior that primary reinforcers may be effective after long delay, this is presumably only because intervening events become conditioned reinforcers." (p. 76) Subscribe to…

"We cannot dispense with this survey [of reinforcers] simply by asking a man what reinforces him. His reply may be of some value, but it is by no means necessarily…

"The difference between the two cases will be clearer when we consider the presentation of a negative reinforcer or the removal of a positive. These are the consequences which we…

"Events which are found to be reinforcing are of two sorts. Some reinforcements consist of presenting stimuli, of adding something— for example, food, water, or sexual contact—to the situation. These…

"There is nothing circular about classifying events in terms of their effects; the criterion is both empirical and objective. It would be circular, however, if we then went on to…

"The only way to tell whether or not a given event is reinforcing to a given organism under given conditions is to make a direct test. We observe the frequency…

"The condition of low operant strength resulting from extinction often requires treatment. Some forms of psychotherapy are systems of reinforcement designed to reinstate behavior which has been lost through extinction."…

"The failure of a response to be reinforced leads not only to operant extinction but also to a reaction commonly spoken of as frustration or rage. A pigeon which has…

"A single reinforcement may have a considerable effect. Under good conditions the frequency of a response shifts from a prevailing low value to a stable high value in a single…

"While we are awake, we act upon the environment constantly, and many of the consequences of our actions are reinforcing. Through operant conditioning the environment builds the basic repertoire with…

"In operant conditioning we "strengthen" an operant in the sense of making a response more probable or, in actual fact, more frequent. In Pavlovian or "respondent" conditioning we simply increase…

"A response which has already occurred cannot, of course, be predicted or controlled. We can only predict that similar responses will occur in the future. The unit of a predictive…

"It is customary to refer to any movement of the organism as a "response." The word is borrowed from the field of reflex action and implies an act which, so…

"Learning curves do not, however, describe the basic process of stamping in. Thorndike's measure—the time taken to escape— involved the elimination of other behavior, and his curve depended upon the…

"[Respondent] conditioning adds new controlling stimuli, but not new responses. In using the principle, therefore, we are not subscribing to a “conditioned reflex theory” of all behavior. (p. 56) Subscribe…

"Pavlov’s achievement was the discovery, not of neural processes, but of important quantitative relations which permit us, regardless of neurological hypotheses, to give a direct account of behavior in the…

"Only a quantitative description will make sure that there is no additional mental process in which the dog "associates the sound of the tone with the idea of food" or…

"By its very nature, spontaneity must yield ground as a scientific analysis is able to advance." (p. 48) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"By eliminating some conditions, holding others constant, and varying others in an orderly manner, basic lawful relations could be established without dissection and could be expressed without neurological theories." (p.…

". . . the time has come when we must admit that we cannot solve the important problems in human affairs with a general “philosophy of human behavior.” The present…

"The commonest objection to a thoroughgoing functional analysis is simply that it cannot be carried out, but the only evidence for this is that it has not yet been carried…

"By confining ourselves to these observable events, we gain a considerable advantage, not only in theory, but in practice." (p. 36) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"It is no help to be told that to get an organism to drink we are simply to "make it thirsty" unless we are also told how this is to…

"The practice of looking inside the organism for an explanation of behavior has tended to obscure the variables which are immediately available for a scientific analysis. These variables lie outside…

". . . such terms as "hunger," "habit," and "intelligence" convert what are essentially the properties of a process or relation into what appear to be things. Thus we are…

"But on analysis these phrases prove to be merely redundant descriptions. A single set of facts is described by the two statements: "He eats" and "He is hungry." A single…

"Since mental or psychic events are asserted to lack the dimensions of physical science, we have an additional reason for rejecting them." (p. 30-31) Subscribe to RSS feed here

"The fictional nature of this form of inner cause is shown by the ease with which the mental process is discovered to have just the properties needed to account for…

"Eventually a science of the nervous system based upon direct observation rather than inference will describe the neural states and events which immediately precede instances of behavior. We shall know…

"There is nothing wrong with an inner explanation as such, but events which are located inside a system are likely to be difficult to observe. For this reason we are…

"The most that can be said is that the knowledge of the genetic factor may enable us to make better use of other causes. If we know that an individual…

"We want to know why men behave as they do. Any condition or event which can be shown to have an effect upon behavior must be taken into account. By…

"A science of behavior which concerns only the behavior of groups is not likely to be of help in our understanding of the particular case. But a science may also…

"A final answer to the problem of lawfulness is to be sought, not in the limits of any hypothetical mechanism within the organism, but in our ability to demonstrate lawfulness…

"It has sometimes been pointed out, for example, that physical science has been unable to maintain its philosophy of determinism, particularly at the subatomic level. The Principle of Indeterminacy states…

"When a science of behavior reaches the point of dealing with lawful relationships, it meets the resistance of those who give their allegiance to prescientific or extrascientific conceptions. The resistance…

"We all know thousands of facts about behavior. Actually there is no subject matter with which we could be better acquainted, for we are always in the presence of at…

"In a later stage science advances from the collection of rules or laws to larger systematic arrangements. Not only does it make statements about the world, it makes statements about…

"Science is, of course, more than a set of attitudes. It is a search for order, for uniformities, for lawful relations among the events in nature." (p. 13)    …

"Scientists have also discovered the value of remaining without an answer until a satisfactory one can be found. This is a difficult lesson." (p. 13)         Subscribe…

"Experiments do not always come out as one expects, but the facts must stand and the expectations fall. The subject matter, not the scientist, knows best." (p. 13)    …

"Science is a willingness to accept facts even when they are opposed to wishes." (p. 12)           Subscribe to RSS feed here

Science is first of all a set of attitudes. It is a disposition to deal with the facts rather than with what someone has said about them. Rejection of authority…

"The Copernican theory of the solar system displaced man from his pre-eminent position at the center of things. Today we accept this theory without emotion, but originally it met with…

"Science not only describes, it predicts. It deals not only with the past but with the future. Nor is prediction the last word: to the extent that relevant conditions can…