In 1934, while dining at the Harvard Society of Fellows, I found myself seated next to Professor Alfred North Whitehead. We dropped into a discussion of behaviorism . . . He brought the discussion to a close with a friendly challenge: “Let me see you,” he said, “account for my behaviour as I sit here saying, ‘No black scorpion is falling upon this table.’ ” The next morning I drew up the outline of the present study. (pp. 456-457)
