A Behaviorist Exorcise
Now that Halloween is here,
I’ve a tale to weave, so gather near.
All Hallows Eve would have us believe
From spirits and the like there’s no reprieve.
Alas, it was from just such intuition
That…
The Great Escape of Pigeon 2748
The laboratory study of reinforcement began with Psychologist Edward L. Thorndike’s doctoral dissertation at Columbia University in New York City. Thorndike built a series of wooden “puzzle boxes,”…
Culture, Leadership, and Football
Recent events on the football field have reminded me of a story told to me by my former business partner, Fran Tarkenton. Fran, then Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, was heading out…
Book Review of "Behave" by Andromeda Romano-Lax
Behave takes its narrative from the lives of the two people behind one of the most famous experiments in the history of psychology: the analysis of the development of fear conditioning (phobia) in an…
Burnout as Behavior
Burnout, whether at work, in sports, or just in life is a concern often described in self-help books, manuals, and websites concerned with the human condition. It is said to occur when people stop…
The Sweet Spot in Communicating Behavior Analysis to the Lay Public
I am often surprised when I hear people who should know better categorically caution behavior analysts about using the precise language of our discipline when communicating with clients or other…
A Review of "Shelly’s Heart" by Charles McCarry
Charles Mc Carry is a former journalist and best-selling author of novels of intrigue. Apropos to this summer of political conventions, “Shelly’s Heart ” is the story of political maneuvering at the…
Hares, Tortoises, and the Persistence of Behavior
Remember Aesop’s fable about the hare and tortoise? The tortoise got tired of the hare’s constant bragging about how fast he ran, so the tortoise challenged the hare to a race. The tortoise…
Agency, Labels, and Changing Behavior
“You don’t pay attention.” “You are not paying attention.”
There is a subtle but important distinction between these two descriptions. Can you identify the difference?
In the first case, the…
Unintended Consequences
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men. Gang aft a-gley.
Ever have a sure-fire positive reinforcer fail to change the target behavior? Or, worse yet, make things worse instead of better? Or maybe…
Fifty Shades of Behavior-Analytic Grey
Charles Darwin’s insights about the origin of species were based on his observations concerning the relation of selection and variation to change. The variations among individuals allowed selection…
Creative Self-Management: Plotting to Change Personal Behavior
Changing things about ourselves that we want to change is a big challenge for everyone. It often can seem even harder if they also are things we need to change for reasons of physical or behavioral…
Creative Self-Management: Measuring Behavior for Change
A while back, I posted some observations about creative self-management. In it were some suggested steps to take to change our own behavior. These were to, first, define the behavior to be changed –…
Behavior Analysis in Japan
Organized activity on behavior analysis in Japan began in 1979 with the formation of the Society for the Study of Behavior Analysis. In 1983, the society changed its name to the Japanese Association…
Skinner’s Twin: The Back Story
This whole thing started a few months ago when I needed a photograph of some pigeons for a presentation I was preparing for the Aubrey Daniels Institute. I Googled, “Pigeons” and then clicked on “…
Do Robots Behave?
Is behavior limited to living, organic creatures, like us, or can inorganic creatures created by organic creatures also behave? Like robots. The first thing to consider in answering this question is…
Setting Supervisors up for Safety Success: 5 Tips for Building Engagement
No matter the industry, in all my years of experience working across organizations, from the hourly workforce to the executive team, I have always found the most difficult job to be frontline…
B. F. Skinner’s Lost Twin Brother
B. F. Skinner’s first academic position was at the University of Minnesota in the late 1930s. It is generally acknowledged that his research changed the face of modern psychology. Roughly four…