Catch-Up Contingencies
Ever heard the expression “closing the barn door after the cows are out?” It basically means coming up with a solution that is
Celebrating Positive Deviance at Work: What COVID-19 can Teach Us
The Future just got a Restart on the Meaning of UnpredictableIn the Spring of 2020, the world is engaged in very large behavioral changes that we hope will lead to positive outcomes.
When Punishment is a Reinforcer
Punishment, by definition, reduces, weakens, or eliminates (depending on one’s theoretical bias) the responses on which it depends. But punishment also reinforces other behavior, notably that of the one administering the punishment.
What is Social Behavior?
In an old experiment, Boren (1966) placed two Rhesus monkeys in separate operant chambers so that
Invasive Behavioral Events: Lessons from Invasive Species
The stability of an ecosystem, including the species that occupy it, can be disrupted when an invasive species appears in it.
Out of Thin Air?
Ever think about where operant behavior comes from? What is it before that first reinforcer occurs? In speaking of the origins of operant behavior, Skinner famously observed that “[o]perant conditioning shapes behavior as a sculptor shapes a lump of clay.
When in Doubt, Make a Cumulative Record
Contrary to a popular myth among many behavior analysts, Skinner invented neither the cumulative record nor the cumulative recorder. The origins of cumulative frequency plots, as they were known, date back to at least a couple of centuries ago, and now appear frequently in popular media.
Creating Your Personal Brand
What comes to mind when you hear the word brand?
Behavioristic Bliss
Someone recently sent me a rather gloomy article titled, “You