fbpx

SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!
QUESTIONS? CALL +1 321.222.6822
  • LANGUAGES
    • LOGIN

    ABA Technologies, Inc.

    ABA Technologies, Inc.

    Experts in the Science of Behavior Analysis.

    T +1 321.222.6822
    Email: info@abatechnologies.com

    ABA Technologies
    930 South Harbor City Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901

    Open in Google Maps
    • Our Founder
      • The Celebration of an Amazing Life: Jose Martinez-Diaz (1950–2020)
    • ABA Online
      • Registered Behavior Technician Training
      • BACB Exam Prep
    • Professional Development
      • On-Demand Continuing Education Courses
      • The 21st Century BCBA Supervision Course Series
      • OBM Certificate Program
        • OBM Specialist – Beta Test
      • The Exceptional Supervisor Certificate
    • Resources
      • Do the Right Thing:
 a Discussion with Tom Freeman
      • Infographics
      • Videos
      • Timeline
      • Press Releases
      • eBooks
        • Telehealth eBook Free Download
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • About
      • Our Mission
      • Our Team
      • ABA Tech Careers
        • Careers
        • Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork
      • Contact
    • Store
      • ABA ONLINE PROGRAM
      • BOOKS
        • From Boo-Hiss to Bravo: Performance Scorecards People Will Use and Like
      • RBT ESSENTIALS TRAINING 2.0
      • OBM CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
      • BACB MOCK EXAMS
      • FUN PRODUCTS
    • MY CART
      No products in cart.
    ContactUs
    • Home
    • Blog posts
    • Generalists and Specialists
    January 16, 2021

    Generalists and Specialists

    Generalists and Specialists
    0
    Andy Lattal
    Andy Lattal
    Friday, 03 April 2020 / Published in Blog posts

    Generalists and Specialists

    Blogger: Andy Lattal, Ph.D.

    In a recent piece in the New York Times titled, “You Don’t Want a Child Prodigy: What ‘Roger’ Dads do Better Than Tiger Moms Ever Will” by David Epstein, the author weighs the relative merits of raising children as “specialists,” focusing on one skill at which they excel, as in musical and sports prodigies, or as “generalists,” what I would call “reinforcer samplers,” dabbling in this and that. To cut to the chase, the author of the piece advocates for “samplers,” or what he calls “generalists.” 

    The way the piece is presented it sounds like the parent is calling all the shots, which is never the case. It seems trite to observe that, for reasons biological and environmental, children find some things satisfying and enjoyable and other things less so. For example, a child with poor coordination and low energy is unlikely to end up captaining the high school soccer team, no matter how much effort a parent puts into it. This kind of misguided effort reminds me of a card someone once sent me with a picture of a flying pig on the cover and the words, “You can’t teach a pig to fly.” On the inside, it announced, “You just frustrate yourself and piss off the pig.” Some children from an early age appear to know the direction they wish to take and set out to make it happen. Others are less focused and may indeed engage in reinforcer sampling. Both groups of children need parental encouragement and support. The author errs, however, in implying it is the parents who are responsible for their children specializing and generalizing. It is instead a migliorative process with input from parents and child contributing to the outcome.

     

    Specialists and Generalists
    One problem with a focused early life may be that when things don’t work out as expected, shifting gears and activities to other things may be more difficult; whereas the generalist may shift more easily. This point was nicely made in a 1988 experiment reported by LeFrancois, Chase, and Joyce in the
    Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. The experiment arose from the observation in several experiments that humans don’t show the typical positively accelerated response patterns on fixed-interval schedules that nonhumans do. Groups of college students were trained to respond for points by pressing a button. One group was trained to do so using only a single reinforcement schedule (e.g., a variable-ratio schedule) and the other group was trained to do so under several different schedules all presented in a single session in different orders each session. After this training, all students responded only on a fixed-interval (FI) schedule. The multiply trained students developed characteristic FI scallops, but the singly trained students did not. The authors concluded that “[v]ariety training may . . . be effective in generating sensitivity to changing contingencies,” that is, adapting more readily to new situations than those with more fixed experiences. The results are consistent with another report (Doughty & Lattal, 2001, same journal as above) that variable learned response sequences are less disrupted by change than are stereotyped, repeated sequences. 

    Like most research, these two experiments raise as many questions as they answer, but their congruent findings suggest that “specialist and generalist childhoods” affect future adaptability and resistance to change as new opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities are thrown into the stream of behavior that we call life.

    • Tweet
    Tagged under: ABA, BCaBA, BCBA, Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analyst, Evidence-based practice, generalists, parent training, RBT, specialists

    What you can read next

    Didn't Know I had the Authority
    But I Didn’t Know I Had the Authority
    Complex Behavior
    Staff Training That Clicks

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Recent Posts

    • How Jack Michael Expanded Our Analysis of Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning

      And Simultaneously Elicited the Activation Synd...
    • Performance Management: OBM Series

      Guest Blogger: Vince Bello, ABA Technologies CS...
    • Leadership-and-Culture_Organizational-Behavior-Management_Header

      Leadership & Culture in OBM: OBM Series

      By: Shauna V. Costello & Vincent Bello &nbs...
    • Why-choose-Florida-Tech-ABA

      Why Choose ABA Online at Florida Tech?

      For individuals seeking a career in Applied Beh...
    • Launch of From Boo-Hiss to Bravo Press Release

      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2020  ABA T...

    Categories

    • Blog posts
    • Ethics Q&A
    • Infographics
    • Press Releases

    CONTACT ABA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

    Please complete this form and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!

    MENU

    • ABA Online
    • Blog
    • Professional Development
    • Store
    • About
    • News & Resources
    • Terms and Services
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
    • Operant Innovations Podcast

    NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

    By subscribing to our mailing list you will always be update with the latest news from us.
    We never spam!

    GET IN TOUCH

    T 1 321 222 6822
    Email: info@abatechnologies.com

    ABA Technologies
    930 South Harbor City Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901

    Open in Google Maps

    over a year ago#obmapplied #bcba #bcaba #qanda #instructor #professionaldevelopment #professionaldevelopmentprograms https://t.co/OQk6r9if0a
    Follow @abatechnologies
    • Tweet
    • GET SOCIAL
    ABA Technologies, Inc.

    © 2020 All rights reserved.

    TOP
    This site uses cookies to provide you with a more responsive and personalized service. By using this site you agree to our use of cookies.
    Close
    Terms of Service

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.