Response variability, a fundamental characteristic of behavior, may be in some cases an induced effect of reinforcement schedules. Research on schedule-induced response variability has shown that continuous reinforcement results in less variability than intermittent reinforcement schedules. Studies on the effects of intermittency of reinforcement,…

"JEAB"'s first decade featured control of individual behavior by operant contingencies, where the experimenter could interact with a subject in real time and obtain fairly immediate evidence of control, with the possibility of direct extension to applied settings. In subsequent decades, emphasis shifted toward long-term parametric studies with…

The present article discusses how events outside a subject's skin and not accessible to another subject but to an experimenter may contribute to experimental analyses of private events. Of 16 undergraduates, 8, referred to as instructors, first learned conditional discriminations (i.e., B1C1, B2C2, B3C3, and B4C4) in a standard matching-to-sample…

Covert sensitization is the first of a family of behavior therapy procedures called covert conditioning initially developed by Joseph Cautela in the 1960s and 1970s. The covert conditioning procedures involve the use of visualized imagery and are designed to work according to operant conditioning principles. When working with cooperative clients…

The life and work of B.F. Skinner is reviewed. His interest in education is explored as well as his work and influence in such areas as: the development of the Air-Crib, the Write and See, writing program, Project Pigeon, aging and behavior modification. (Author/CL)

Explains a simple classroom demonstration of the modern view of classical conditioning. Suggests that the exercise is a useful demonstration of the view that classical conditioning helps prepare an organism for an upcoming event. Argues that the demonstration can show students that classical conditioning is broader and more intriguing than…

In this article, the author shares an anecdote demonstrating one-trial learning which is commonplace in human behavior. The demonstration suggests that under some conditions, when people hear someone speak, their behavior changes, even in the absence of an apparent contingency of reinforcement, but only if they have in their repertoire verbal…

The ability of a reinforcer to maintain behavior decreases as a hyperbolic function of its delay. This discounted value can help explain impulsivity defined as the choice of an immediate, small reinforcer over a delayed, large reinforcer. Human operant studies using consumable reinforcers such as videos have found impulsivity with delays under 1…

Treatment of behavioral problems of 3 girls (ages 31-37 months) with Rett's disorder is discussed. Behavioral treatment using operant conditioning principles did little to alter the course of the disorder for these individuals. The one consistent improvement for the girls was a decrease in tantrums. (SW)

Gottlieb's (1991/2007) target article represents a milestone in our understanding of the impact of social experience on developmental malleability. Interactions across the species-typical and operant behavior categories are increasingly understood to exist. The social contingencies present in the normal species-typical developmental manifold are…

The production of complex sequences like music or speech requires the rapid and temporally precise production of events (e.g., notes and chords), often at fast rates. Memory retrieval in these circumstances may rely on the simultaneous activation of both the current event and the surrounding context (Lashley, 1951). We describe an extension to a…

The origins of many of the basic concepts used in the experimental analysis of behavior can be traced to Pavlov's (1927/1960) discussion of unconditional and conditional reflexes in the dog, but often with substantial changes in meaning (e.g., stimulus, response, and reinforcement). Other terms were added by Skinner (1938/1991) to describe his…

The discrimination of the onset of joint control is an important interpretive tool in explaining matching behavior and other complex phenomena, but the difficulty of getting experimental control of all relevant variables stands in the way of a definitive experiment. The studies in the present issue of "The Analysis of Verbal Behavior" illustrate…

Presents a method for illustrating the continuity of behavior during schedules of reinforcement, focusing on a demonstration on computer-controlled movement tracking. Discusses how this method can be used to illustrate and stimulate discussion about topics such as the acquisition of operant behavior. (CMK)

As researchers continue to study creativity, a behavior analytic perspective may provide new vistas by offering an additional perspective. Contemporary behavior analysis began with B. F. Skinner and offers a selectionist approach to the scientific investigation of creativity. Behavior analysis contributes to the study of creativity by…