This paper proposes that an organism's integrated repertoire of operant behavior has the status of a biological system, similar to other biological systems, like the nervous, cardiovascular, or immune systems. Evidence from a number of sources indicates that the distinctions between biological and behavioral events is often misleading, engendering…

When neural events are analyzed as stimuli and responses, functional relations among them and among overt stimuli and responses can be unveiled. The integration of neuroscience and the experimental analysis of behavior is beginning to provide empirical evidence of involvement of neural events in the three-term contingency relating discriminative…

Using 130 rural, culturally deprived slow learning children, group operant and individual operant techniques were compared in classrooms of normal size. (Editor)

The behavioral processes through which people react appropriately to verbal descriptions remain poorly understood. I argue here that these processes are Pavlovian. Common objections to a Pavlovian account of symbolic behavior evidence a lack of familiarity with the relevant data or misunderstandings of operant theory. Although much remains to be…

Research supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grant PN-8086, and presented in part at the 1967 American Psychological Association Convention.

The study, involving two severely retarded adolescents, investigated whether matching to sample is capable of extending equivalence classes with spelling responses. In preliminary training, Ss were taught the matching to sample procedure by having them match color patch samples to identical color patch comparisons. The experimenters then trained…

The study was designed to make a 6 year old autistic child's learning sessions more productive by reducing three self stimulatory rituals. Treatment involved structured academic sessions involving the S and one other child in basic motor and vocal imitation training which was done according to Discrete Trial Format followed by structured play. In…

The focus of this paper is the application of laboratory-derived principles to a more real-life situation. Specifically, a learning model is presented with the intent that principles and procedures derived from it be directly applicable to learning in the college classroom. The model presented is derived from 2 orientation to the phenomena of…

Four experiments are discussed, in which parents devised and conducted procedures to alleviate their children's behavior problems. The behavior difficulties treated included infrequent use of an orthodontic device, the low-level performance of household tasks, whining and shouting, and a long duration of dressing time. The techniques used to…

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)

The authors examine two prominent learning theories, Bruner's cognitive approach and Skinner's operant conditioning approach, hoping to "construct a 'mix' of the two traditions that really has something to say to educational practitioners. (Authors/LS)