Jeab and the Skinnerian interpretation of behavior

A Neuro-Operant Analysis of Mnemonic Recognition

Historically, the fields of operant selection and recognition memory have not interacted substantially with one another. However, both deal with how behavioral repertoires change over time as a function of environmental stimulation. In this article, we propose neuro-operant interpretations of behavioral phenomena occurring in recognition memory procedures based on (a) the ability to discriminate changes in the strength of responses caused by environmental stimulation and (b) the occasioning of supplementary responses by current stimulation. A neuro-operant interpretation of mnemonic behavior may further the understanding of the phenomena in place and simplify the current taxonomy of learning and memory.

Percalços na história da ciência: B. F. Skinner e a aceitação inicial da Análise Experimental do comportamento entre as décadas de 1930 e 1940

A elaboração inicial do conceito de condicionamento operante e do delineamento experimental de sujeito único define as bases do sistema explicativo skinneriano em meados de 1930. Todavia, essas formulações não foram imediatamente aceitas. Com o objetivo de compreender os motivos envolvidos nesse episódio da história inicial da Análise do Comportamento, discutimos três eventos históricos, quais sejam: a) as dificuldades enfrentadas por Skinner após o seu pós-doutorado; b) a recepção ao seu primeiro livro, The Behavior of Organisms; c) a disputa com outros modelos explicativos do comportamento. Uma história constituída por determinantes de natureza motivacional, institucional, emocional, econômica e pelas dificuldades de ir na contramão de tendências dominantes na Psicologia Experimental norte-americana é o que se conclui na presente investigação.

Creating a strategy for progress: a contextual behavioral science approach

Behavior analysis is a field dedicated to the development and application of behavioral principles to the understanding and modification of the psychological actions of organisms. As such, behavior analysis was committed from the beginning to a comprehensive account of behavior, stretching from animal learning to complex human behavior. Despite that lofty goal, basic behavior analysis is having a generally harder time finding academic support, and applied behavior analysis has narrowed its focus. In the present paper we argue that both of these trends relate to the challenge of human language and cognition, and that developments within clinical behavior analysis and the analysis of derived relational responding are providing a way forward. To take full advantage of these developments, however, we argue that behavior analysts need to articulate their unique approach to theory, to develop more flexible language systems for applied workers, and to expand their methodological flexibility. This approach, which we term contextual behavioral science, is meant as an evolutionary step that will allow behavior analysis to better capture the center of modern psychological concerns in both the basic and applied areas. Clinical behavior analysis is showing a way forward for behavior analysis to regain its vision as a comprehensive approach to behavior.