WHY I AM A RADICAL BEHAVIORIST, page 4

And that way, terms of approval can foster normal functions of organs and persons.[13]

Well-behaved - or not - mankind is a biological family [14] and, from the cradle to the grave, we do not peer into the head or under the skin, to appreciate personal feelings.

We communicate via script, voice or picture, any of which may make us applaud, move us to tears - keep us glued to our chair - or send us into opposite directions.

For treating dysfunctional habits, behavior analysts count external sources (say, over-correction, slow reassurance, mistimed reinforcement) and then modify those.

Physicians diagnose organic malfunction and normalize that, often dramatically.

Yet the internists too, ask the patients: “How do you feel?” and “Where does it hurt?” for it is they - not a brain - who complain of aches and pains. [15] Ways to discover how persons feel - and think, for that matter – include looking at them, hearing them talk, seeing their interactions, judging whether - or not - attractions are mutual. [16]

All this adds up to Applied Behavior Analysis derived from animal conditioning research.
        At K.U., I was overwhelmed - aware that excessive abstraction can blind anyone; and why
/reinforcement/ vs /extinction/ and /punishment/ calls for conceptual revision.
Too often, we 'disembody behavior' by omitting the doer from our sentences [17] 
To hear reminiscence and see who forgets and remembers, we listen to people, yet the questions
"What is thought?" and "Where is memory?" can send scientists to the the brain, searching in vain for structure and human performance; much like nobility was once attributed to blue blood. morality to the kidneys and generosity to a big heart. [18]
        We teach toddlers to recognize emotion in tone, gesture and facial expression;
play-acting and make-believe ... and common deception ... may serve to remind us:
others can and do perceive how we feel, and we really sincerely need them to care.
I'm afraid I stumbled on something I feel impelled to protect - but I am not the person to suggest what scientists could observe in a research laboratory. [19]
Well, at least I can write, I am someone who knows how mush she owes sientists: enlightenment, inspiring words, personal frienships; and much satisfaction from her profession.   
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[13] ' Nothing is more rewarding than to see others admiring your work.' I read recently and thought: 'helping others out of trouble also ranks high on people's list of rewards.'
[14] Negating ;behavior' disqualifies individuals. 'Not behaving' means 'misbehaving'; whereas 'they behave' implies 'they behave themselves properly as expected.' This may be true in all tongues, a universal phenomenon. Interested readers might ask people from distant lands what is meant by/not behaving/ in the language of their country, and compare their replies. I found no exceptions ... total agreement ... on behalf of billions!

[15] Pavlov's data on p.30 [1927]implybrain malfunction: first shock and then food, renders dogs impervious to pain; they drool at the mere sight of the coil, and again, on contacting electricity. Pavlov notes: "Subjected to the very closest scrutiny,not even the tiniest and most subtle objective phenomenon usually exhibited by animals under the influence of strong injurious stimuli can be observed in these dogs. No appreciable changes in the pulse or in the respiration occur..." Such findings may help to explain masochism. However, they also have implications re: anesthesia for medical treatment.

(16) For example: "If someone comes to you from a distance - uninvited - and the time passes pleasantly for you both - and this happens frequently - then you know you draw that person to you in a warm social way."I found this helps parents display their love for the child who often complains: 'You don't love me.'  When children attract the parent like this, they  trust this parent implicitly - without thinking. Again, it is a matter of relative frequency: how many corrections versus signs of approval..
I don't know how much is needed for normal development except, positives must be more common; 'fifty-fifty' confuses everyone, adults and children alike.

[17] "Abstraction ... encourages indifference. We must remind ourselves ... the Holocaust was ... one, plus one ,plus one ... Only in understanding that civilised people must defend the one, by one, by one, can the Holocaust, the inexplicable , be given meaning." Judith Miller, One by One by One, 1990 (p, 287), Simon & Schuster, N.Y. The end of WWH 11, nuclear war in Hiroshima and Nagsaki, is another horrific example of death, disease and destruction  which human beings can bring on themselves  - their genes and their progeny - for generations to come.
[18] In Hebrew, when tortured by a guilty conscience, persons are said to suffer from 'morality of the kidneys '. And today, of course, we know 'blue blood' in the arteries is symptomatic of insufficient oxygen in the cardio-vascular circulation.
[19] Who am I to question the FABBS Mission Statement:
'FABBs promotes human potential and well-being by advancing the sciences of mind, brain and behavior. As a coalition of scientific societies we communicate with policy makers and the public about the importance and contribution of basic and applied research in these sciemces.'
(Fabbs News Highlights, 8/2/10/) Yet, should scientists say they study conditions that keep subjects intact and healthy, the 'human potential ' might generate very clear dialogue with the public and the policy makers.         

WHY I AM A RADICAL BEHAVIORIST: p. 3, continued

Natural

Should visitors observe mobile rats in a lab, I think they’d consent straightaway, B.F. Skinner hit the nail on the head when he described ‘behavior’ as ‘movement’; (12) the conditioned stimulus, a symbol, can literally move us and touch us, emotionally: mobile or not, reactions - loud or silent - involve muscles, brain cells and heartbeat. Thus, angered adults may stand, wave, shout, or look furious, and the cause may well be: one person’s hostility serves as the goad - or a stimulus - for another to act likewise.

Yet people also placate: they may reduce tension and strengthen each other, verbally.

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(12) " By behavior, then, I mean movement of an organism or of its parts in a frame of reference provided by the organism itself or by various external objects or fields of force." [1938] By chance, that is exactly what I saw. Thanks to Skinner, I can also spot circular argument: "Why is he yelling?"; "He's angry."; How do you know?"; "Because he's yelling." I no longer object. I ask people, "Why is he angry? What did he see? What did he hear?" Then we discuss the needs and the interests of those involved and weigh interventions for possible treatment.

WHY I AM A RADICAL BEHAVIORIST: p. 5, Part II

Normal and Natural

       Animals typically evade danger and go for what they want to obtain; the young or disabled must wait for others to bring supplies and help them survive.

Wondering how I could possibly make ‘my rat’ come back to be shocked, I suddenly thought Why must I shock him at all? What do we need punishment for?

        I could shut grain at one lever and open others. ‎If he went to try those, of course he’d stop pressing the first; he can’t be in two places at once.

Then, considering reasons for movement (20), I found I could tell how animals feel from where they go when leaving a key; I understood motive - purpose and anticipation - from what lay in front and behind them. Data established with stationary subjects, for example, on a running wheel ‎or certain response patterns under specified reinforcement schedules, then assumed more importance than before. (21) ‎

If I may say so, highlighting motility within operant chambers also provides a good view of decision-making, whether to go for something now - or later. (22)

        Several experimental subjects would project an even wider perspective of the audio-visual signs and signals that beckon an animal from a distance.

Scientists could analyze ‘teaching by modeling’ and ‘learning through observation’; which would then help to explain emulation in general, including human echoing;  and highlight ‘species - specific’ modes of communication.

In any case, the data could provide experimental continuity:

Pavlov studied glands; Skinner, visible body-parts; the next step could be individuals as suggested herein; later, scientists from other disciplines might unite with behavior analysts to study conditions that allow groups or families to mobilize as one entity.

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(20) "... 'cause' and 'effect' are no longer widely used in science... A 'cause' becomes 'a chnage in an independent variable' and an 'effect' 'a change in a 'dependent variable'... The terms which replace them, however, refer to the same factual core. The old 'cause-and-effect' connection becomes 'a functional relation' .B.F. Skinner (1953)

(21) Comparing real and hypothetical records, I converted Pavlov's unusual data (p. 30) into salivation per second. Could normal conditioning be measured like this with other glands? Such findings might integrate conditioning experiments: reflex and operant measures, displayed on the one time scale. 

(22) This resolves a teological issue: How do future events control behavior? Skinner stressed past consequences. Pavlov's data imply vision and hearing are involuntary: we infer automatically, perceive things arriving / receding via the ears and the eyes: sounds fade or swell, objects grow small or loom large - universal private events! Looking away - as in Burying One's Head in The Sand - can, on occasion, dispel dread of what is impending.

LOOKING BEYOND

Re [EABA-list]: Simple Steps debate among behaviorists in Europe

With dismay I read about the struggle for acceptance of ABA - Applied Behavior Analysis - as
the best practice for parents of children said to suffer from the autism spectrum.
Not every point raised is clear to me but I do see why ABAs - Applied Behavior Analysts - feel frustrated; I also worry over the welfare of behavior analysis, basic and applied.

Rather than a 'proven' or a 'supporting' science', I believe it would be a good thing to defend
ABA as the one psychological treatment approach - worldwide - with a scientific foundation, namely, the Experimental Analysis of Behavior ... TEAB.
Why not present TEAB as a basic natural science - a part of biology - and defend ABA as the only evidence-based application of conditioning principles analysed in animal laboratories?
Behavior analysts could be proud to explain where their professional knowledge comes from.

And to give credit where credit is due.
I am troubled when cognitive behaviorists display and commend "positive reinforcement" - never mentioning any animal conditioning experiment from which stimulus control and reinforcement schedules are derived.

But it is tragic when radical behaviorists don't dare to mention the branch they are sitting on:
classical and operant conditioning data.
For circa 35 years there has been a widening gap between ABA and TEAB
Public inquiry as to sources of experts' knowledge is essential for radical behaviorists because
then they could say TEAB is geared towards showing how surrounding factors control animals and highlight how ABA demonstrates when and where the quality of human performance also depends on environmental quality.

JEAB, the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, has been the flagship journal for behavior research since 1958. In REQUIEM FOR MY LOVELY (March 2011) Kangas, and Cassidy discuss the declining number of articles in JEAB that contain a cumulative record. Yet:
"... the value of the cumulative record as a monitoring device to assess schedule control continues. The cumulative recorder remains, along with the operant conditioning chamber, an icon of Skinner's approach to psychology." Lattal, K.A. (2004).

That brings me back to my handmade cumulative records, eye-openers that made me perceive
realities as yet unnoticed by scientists. Hence my plea for extending TEAB and studying causes of an animal's ambulation/locomotion - in addition to the reponse rates with stationary subjects. Expanding animal research will multiply and resuscitate cumulative records as well as attract scientists from other disciplines, in particular, biologists, sociologists, and ecological experts.
No science in isolation - neither ABA nor TEAB alone - can maintain viable environments on
planet Earth.
Behavior analysts could correct general misconception as to brain function VS people function.
So TEAB can move on beyond single individuals, reduce intimidation, Coercion and its Fallout.

CAN THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR RESCUE PSYCHOLOGY? asked
B.F. Skinner (1987) 24 years ago. Lacking data, scientists cannot concur on reliable answers
-let alone spread them. Expanding conditioning research is not a luxury but a necessity.

Recently Per Holth asked Murray Sidman what behavior analysis will look like 50 years hence.
Murray Sidman answered: " I have made a number of suggestions that may be summrized by
'Behavior Analysis, heal thyself.' ... Today's students will determine the particular new directions behavior analysis is going to take ... It may even be that the seeds of major developments are present now but that the field simply has not yet recognized them."
Holth: You have written that "Our basic scientists need to reestablish productive collaborative ventures in other areas, and our applied scientists need to turn more to their basic science for data, principles, and procedures." What do you think it will take for that to happen?
Sidman: You are really asking two questions here . First, how can we reestablish collaboration between behavior analysis and other areas of science? Second, how can we encourage applied behavior analysts to make use of their data?
Those excerpts are from: A Research Pioneer's Wisdom: An Interview with Dr. Murray Sidman an article published in the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (Winter, 2010)

In effect, Dr. Sidman pleads the case more clearly and more convincingly than I ever could.
In my view, he brings the most inspiring thoughts on the future of behavior analysis, today.

I began this post on March 17; now it is March 21 and reading Robert Scramm's latest response in the Simple Steps discussion, I resonated to the words: "As long as we are appropriately labeling what it is we are offering and what it will do for the people who participate ..."
Still, I am undecided: ought I to add my voice in this controversy?
My blog-readers might help out; I want to say something like this:
Simply, conditioning affects PERSONS whose feelings and thoughts can be seen and heard, daily.
So, what individuals feel and think could be labelled appropriately, normal and ordinary behavior.
Right?

Looking ahead

Looking ahead from 1984, Skinner wrote:
"Whatever current usefulness this volume may have, it should at least be of interest to the future historian as a sample of the style of discussion among behavioral scientists near the end of the 20th. century."
"Why have I not been more readily understood?"
He had expected fruitful dialogue on "environmental determination" of behavior; but instead there was misunderstanding: "I have been unable to avoid spending time and space on the simple correction of
misstatements of fact and of my position, where I would have welcomed the opportunity for a more productive exchange."

One cause for misunderstanding is 'reifying' a process or an activity or a procedure, into a thing.
" Her ego" or " his memory", for instance, can mislead us into searching for an inner entity with size, weight, shape or Gestalt.
Yet in reality individuals tell - write - or show they recollect their experiences - or else cannot remember the details.  Scientists - my mentors - clarified such points for me decades ago.
Woe betide those who use too many abstract nouns, too many times, in too many places!
They're doomed, sentenced to splendid isolation, in ivory towers with weak socialisation.

The good news is, Skinner supplied substitutional cures that work like magic.
Happy are those who - when in doubt - can turn an abstract noun into a verb.
For example, instead of 'behavior' again and again, we can say 'they behave' and also mention
'behaving organisms'. Naturally abstraction per se isn't bad or unhealthy; neither in intellectual
circles where I sometimes like to fancy myself, nor in everyday conversation.

I'm no researcher, yet I do welcome feedback ... comments and questions ... from readers; and in particular from operant conditioners, my target audience. I don't want to blow my own horn but my graphs are great eye-openers which could be replicated within extended laboratories, where subjects move freely and the reasons for halting and starting are recorded and observed and discussed.

My graphic material is a manuscript with two titles:
- CUMULATIVE RECORDS FROM 7 HYPOTHETICAL EXPERIMENTS WITH AN IMAGINARY RAT
- THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MOVEMENT AS A DEPENDENT VARIABLE IN THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR: SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR HUMANKIND
In 2000, I dedicated the material to Murray Sidman:
"For Murray Sidman, with deep respect; he didn't worry about these records being hypothetical, yet I couldn't explain them to him either - for which I'm sorry. However, I believe I've made up for it now."

Today I talk with The Man in The Street, hoping that researchers will soon join the club.
As for 'environmental determination': the biggest emphasis might go something like this:

Stimuli and reinforcers influence individuals from a distance.  Lights and sounds control
the rate and the pattern of body-part responses when the subject is at standstill; plus the
direction of a person's or an animal's locomotion, as may be seen beyond the laboratory
wherever one goes.
Changing illumination and temperature may also slow or hasten organic activities, and
the function of an entire neuro-physiological system.
Like any other life-form, we too, depend on the quality and the quantity of light rays and
sound waves unobserved in our surrounding habitat.

July 27, 2012

" By relaxing constraints..."

1984-5, Kansas University, Dept. of Human Development and Family Life; Lawrence, KS
 CUMULATIVE RECORDS FROM 7  HYPOTHETICAL EXPERIMENTS WITH AN IMAGINARY RAT

Introduction
'Most psychology consists of putting what everyone knows into language that nobody understands.'
(Who said this??)

'They are not hypotheses, in the sense of things to be proved or disproved, but convenient representations of things already known.' B.F.Skinner, 1938: THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS, p. 44


The criticism has been made that the data presented here are hypothetical, and therefore their value is questionable. It should be pointed out that they are not hypothetical in the sense that the independent variables described have never been observed. Nothing has been added to existing method or outcome in the operant conditioning laboratory - except space.  No assumption has been made about behavior of an organism - except that SDs [*] at a distance will generate movement towards them. This assumption is widespread in applied behavior analysis and implicit in operant theory. The only problem is that it has never been observed systematically in the operant lab and thus the power implicit in behavior analysis has been hidden from the common understanding as - as Sidman says (1984)
The data simply synthesize knowledge that already exists.

The following passage states my case:
'By relaxing the constraints upon our empirical analyses, step by step, we increase the size and the complexity of the analytical unit.  As the unit of analysis expands, new relations emerge  among  the  elements of the unit and between units, permitting the inclusion of ever more behavioral phenomena within the systematic framework.'
Murray Sidman, 1984: Functional Analysis of Verbal Classes (preliminary draft) "

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[*] 'discriminative stimuli'
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Today I think the graphs show an organism as the central 'unit for analysis' in basic conditioning
experiments.  Back at work, in 1985, colleagues and I thought of clients - adults and children - as
our 'analytical units' whose problematic behaviors we were treating with rehabilitation objectives. 

Comments are welcome...

July 27, 2012