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.