The 2nd diagram on p. 43 bothers me because it comes too close to violating the Dead Man Test for my comfort when it says, in the Behavior box, Sue stops presenting the task. This seems more like a non-behavior than a behavior, & therefore something that a dead man could do. Instead of Sue's behavior being controlled by a reinforcement contingency, I think it's being controlled by a punishment contingency in which the Before condition is that she doesn't see Jimmy's discomfort, the Behavior is that she presents the task, & the After condition is that she sees Jimmy's discomfort.
Monday, January 20, 2014
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I teach courses in the principles and applications of Behavior Analysis, the science and technology of behavior, which is different from other approaches in psychology in that it takes behavior as a subject matter in its own right, rather than as a tool for studying something else, such as the mind. The main purpose of this blog is to be a supplementary means of communication with students who are taking my courses.