This book provides the reader with an insight into recent developments in the theory and application of operant conditioning with people. The main aim of the contributions to this book is to convey some of these developments and to suggest new directions for future work - both in the theoretical and applied aspects of operant analysis with humans. Specifically, the contributors cover the following ground: (i) a look at future trends in operant theory and applied behaviour analysis, (ii) a detailed discussion of the role of animal and laboratory- based operant performance, (iii) the role of operant analyses in understanding human psychological phenomena and (iv) direct quantitative analyses of human operant performance. This volume is not so much a comprehensive review and summary of recent developments in human behaviour analysis, but rather a critique and source of ideas, and new techniques, for all psychologists using applied behaviour analysis methods.

This popular text gives students a comprehensive and readable introduction to contemporary issues in learning and behaviour, while providing balanced coverage of classical and instrumental conditioning.

The psychology classic—a detailed study of scientific theories of human nature and the possible ways in which human behavior can be predicted and controlled—from one of the most influential behaviorists of the twentieth century and the author of Walden Two. “This is an important book, exceptionally well written, and logically consistent with the basic premise of the unitary nature of science. Many students of society and culture would take violent issue with most of the things that Skinner has to say, but even those who disagree most will find this a stimulating book.” —Samuel M. Strong, The American Journal of Sociology “This is a remarkable book—remarkable in that it presents a strong, consistent, and all but exhaustive case for a natural science of human behavior…It ought to be…valuable for those whose preferences lie with, as well as those whose preferences stand against, a behavioristic approach to human activity.” —Harry Prosch, Ethics

The approach to psychology advocated by the radical behaviourists was often misunderstood and frequently gave rise to controversy. Originally published in 1974, this book introduced current research in operant conditioning and explains the attempt to understand behaviour inherent in such experiments at the time. After considering the philosophical context in which behaviouristic psychology developed, the author outlines the basic characteristics of operant research by reviewing single experiments on the effects of reinforcement on behaviour. Chapters on schedules of intermittent reinforcement extend this approach to more complex situations and emphasize that behaviour can be maintained and controlled in many different ways by environmental events. The author then discusses recent work on conditional reinforcement and on the discriminative control of behaviour and shows how operant research has changed our understanding of these important concepts in psychology. Subsequent chapters review research within the operant paradigm on the effects on behaviour of punishment, anxiety, aversive stimuli and drugs, again by emphasising the special contribution to these topics made by operant conditioning techniques and methodology. The final chapters consider the general implications of operant research for educational practice and for clinical psychology, and place this approach within the context of psychology as a whole. Dr Blackman argues that it should be recognized as one important attempt to further the scientific analysis of behaviour. This book, filled a long recognized need for an undergraduate text in this area at the time, and helped students form their own evaluation. Now it should be read in its historical context.

The contingent relationship between actions and their consequences lies at the heart of Skinner’s experimental analysis of behavior. Particular patterns of behavior emerge depending upon the contingencies established. Ferster and Skinner examined the effects of different schedules of reinforcement on behavior. An extraordinary work, Schedules of Reinforcement represents over 70,000 hours of research primarily with pigeons, though the principles have now been experimentally verified with many species including human beings. At first glance, the book appears to be an atlas of schedules. And so it is, the most exhaustive in existence. But it is also a reminder of the power of describing and explaining behavior through an analysis of measurable and manipulative behavior-environment relations without appealing to physiological mechanisms in the brain. As en exemplar and source for the further study of behavioral phenomena, the book illustrates the scientific philosophy that Skinner and Ferster adopted: that a science is best built from the ground up, from a firm foundation of facts that can eventually be summarized as scientific laws.

This book provides the reader with an insight into recent developments in the theory and application of operant conditioning with people. The main aim of the contributions to this book is to convey some of these developments and to suggest new directions for future work - both in the theoretical and applied aspects of operant analysis with humans. Specifically, the contributors cover the following ground: (i) a look at future trends in operant theory and applied behaviour analysis, (ii) a detailed discussion of the role of animal and laboratory- based operant performance, (iii) the role of operant analyses in understanding human psychological phenomena and (iv) direct quantitative analyses of human operant performance. This volume is not so much a comprehensive review and summary of recent developments in human behaviour analysis, but rather a critique and source of ideas, and new techniques, for all psychologists using applied behaviour analysis methods.