Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, Preface, Quote 1

B. F. SKINNER FOUNDATION

Contingencies of Reinforcement: A Theoretical Analysis, Preface, Quote 1

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:January 3, 2018
Post category:Skinner's Quote of the Day

“To guess who is calling when the phone rings seems somehow more admirable than to pick up the phone and find out, although one picks up the phone to confirm the guess.” (p. ix)

Subscribe to RSS feed here

All proceeds support the B. F. Skinner Foundation and enable us to continue our important work. Thank you to all of current and previous donors for helping us continue our mission of Better Behavioral Science for a More Humane World!

The newest addition to the Skinner for the 21st Century series, Science and Human Behaivor: Extended Edition, is available in hard cover! A PDF version of the book is also available.

SKINNER'S QUOTE OF THE DAY

Verbal Behavior: Extended Edition. Chapter 8: The Verbal Operant as a Unit of Analysis. Quote 5
The pathological condition of verbal behavior called aphasia often emphasizes functional differences which are hard to understand in terms of the traditional account … The aphasic has lost some of the functional relationships which control his verbal behavior. A response of a given form may no longer be under the control of one functional relation, although it is still under the control of another. (p. 190)
[…]

“To guess who is calling when the phone rings seems somehow more admirable than to pick up the phone and find out, although one picks up the phone to confirm the guess.” (p. ix)

You Might Also Like

Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition (1999). Chapter 5: “Man”. Quote 11

Contingencies of Reinforcement. Chapter 7: The Phylogeny and Ontogeny of Behavior. Quote 7

Cumulative Record: Definitive Edition (1999). Chapter 1:Freedom and the Control of Men. Quote 11