Happy Holidays!

Post author:B. F. Skinner Foundation
Post published:December 22, 2020
Post category:News

The B. F. Skinner Foundation’s team is wishing you holidays filled with fun and laughter, and very best wishes for a safe, healthy, and prosperous 2021!

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 6: Special Conditions Affecting Stimulus Control. Quote 2
The distortion due to differential generalized reinforcement may be traced in the behavior of the troubadour or in the history of the art of fiction. The troubadour begins, let us say, by recounting actual heroic exploits. Certain parts of his account receive special approval because they interest or flatter his listeners. A first effect is that these parts survive in future tellings. Under the same differential reinforcement he begins to stretch his report; he exaggerates the size of the battle and the Heroism of the participants (hyperbole). Finally, he breaks away from stimulus control altogether, “describing” scenes he has never observed or “reporting” stories he has never heard. (pp. 149-150)
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