SOFTWARE
Revealed Operant using Keystrokes
Software for designing and programming experiments
using a revealed operant that
consists of sequences of keystrokes on a computer keyboard. This
software, developed by
David A. Mechner, functions like a menu for the design of experiments
that use this type of revealed operant. The experimenter can specify
dozens of parameters for a wide range of experiments.
System requirements: Windows 95 or newer, VGA monitor. DOWNLOAD
Revealed Operant using Graphics Tablet
This software, developed by Martin Silbernagl, is used
to design and program experiments using a revealed operant that
consists of drawing lines on a graphics tablet. Available parameters
include the length and slope of the drawn lines, the speed with which
they are drawn, and the pressure applied to the stylus. The software
can be used to design a wide variety of experiments that use this type
of operant.
System requirements: Windows 95 or newer, VGA monitor. DOWNLOAD
DOCUMENTS
THESE PUBLICATION DOWNLOADS REQUIRE THAT THE ADOBE ACROBATTM
PLUG-IN IS INSTALLED IN YOUR BROWSER. TO DOWNLOAD THE
PLUG-IN FREE OF CHARGE, CLICK HERE.
Behavioral
Contingency Analysis
F. Mechner, 2008.
This is the PDF file of
the published paper:
Mechner, F. (2008). Behavioral contingency analysis. Behavioral Processes, 78, 124-144.
A more detailed treatment of the subject of this paper, with an
expanded range of examples, is provided in the paper "Applications of
the Language for Codifying Behavioral Continencies," available below.
Applications
of the Language for Codifying Behavioral
Contingencies
F. Mechner, 2008.
This is an expanded
version of the paper "Behavioral Contingency Analysis" published in
Behavioral Processes (PDF version available above). It presents a
formal language for the codification of behavioral contingencies, and
illustrates the application of this language to the analysis of
behavioral contingencies in such diverse fields as economics, law,
business management, clinical psychology, education, public affairs,
games, and military planning.
The
paper
represents a
comprehensive update of the Mechner Notation System presented in “A
notation
system for the description of behavioral procedures" (JEAB, 1959), and
the 1966
Weingarten and Mechner paper “The contingency as an independent
variable of
social interaction,” both of which are available for downloading on
this website. A set of PowerPoint slides which constitute
a
tutorial on Behavioral Contingency Analysis, are available for download
by
clicking here.
Book
Review of "In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a
New Science of Mind" by Eric R. Kandel
F. Mechner, 2008.
This review by
Francis Mechner is "in press" for the July 2008 issue of the Journal of
the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. It discusses the reasons
why the study of this book can be valuable to behavior analysts.
It analyses and attempts to bring into perspective criticisms that have
been leveled against certain aspects of the language used by some
neuroscientists, opportunities for productive collaboration between
behavior analysts and neuroscientists, the value of heuristics put
forward by Kandel for locating important research problems, and the
lessons that can be gleaned from the book for recognizing potentially
great achievers and for producing good scientists.
Summary
of Neuroscience Information in "In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a
New Science of Mind" by Eric R. Kandel
F. Mechner, 2008.
This summary of
neuroscience information covered in Eric R. Kandel’s book In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a
New Science of Mind is presented in a dry style for reference
purposes only. It omits many of the explanatory details and colorful
background and historical information that can be found in the book.
Number
of Prior Repetitions of Operants, and Resurgence
F. Mechner, 2001. The Mechner Foundation.
This is an interim report of an experimental
research program which has been in progress
for several years and is being conducted by the staff of the Mechner
Foundation. Until now, this research program has focussed on the
effects of certain learning history variables on the tendency of
operants to resurge under conditions that produce resurgence. The two
variables studied have been number of prior repetitions of the operants
during the operant's learning history, and the recency of those
repetitions. The present report covers the experiments on number of
prior repetitions. DOWNLOAD
The Revealed Operant: A Way to Study the
Characteristics of Individual Occurrences of Operant Responses
F. Mechner, et al., Cambridge Center for
Behavioral Studies Monograph Series. CCBS Behavior Monograph
The "revealed operant" is intended as a
laboratory research model of any operant response. Its purpose is to
permit the internal structure and properties of operants to be recorded
and studied. With Commentaries by Donald M. Baer, M. Jackson Marr, John
A. Nevin, and Thom Verhave. DOWNLOAD
What
Are the Effects of Reinforcer Presentations?
F. Mechner, 1994. Cambridge Center for
Behavioral Studies Monograph Series.
Chapter 9 of the monograph The Revealed
Operant: A Way to Study the Characteristics of Individual Occurrences
of Operant Responses (available in full above). This chapter
develops the thesis that the usual effect of a reinforcer is not to
increase the strength of the preceding behavior, but rather to
perpetuate its direction of change. The Foundation is currently
conducting a research program to address this issue experimentally,
using shaping procedures for various types of revealed operants. DOWNLOAD
Learning
and Practicing Skilled Performance.
F. Mechner, 1992. The Mechner Foundation
website.
This book develops a theory and technology
of skilled performance, based on research in psychology and physiology.
Examples are drawn from various performance disciplines, with special
emphasis on pianism. It is 101 pages in length and can be downloaded.
View TABLE OF
CONTENTS Download
FULL BOOK
Methodological Points for Behavioral
Scientists
F. Mechner, 1992. The Mechner Foundation
website.
This paper discusses the status of
hypothetical constructs, models, and explanatory
fictions in science generally, and in psychology in particular. It
explores possible reasons
why the problem is particularly insidious in the behavioral sciences. DOWNLOAD
The Power of a Player
F. Mechner, 1991. The Mechner Foundation
website.
This paper proposes a computerized method
for measuring knowledge and skill in chess,
the oriental strategy game Go, and other disciplines that combine
knowledge and skill. The power measure combines knowledge and the speed
with which the knowledge can be
marshaled. DOWNLOAD
A
New Approach to Programmed Instruction
F. Mechner, 1977. The Mechner Foundation
website.
Programmed instruction was defined in the
early 1960s as using active response by the
learner, immediate confirmation of correct responses, and successive
approximations
towards the knowledge to be learned. This paper, written in 1977,
proposes some newer and presumably more effective techniques of
programmed instruction and the theoretical
justification of those techniques. DOWNLOAD
The Contingency as an Independent Variable of
Social Interaction
K. Weingarten & F. Mechner, 1966. T.
Verhave (Ed.), Readings in the experimental analysis of behavior.
This paper shows how the Mechner notation
system can be applied to behavioral
contingencies that involve the interactions of two or more individuals
in such dynamics as cooperation, competition (both for individuals and
groups) economic interactions, blackmail, flattery, insults, etc. DOWNLOAD
|
