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The Mechner Foundation

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