BAAM Behavioral History Page

BAAM will post links to historical items of interest to behavior analysts on this page. If you have an item you would like to contribute, please forward it and the link or links to us via the BAAM suggestions page. (Go directly to suggestion page).

"Thanks...I guess..:" The "Unabomber" credits behavior modification with being more scientific than other forms of psychology (Go to the story)

B.F. Skinner's psychic abilities: The 1979 Cliff's Notes for B.F. Skinner's Walden Two seems to credit the behaviorist with psychic abilities. (Go to the story)

Numerology meets Behaviorism:  Facade.com reports on B.F. Skinner's numerological analysis. (Go to the story.)

Behaviourism: The Early Years" (Robert Wozniak). Excerpt from Wozniak, R. H. (Ed.). (1994). Reflex, habit and implicit response: The early elaboration of theoretical and methodological behaviourism 1915-1928. London: Routledge/Thoemmes. Wozniak discusses some elements of early classical behaviorism. (www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Psych/rwozniak/behaviorism.html)

B. F. Skinner's "Are Theories of Learning Necessary?" (1950). Often mistaken as a rejection of theories in psychology, this classic article describes and compares three distinct types of psychological theories and discusses their usefulness for developing a comprehensive science of behavior. (Click here for a full length electronic transcription version of "Are Theories of Learning Necessary?" from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

Edward Thorndike's Animal Intelligence (1911): Much more than just cats in puzzle boxes, Animal Intelligence was a pioneering attempt at a comprehensive experimental analysis of the behavior of organisms. This book is an extended version of Thorndike's 1898 article "Animal Intelligence," which is itself a classic and where most of the psychological community was introduced to the concept of reinforcement via Thorndike's "law of effect." (Click here for a full length electronic transcription version of Animal Intelligence from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner's "Conditioned Emotional Reactions" (1920): The most cited study in the history of psychology, Watson and Rayner described the use of Pavlovian conditioning to condition a fear response to a rat from a startle reaction to a sudden loud noise. Although not methodologically rigorous, this study nevertheless has become the most often cited and described example of the role of classical conditioning in emotional development. (Click here for a full length electronic transcription version of "Conditioned Emotional Reactions" from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

Wolf, Risley, and Mees's "Application of Operant Conditioning Procedures to the Behavior Problems of an Autistic Child:" (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1964, v. 1, pp. 305-312).This is the classic "Dicky" article that set the stage for all behavioral treatment of autism to follow. Dicky was an autistic child who also was at risk for blindness caused by failing to wear corrective lenses after a cataract operation. This article introduced the earliest applied behavior analysts, then called "behavior modifiers," to the reversal design and time-out as means of functional analysis and non-violent control of severe behavior problems. In a tribute to Wolf in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (2005, v. 38, pp. 279-287), Todd Risley describes some of the history behind the pioneering effort:

Wolf accepted the challenge of getting Dicky, a post-cataract surgery 3-year-old boy with autism who displayed temper tantrums and self-injury and who resided in a psychiatric hospital 50 miles distant, to wear glasses. Thus began a year of weekly drives that culminated in the premier study of behavior modification. Wolf had to develop techniques to deal with Dicky's tantrums and sleeping and eating problems, and to establish wearing glasses, basic socialization, and functional speech. After having just discovered the power of adult attention for young children, and realizing that the staff could not simply ignore temper tantrums, especially violent ones with mild self-abuse, Wolf decided to prescribe a response to tantrums that would minimize any social reinforcing effect of the necessary attention and counterbalance that reinforcement with a period of social isolation. The prescription for tantrums was to place Dicky, calmly and without comment, in his room until the tantrum ceased and at least 10 min had passed. When tantrums were under control and after wearing glasses had been hand shaped, Dicky began to throw his glasses occasionally. When the social isolation prescription was applied,glasses throwing decreased from about twice per day to zero. But the hospital staff doubted that it was due to the procedure because Dicky didn't seem to mind being taken to his room; he just rocked in his rocking chair and hummed to himself. Because throwing glasses was both less serious and more reliably measured than tantrums, Wolf agreed to discontinue the procedure-and glasses throwing soon increased to the previous level. The social isolation procedure was reinstated, and glasses throwing decreased again to zero. (pp.281-282)

That study with Dicky and three follow-up studies are also noteworthy for discovering how operant conditioning techniques could be applied to shape verbal imitation and meaningful speech in children with severe disabilities in the now familiar discrete-trials approach (Risley & Wolf, 1964, 1967; Wolf, Risley, Johnston, Harris, & Allen, 1967; Wolf, Risley, & Mees, 1964). These studies, which also included shaping social skills and toilet training together with Wolf's functional assessment of vomiting, started a movement in behavioral psychology to apply operant conditioning microanalysis and microteaching techniques to behavior problems of people with severe disabilities, culminating in a new profession: the board-certified behavior analyst. (p. 282)

In addition to introducing the applied behavior analysis community to the reversal design, functional analysis, and time out, Wolf, Risley, and Mees set the stage for what would come to be called "social validity." The final sentence of the Dicky article, which starts out as though it is a simple description of a follow-up, may be the best and most concise summary of the spirit and ethic of all good behavioral treatments:

According to a report from the mother six months after the child's return home, Dicky continues to wear his glasses, does not have tantrums, has no sleeping problems, is becoming increasingly verbal, and is a new source of joy to the members of his family. (p. 312)

(Click here for a link to the original DIcky article; For Risley's tribute to Mont Wolf in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis in pdf format, click here.)

Yerkes and Morgulis's "The Method of Pawlow in Animal Psychology" (1909). The spelling of "Pavlov" as "Pawlow" reveals the source material for this piece as being German translations. This article is the first extended description of Pavlov's conditioning techniques in English. Despite being published in The Psychological Bulletin, several years would pass before the importance of Pavlov's work was fully recognized in the United States. It was not unusual for researchers to mistakenly conclude that the method was limited in scope and restricted to the study of conditioning of glandular activity. Watson's 1914 book, Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology, contains only a brief description of Pavlov's work. By 1916, Watson recognized classical conditioning as a general principle of behavior. (Click here for a full length electronic transcription version of "The Method of Pawlow in Animal Psychology" from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

Brass-Instrument Psychology Equipment and Devices: The period of "Brass-Instrument Psychology" occupied the last decades of the 19th and the first of 20th century. Many devices were developed during that time to measure reaction times, psychophysical thresholds, visual and auditory perception, and other aspects of behavior. These devices usually operated without electrical power and were often constructed of brass. When B.F. Skinner speaks of using a "kymograph" in his early work, you can see here examples of the kind of device he was talking about. (Click here to link to the Brass-Instrument Site at the University of Toronto.)

B.F. Skinner's World War II pigeon-guided bomb project: During World War Two, a mechanical or electronic technology to successfully guide bombs and missiles to their targets had not been developed. Behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner was given a grant to develop a method of using pigeons as the guidance system of air-dropped bombs. Despite successful testing, the army was ultimately not interested in the technology. Additional information about this project is available in B. F. Skinner's article: "Pigeons in a Pelican" (American Psychologist, January 1960; also published in Skinner's book, Cumulative Record). (Click here to see photos of equipment exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution)

Unabomber objects to the effectiveness and scientific basis of applied behavior analysis: In his 50,000 word manifesto, the "Unabomber," Theodore Kaczynski, explained why he targeted "behavior modification:"

We have nothing against universities or scholars as such. All the university people whom we have attacked have been specialists in technical fields. (We consider certain areas of applied psychology, such as behavior modification, to be technical fields.) We would not want anyone to think that we have any desire to hurt professors who study archaeology, history, literature or harmless stuff like that. The people we are out to get are the scientists and engineers, especially in critical fields like computers and genetics...(New York Times, 4-26-1995, p. 1; boldface added)

The late James McConnell, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, was one of Kaczynski's targets. McConnell, the author of the highly successful introductory psychology textbook, Understanding Human Behavior, was sometimes labeled a "behaviorist" by the media. It is likely that Kaczynski, a University of Michigan student, had heard of McConnell and his promotion of "behavior modification." The bomb delivered to McConnell on June 15th, 1985 was opened by a student who was seriously injured but later recovered. (Court TV Coverage).

B.F. Skinner, a critic of cognitive psychology, apparently possessed "precognition:" The Cliff's Notes for Skinner's book, Walden Two, contains the following passage suggesting that he had psychic abilities:

The books that Skinner (or some character in Walden Two) most often refers to are Samuel Butler's Erewhon, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and George Orwell's 1984. Terms such as Doublespeak, BIG BROTHER, and phrases such as "Oh, brave new world" are frequently mentioned in conversations at Walden Two. Therefore, an examination of the basic ideas of each work will further illuminate Walden Two. (McGowen & Roberts, 1979, p. 50)

Readers of Walden Two might recognize the phrase, "Oh, brave new world" as actually coming from Shakespeare's "The Tempest." No reader will find quotes from Orwell's 1984 in Walden Two. 1984 was published in 1949. Walden Two was written in 1945 and published in 1948. Thus, Skinner could not have included quotes from a book he had not yet read.  (For more information see: "Case Histories in the Great Power of Steady Misrepresentation" by J.T. Todd & E.K.Morris, American Psychologist, Nov. 1992, pp. 1441-1453.)

B.F. Skinner's Numerological Analysis:  We at BAAM do not really understand this.  But, as one of the oddest "Odd and Ends" we could find, we feel compelled to report that B.F. Skinner's numerological analysis is available online at Facade.com.  Numerology claims to analyze attributes by assigning numerical values to the letters of a person's name.  B.F. Skinner's "birthmates" include Akira Kurosawa, Ayn Rand, George Washington, L. Ron Hubbard, Neil Gaiman, Walt Disney, Werner Heisenberg. Facade describes itself as "the first and most popular web site devoted to Tarot, Runes, I Ching, Biorhythms, Numerology, and other forms of spiritual introspection."