Behaviorologist Robert W. Allan to Be Featured in Major New BBC Series on the History of Science

The BBC plans to feature Robert W. Allan, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology Lafayette College, Easton, PA, in a major new series about science.

BBC-TV host Michael Mosley and a video crew visited Lafayette Dec. 16 to interview Allan, a well-respected researcher in the branch of psychology known as behaviorism, which studies the relationships among behavior and environment in animals and humans.

BBC’s new series, Science Story, will feature six one-hour programs that will be broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2010 to tie in with the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society in London. The series will then be distributed by BBC Worldwide.

FULL ARTICLE
-------------------------
Related articles & sites
BBC - Science Story

Robert W. Allan, Ph.D.
Faculty Focus page, Lafayette College, Easton, PA

Psychology Department
Lafayette College

Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies

International Society for Behaviorology

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).

Watch out Kobe - the "Rat"hletes are coming!

College classes recently highlighted in the press show that garden-variety rats can become Olympic class athletes and hoop stars through teaching using shaping (gradually moving to a final desired behavior by starting with a baby-step approximation) and positive reinforcement (rewarding desired behavior vs. punishing undesired behavior).

Students turn rodents into (basketball) team players
Gary Glancy
GoUpstate.com
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 1:04 a.m.

"...Throughout this semester, [Alliston] Reid's students in the freshman introductory course [behavior analysis psychology class at Wofford College] have been working in teams of two to individually train each of the 12 rats to compete one-on-one in a 2-by-1-foot makeshift hoops court created to scale by Reid.

To score, the rats pick up a small ceramic ball with their paws or -- in the case of the advanced ones -- their teeth, and dunk it through a basket. The incentive is a tasty food pellet; the psychological basis is classic positive reinforcement.

"The reason (for doing this) is, first, it's fun for the students, and second, the series of behaviors is the exact same techniques you would use to train children as parents, or if you're a coach training athletes," said Reid, who added the rats also enjoyed and looked forward to playing. "The behavioral principles for learning are exactly the same..."

Positive reinforcement leads to a record-setting rat
COLLEEN KENNEY / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 12:45 am

The power of positive reinforcement

" ...The other day, the professor turned Mitch and the other students into lab rats. She gave them pieces of paper. Written on each was a command, such as 'Stand against a wall' or 'Jump on your left foot.'

She paired them into teams of two.
One trainer, one 'rat.'
The 'rats' had to figure out what to do by asking questions. In the first exercise, the trainers could only answer 'yes.' (reinforcement for making the right choice )

It was pretty easy.

But the second time, the trainers could only answer 'no.' (punishment for making the wrong choice)
It took longer to figure it out. It wasn't as much fun..."

Rat Basketball at COSI Science Center




Other interesting related articles and sites:

Rat Basketball
Wofford College Psychology

Xtreme Rat Challenge
Nebraska Wesleyan University

Basketball Playing Rats 
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Teaching High School Psychology blog

Rat Basketball Show at COSI/Center of Science and Industry, Columbus OH

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).

ABA OUT AND ABOUT: Thefuntheory.com takes reinforcement to the next level!

Volkswagen has a fantastic competition going at this time for innovative ideas to positively influence people's behavior to the good by rewarding them with...fun!

"The fun theory award recognises those thoughts, ideas and inventions that prove the fun theory. That fun is the easiest way to change people's behaviour  for the better..."

What's one way to increase people's recycling of glass bottles?...
How about the "Bottle Bank Arcade Machine"?



Not only is this a delightful idea, but it's consistent with the behavioral principle that reinforcement is defined by the effect on the future probability of a behavior; i.e., increasing it. A refreshing use of the concept in a world where, too often, we paradoxically try to change or improve desired behavior by applying penalties or punishment - an inefficient and more difficult way to get people to do what you want them to.

Check out what creative thinkers all over the world have been submitting, vote for your favorite idea(s), and if you are inspired - cook up and share some fun of your own! The competition closes December 15.

Thefuntheory.com

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).

Get Acquainted With Behavior Analysis Digest International

Since 1989, Behavior Analysis Digest International (BADI) has been the field of behavior analysis's layperson-friendly quarterly newsletter sharing interesting, and sometimes provocative, short summary articles of behavioral research and related popular press items compatible with a behavioral interpretation. Articles report on a array of topics with social applications to health, safety, parenting, weight loss, education - the list is as diverse as the spectrum of behavioral science. BADI also welcomes newsworthy submissions for publication.

Some examples of recent articles are,

• Professors, Here’s How To Get Your Students To Read That Material
• Marine Mammals Master Math
• Bike Helmet Safety Soars
• Walk Off Your Weight Worries
• To Be Effective and Affective
• College Students Prefer Talking in Class to Lectures

Through an arrangement with the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, back issues of BADI older than one year are archived and available in open access at that site for perusal and enjoyment.

BADI's Founder and Editor W. Joseph Wyatt, Ph.D. , Editorial Board and contributing writers are to be saluted for 20 years of producing this lively newsletter.

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).

ABA OUT AND ABOUT: Slate column on how knowing more about animals teaches us about ourselves

Alan Kazdin and Carlo Rotella have penned over at Slate an interesting column on how basic animal psychology is at the root of some very useful practical knowledge about ourselves and how we can use that researched knowledge to make better decisions in our own behavior and in our relations with other,

Like a Rat: Animal research and your child's behavior.
By Alan E. Kazdin and Carlo Rotella
Slate

"...It would be wrong to leave you with the impression that psychology always comes back to animal research and to omit mention of the broad scientific swath of work on the unique features of humans. But psychologists tend to do the public a similar disservice when they underplay the importance of animal research.

There are larger points in play here, including a growing sense that the lower animals are not so low and we are not so high. Many psychological characteristics and their biological underpinnings appear to be conserved—that is, many characteristics of human psychology evolved in other animals and have been retained in humans. This is why we can study fish, flies, and frogs in order to learn about ourselves..."

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis, International (ABAI).

Mr. Chuck Chuck talks about ABA and Good Teaching

"Mr. Chuck Chuck" (aka, Daniel J. Gulchak, Ph.D.), blogger at the Mr. Chuck Chuck blog has put up a great post discussing how behavioral principles and strategies are not esoterica restricted to use with special populations, but inform and underlie just plain good teaching for anyone.
His examples from his young daughters' swimming lessons really bring the point home. Check it out, and thanks Mr. Chuck Chuck!

Best Application of Applied Behavior Analysis
10 November 2009
Mr. Chuck Chuck blog

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG) of
the Association for Behavior Analysis, International (ABAI).

---------------------

"Behavior Modification" Blog Writes on Effects of Financial Incentives on Student Achievement

Behavior Modification blog has posted a very interesting followup (with graphical illustration and a reference list of research) to a June 8 NY POST newsstory about the effects of rewards for grades.

Rewarding test scores
Behavior Modification blog
8 June 2009

"The effects of rewards on people’s test scores has been the subject of many studies. Under the headline “Lern-&-Earn Plan Pays Off: Scores Soar At Cash-For-Kids Schools” In The New York Post Kelly Magee and Yoav Gonen reported about the results of a program that rewarded students for obtaining higher scores on tests..."

One article significantly highlighted in blogpost, references, AND display of influenced outcomes when explicit reward is applied is,

Clingman, J., & Fowler, R. (1976). The effects of primary reward on the I.Q. performance of grade-school children as a function of initial I.Q. level. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9(1), 19-23.
doi: 10.1901/jaba.1976.9-19

Further Reading

• Original News Story
  LEARN-&-EARN PLAN PAYS OFF SCORES SOAR AT CASH-FOR-KIDS SCHOOLS
  By KELLY MAGEE and YOAV GONEN
  NY POST
  June 8, 2009

• The Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University
  (See "In the News")

---------------------

Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG) of
the Association for Behavior Analysis, International (ABAI).
---------------------