Obituary: Charles B. Ferster (1922-1981).

Presents an obituary for Charles B. Ferster (1922-1981), a pioneering figure in the functional analysis of behavior. Ferster was the moving spirit in founding the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, a hastily improvised publication that soon became a leading journal in the field, and he served as its first editor. In a pioneering project with M. K. DeMyer, he showed that the behavior of autistic children, hitherto supposed to be virtually unmodifiable, could effectively be reinforced with tokens which the children could use to operate a variety of amusement devices and vending machines. Their project opened the door to direct therapeutic intervention with this diagnostic group and to the use of tokens to alter the behavior of institutional populations. In the last years of Ferster's life, his main interest was in studying the concrete details of a variety of psychotherapeutic procedures and specifying their nature in behavioral terms. He died of a heart attack on February 2, 1981 at the age of 58. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

William Nathan Schoenfeld (1915–1996): Obituary.

Memorializes William Nathan Schoenfeld, who significantly extended knowledge in the area of experimental analysis of behavior through his his analytical and critical approach to the analysis of behavior. Schoenfeld was instrumental in the founding of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. He was selected to serve as chair of the Study Section in Experimental Psychology, Division of Research Grants and was also elected president of the Pavlovian Society of North America, the Eastern Psychological Association, and Division 25 (Experimental Analysis of Behavior) of the American Psychological Association. Schoenfeld may be best known, however, as an innovative figure who introduced the use of nonverbal organisms as laboratory material for students' introductory psychology class, and the classic textbook to accompany the course, Principles of Psychology: A Systematic Text in the Science of Behavior, that he coauthored with F. S. Keller. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reports for 1978 of the Regional Associations.

This article provides reports from the regional psychological associations for the year 1978. The following regions are included: (1) Western Psychological Association: Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Meeting; (2) Midwestern Psychological Association: Report of the Fiftieth Annual Meeting; (3) Eastern Psychological Association: Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Meeting; (4) Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology: Report of the Seventieth Annual Meeting; (5) Rocky Mountain Psychological Association: Report of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting; and (6) Southeastern Psychological Association: Report of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on Wetzel's treatment of a case of compulsive stealing.

Using a research design and a procedure based on operant techniques, Wetzel has treated a disturbed 10-yr-old by canceling customary visits with a motherly cook. However, the length of delay between the act and its consequence suggests that the effectiveness of this contingency may have depended upon verbal mediation. Furthermore, familiarization with conditioning principles and awareness of improvement may have led the staff to give less attention than before to each stealing episode. A temporary suppression of this behavior may have altered the general social environment in such a way as to permit S to substitute more effective methods of securing attention and affection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Setting the record straight: The social views of B. F. Skinner.

Skinner suggested that it is punishment that people find objectionable and against which they rebel, rather than simply the fact that our behavior is under external control. Positive reinforcement leads to voluntary cooperation. Hostile reactions to Skinner's message may reflect confusion of his opposition to autonomous action as a scientific concept with opposition to behavior described as autonomous. Negative reactions toward science, psychology, and the use of "lower" animals to understand human behavior may also have played a role. Properly understood, Skinner was much closer to the libertarian than to the totalitarian end of the political spectrum. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reports for 1977 of the regional Associations.

This document lists reports of the regional psychological associations for 1977, including the Western, Midwestern, Rocky Mountain, Eastern, and Southeastern Psychological Associations, as well as the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)