Description
Book SynopsisThe approach to psychology advocated by the radical behaviourists was often misunderstood and frequently gave rise to controversy. Originally published in 1974, this book introduced current research in operant conditioning and explains the attempt to understand behaviour inherent in such experiments at the time. After considering the philosophical context in which behaviouristic psychology developed, the author outlines the basic characteristics of operant research by reviewing single experiments on the effects of reinforcement on behaviour. Chapters on schedules of intermittent reinforcement extend this approach to more complex situations and emphasize that behaviour can be maintained and controlled in many different ways by environmental events.
The author then discusses recent work on conditional reinforcement and on the discriminative control of behaviour and shows how operant research has changed our understanding of these important concepts in psychology. Subsequent chap
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements. Preface. 1. Science and Behaviour 2. ‘Superstition’ 3. Reinforcement 4. Operant Conditioning 5. Four Basic Schedules of Reinforcement 6. Schedules of Reinforcement (cont.) 7. The Maintenance of Behaviour 8. Conditioned Reinforcement 9. Stimulus Control 10. The Effects of Punishment on Behaviour 11. The Effects of Conditioned Anxiety 12. Schedules of Aversive Stimuli 13. Drugs and Behaviour 14. Applications to Education 15. Operant Conditioning and Clinical Psychology 16. ‘The Experimental Analysis of Behaviour’. Selected Bibliography. References. Subject Index. Name Index.
