João Claudio Todorov

Análise experimental do comportamento e sociedade: um novo foco de estudo

Although there are many citations where Skinner writes about the importance of the study of cultural practices in behavior analysis, these studies were forgotten for almost fifty years. Working in this plan Sigrid Glenn has created the concept of metacontingency, a great contribution as a tool in the description and analysis of social behavior. Some metacontingency studies are presented in this paper and the behavior analysts function in social issues is discussed, including analysis and modification of cultural practices.

A PSICOLOGIA COMO O ESTUDO DE INTERAÇÕES

The problems with the variety of definitions of Psychology are analyzed, and the advantages from the point of view of Behavior Analysis, on defining Psychology as the study of organism-environment relations. Such interactions can be seen as a continuum where the passage from Psychology to Biology or to Social Sciences is often a matter of convenience. The experimental analysis of behavior uses contingencies and functional relationships as tools for the study of organism-environment relations.

Da Aplysia à Constituição:Evolução de Conceitos na Análise do Comportamento

This work presents the evolution of concepts in behavior analysis, especially in the writings of Skinner, from the definition of operant behavior and reinforcement contingency to processes of selection by consequences, following the development of a conceptual language that covers both the behavior of molluscs and the metacontingencies included in the constitution of a country. Skinners first papers used the terminology developed by Pavlov in his studies of conditioned reflexes to deal with behavior in general. From Skinners doctoral dissertation to the papers published in the 80s there was an evolution, followed by the field of behavior analysis, which today uses the same, sophisticated language to deal with complex issues like cultural practices and the survival of cultures.

A evolução do conceito de operante

The concept of operant was developed by Skinner as an answer to the problems he had using the concept of reflex to describe the eating behavior of rats. The present work shows the evolution of the concept to present times, when the unity of analysis is the concept of triple contingency.

Sistema Personalizado de Ensino, Educação à Distância e aprendizagem centrada no aluno

Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), broadly employed in the 1970s, and Distance Learning (DL) are teaching methodologies that differ from the traditional models of education, in which the critical core of information transmission is the teacher. This work presents the main features of both PSI and DL, highlighting their similarities. Studies in which PSI and DL were used together are described, and the advantages of this junction are discussed. It is suggested, at the end of this work, that using PSI and DL together may be a viable way of dissemination and democratization of quality education, based on empirical evidence of its effectiveness.

Psicologia, comportamento, processos e interações

In 2008 we celebrated the 70th anniversary of Skinners publication - The Behavior of Organisms. The present work is inspired by a review of the book published by Philip N. Hineline in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Some characteristics of the book and of behavior analysis that make behaviorism incomprehensible for some and menacing for others are discussed. The issue discussed is complex and has many derivations. The features of Skinners work, and possible reasons for its misunderstanding, will be only briefly presented. A more complete account of the theme may be found in the literature cited in this work.

Behavior analysis and experimental pharmacology

This paper provides an introduction to the field of behavioral pharmacology. A brief description of the main characteristics of behavior analysis is followed by a review of the contributions of experimental pharmacology to behavior analysis and vice versa. Finally, a section on new procedures in behavioral pharmacology outlines experimental situations in which complex kinds of behavior can to studied. These include: (a) temporal discrimination; (b) preference to be free and informed; (c) commitment, choice and self-control; and (d) high-order concept formation.

Evaluating effects of cultural consequences on the variability of interlocking behavioral contingencies and their aggregate products

ABSTRACT Behavior analysis has given increasing attention to persons within groups over the past few years. An experimental analog of a metacontingency, its interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs) and aggregate products (APs) is replicated in this paper. Two experiments were conducted in which pairs of participants were asked to coordinate their responses in order to achieve a common goal. Each participant moved a playing piece around a virtual chessboard where meetings in adjacent cells within specific areas of the board were reinforced. An ABAB design was used in Experiment 1. Condition A represented baseline conditions in which meetings were not reinforced. In intervention condition B, meetings were reinforced by successive approximations to a specific 4 × 4 area of the chessboard. The results from the first experiment show that the variability index of IBCs varied systematically among conditions. The variability index of APs were smaller in condition B than in condition A. Experiment 2 was designed to evaluate whether longer exposure to the intervention condition would generate stereotypy in the IBCs as well as their APs. The second experiment used a BAB design where condition B was intervention, and condition A was baseline. Results of Experiment 2 show complete stereotypy of IBCs and AP. The experiments presented indicate that contingent reinforcing consequences may have a selective effect upon IBCs and their APs.

Análise custo-benefício do reforço negativo em contingências de esquiva sinalizada

This study examined the role that signals have in signaled-avoidance contingencies and analyzed the environment-organism relationship as an example of a cost-benefit relation. Six rats served as subjects in a signaled free-operant procedure with a response-signal interval of 20 s (safe period) and a signal-shock interval of 10 s (warning period). In successive experimental conditions the response requirement during the signal was increased from 1 to 10 (FR1, 3, 5, 7, and 10). Response rate during the signal was an inverted-U function of the fixed-ratio requirement. Responding during the safe period and rate of shocks delivered were a direct function of the fixed-ratio requirement. Signal rate (number of times the signal was presented divided by time spent in the safe period) was an inverse function of the fixed-ratio requirement on the warning period. Results are consistent with a cost-benefit analysis of responding in signaled-avoidance procedures. With low response requirement during the signal, rats tended to respond less on the safe period, minimizing effort. Increasing the cost of responding during the signal resulted in that less effort for about the same benefit was attained by responding during the safe period.

RÉPLICA AOS COMENTÁRIOS DE BOTOMÉ, CARRARA & ZILIO, LAZZERI E TONNEAU

Ler comentários sobre artigos acadêmicos realça pontos importantes e conteúdos polêmicos. Uma coleção de comentários serve ao leitor como oportunidade de se observar padrões. Por exemplo, ao que parece, todos os autores concordam que o artigo de Botomé (2013a) é especialmente intrigante, se não complexo; explicitamente define comportamento com o uso do conceito de operante, deixando no ar sua acepção do papel dos respondentes. O número de detalhes e digressões é tamanho que sobra espaço para polêmicas como as que Tonneau (2013b) destaca em seu comentário “Comentários Sobre o Comportamento”. Uma vez que o próprio leitor poderá formar suas conclusões, a presente réplica não objetiva apontar os padrões ou as características do parecer de cada autor convidado pela Revista Brasileira de Análise do Comportamento (REBAC), mas antes, esclarecer o posicionamento dos autores Todorov e Henriques (2013a) no artigo intitulado “O que Não É e o que Pode Vir a Ser Comportamento”. A redação e os pontos abordados foram evocados pelos artigos em que os autores comentam nosso texto supracitado.