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A compassionate approach to behavior change: Why you need to be more constructional (recording)

In this webinar, Mary Hunter chatted with Cameron Scallan, BCBA, and Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz about their recently published article: “The Constructional Approach: A Compassionate Approach to Behavior Change.” They discussed what it means to be compassionate, what it means to be constructional, and why all of this matters. We hope you enjoy the recording! Webinar … Read more

Lessons from Dr. Ogden Lindsley

In this webinar, Dr. Rosales-Ruiz shared some of his favorite stories from his time working with Dr. Ogden Lindsley. He discussed what it was like working with Ogden, how to think about research, Ogden’s ideas about movement cycles and conditioned reinforcers, the acronym MUSIC, and more. He even explained why you shouldn’t milk a chicken! … Read more

Reflections about Reinforcement (PDF)

In the 1950s, Dr. Fred Keller wrote a book called Learning: Reinforcement Theory. The size of a small paperback novel, it’s a short book. The whole thing is about 80 pages. However, within its pages, Dr. Keller explains the basics of operant and respondent conditioning, reinforcement, punishment, extinction, intermittent reinforcement, generalization, discrimination, chaining, and more. … Read more

Building duration inside a chain (video)

Adding more duration to a behavior can sometimes be difficult, even for teachers who are good at shaping. When the teacher changes the criteria for reinforcement, the learner may wonder, “Should I do MORE of this same behavior? Or, am I supposed to do a DIFFERENT behavior?” If the learner engages in other behaviors, this … Read more

PORTL research: The power of one reinforcer

At several conferences around 2010, I heard animal trainer Bob Bailey warn about what he calls “desperation-driven clicks.” When training an animal, things don’t always work out the way the trainer planned. What can sometimes happen when things don’t go as planned is that the trainer, out of desperation or frustration, goes ahead and reinforces … Read more

PORTL as a research tool

The Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab (PORTL) is a powerful tool for modeling behavior principles and for teaching students how to shape behaviors. In addition, it can be used to conduct research studies. (If you’ve never heard of PORTL, visit this article to learn more.) The simplicity of PORTL makes it ideal for research. … Read more