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The Place of the Human Subject in the Operant Laboratory

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Abstract

Although laboratory study of human behavior seems an obvious vehicle for strengthening the scientific base of behavior analysis, the place of the human subject within the operant laboratory remains problematic. The prevailing research strategy has been to link principles developed with animals to human affairs, either through interpretation of naturally occurring human behaviors or through application of the principles to the solution of human problems. The paucity of laboratory research on human operant behavior derives from several misconceptions: the possibility that experimental demand characteristics and pre-experimental behavioral dispositions of human subjects contaminate the results; that ethical considerations place undue constraint on research topics and experimental designs; and that uncontrollable variation in subjects’ histories and other relevant personal characteristics prevents observation of reliable functional relations. We argue that these problems do not pose insurmountable obstacles to the experimental analysis of human behavior; that adequate methods of control and analysis are available; and that operant techniques, by emphasizing experimentally imposed contingencies, are well suited for the laboratory study of human behavior.

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Reference Note

  1. Baron, A. The place of the human animal in the operant laboratory. In R. Poppen (Chair), Issues in human operant conditioning. Symposium presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, August 1975.

  2. Baron, A., & Galizio, M. Instructional control ofhuman operant responding. In P. Harzem and E. Ribes (Chairs), Language and behavior, International Symposium on the Science of Behavior, Mexico City, 1982.

  3. DeWaard, R. J., & Baron, A. Control of human behavior in the operant laboratory: Concurrent operant performances. In R. Poppen (Chair), The experimental analysis of human behavior. Symposium presented at the meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Dearborn, Michigan, June 1979.

  4. Perone, M., & Baron, A. Age related effects of response pacing on the repeated acquisition of behavioral chains. In J. M. Johnston (Chair), Experimental analyses of human behavior. Symposium presented at the meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 1981.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA

    Alan Baron & Michael Perone

  2. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, 28406, USA

    Michael Perone

Authors
  1. Alan Baron
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  2. Michael Perone
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Additional information

Support was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant DA01080) and the National Institute on Aging (Grant AG02513).

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Baron, A., Perone, M. The Place of the Human Subject in the Operant Laboratory. BEHAV ANALYST 5, 143–158 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392383

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