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Animal Behavior and Mental Illness

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Abstract

This article presents a functional analysis of clinical depression by describing the kinds of variables which may increase or decrease the frequency of an arbitrary response in animal experiments. The animal results were extended to the clinical phenomenon by noting how these same variables might operate in the natural environment. Since depression is a phenomenon of the individual’s total repertoire, animal experiments are described which extend the experimental analysis of behavior from the study of simple arbitrary response in a single animal to more complex behavior in social environments.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral Research, USA

    C. B. Ferster

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  1. C. B. Ferster
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Ferster, C.B. Animal Behavior and Mental Illness. Psychol Rec 16, 345–356 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393678

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