Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Selector in Behavior Selection

  • Theoretical Article
  • Published:
The Psychological Record Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Decades of research show how what we know about learned reinforcers, as the selectors of behavior, constitutes a significant advancement in behavior analysis. I describe how the learning of new reinforcers results in new operants including verbal operants and verbal developmental cusps, as well as the potential to build still other reinforcers. The lack of particular types of reinforcers, or a limited community of reinforcers, is the root source of many problems in applied work and sources of complex relations in the basic science. In cases where the relevant reinforcers are present, building behavior is the solution; however, when the relevant reinforcers are not present, the use of prosthetic reinforcers does not solve the real problem. In the latter case, the solution is to build new reinforcers, behaviors will follow. I cite decades of work in food preferences, musical taste, social reinforcers, and the identification and establishment of verbal developmental cusps that shows how identifying and building new reinforcers expands what our science can do. The establishment of a rich community of socially significant positive reinforcers is life-altering.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aschelmann, S. R., & Williams, M. L. (1989). A test of the response deprivation hypothesis in a multiple-response context. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 93, 345–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & Cullinan, V. (2001). Relational frame theory and Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. The Behavior Analyst, 23, 69–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkson, G., & Mason, W. A. (1964). Stereotyped movement of mental defectives, IV. The effects of toys and characteristic acts. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 68, 588–524.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bijou, S. W. (1996). Reflections on some early events related to behavior analysis of child development. The Behavior Analyst, 19, 49–60.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Boch, S., & Fuqua, R. W. (2001). Behavioral cusp: A model for selecting target behaviors. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 34, 123–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, M. A., & Greer, R. D. (1983). Operant procedures and the comatose patient. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 16, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1983.16-3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bushell, D., Jr., & Baer, D. M. (1994). Measurably superior instruction means close continual contact with the relevant outcome data. Revolutionary! In R. Gardner et al. (Eds.), Behavior analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 3–10). Pacific Groves, CA: Brooks\Cole.

  • Buttigieg, S. F., & Greer, R. D. (n.d.). Establishment of preference for books in free play settings accelerates preschooler’s rates of learning to read first words. (Manuscript in preparation).

  • Cahill, C. S., & Greer, R. D. (2014). Actions vs. words: How we can learn both. Acta Investigacion Psichologia, 4, 1716–1745.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao, Y., & Greer, R. D. (2019). Mastery of echoics in Chinese establishes bidirectional naming in English. Analysis of Verbal Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-018-0106-1.

  • Carnerero, J. J., & Pérez-González, L. A. (2014). Induction of naming after observing visual stimuli and their names in children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(10), 2514–2526.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carp, C. L., & Petursdottir, A. I. (2012). Effects of two training conditions on the emergence of novel intraverbals: An extension of Pérez-González et al. (2008). The Psychological Record, 62, 187–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catania, A. C. (2007). Learning (interim 4th ed.). Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Sloan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Choi, J., Greer, R. D., & Keohane, D.-D. (2015). The effects of an auditory match-to-sample procedure on listener literacy and echoic responses. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 20(2), 186–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0101313.

  • Cotter, V. W., & Spradlin, J. E. (1971). A nonverbal technique for studying music preference. Journal of Experimental Child psychology, 11, 357–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0965(71)90040-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darcheville, J. C., Madelain, L., Buquet, C., Charlier, J., & Miossec, Y. (1999). Operant conditioning of the visual smooth pursuit in young infants. Behavioural Processes, 46, 131–139.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. R. (1871). The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex: Vol. 2. London, UK: John Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinsmoor, J. A. (1983). Observing and conditioned reinforcement. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 6, 693–728.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donahoe, J. W., & Vegas, R. (2004). Pavlovian conditioning: The CS-UR relation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 30(1), 117–133. https://doi.org/10.1037/0097-7403.30.1.17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donley, C. R., & Greer, R. D. (1993). Setting events controlling social verbal exchanges between students with developmental delays. Journal of Behavioral Education, 3(4), 387–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorow, L. G. (1977). The effect of teacher approval/disapproval ratios on student music selection and concert attentiveness. Journal of Research in Music Education, 25(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/3344843.

  • Du, L., Broto, J., & Greer, R. D. (2015). The effects of the establishment of conditioned reinforcement for observing responses for 3D stimuli on generalized match-to-sample in children with autism spectrum disorders. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 16(1), 82–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/15021149.2015.1065655.

  • Du, L., & Greer, R. D. (2014). Validation of adult generalized imitation topographies and the emergence of generalized imitation in young children with autism as a function of mirror training. The Psychological Record, 64, 161–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0050-y.

  • Dube, W. V., McDonald, R. O., Mansfield, R. C., Holcomb, W. L., & Ahearn, W. H. (2004). Toward a behavioral analysis of joint attention. The Behavior Analyst, 27(2), 197–207.

  • Eby, C. M., & Greer, R. D. (2017). Effects of social reinforcement on the emission of tacts by preschoolers. Behavioral Development Bulletin, 22(1), 23–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/bdb0000043.

  • Evans, R. I. (1968). B. F. Skinner: The man and his ideas. New York, NY: Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fantino, E. (1977). Conditioned reinforcement: Choice and information. In W. K. Honig & J. E. R. Staddon (Eds.), Handbook of operant behavior (pp. 313–339). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fantino, E. (1982). Second-order schedules with auditory brief stimuli and punishment for premature responding. Behaviour Analysis Letters, 2, 71–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fantino, E., & Case, D. A. (1983). Human observing: Maintained by stimuli correlated with reinforcement but not extinction. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 40, 193–210.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fantino, E., & Romanowich, P. (2007). The effect of conditioned reinforcement rate on choice: A review. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 87(3), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2007.44-06.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fields, L., Arntzen, E., Nartey, R. K., & Eilifsen, C. (2012). Effects of a meaningful, a discriminative, and a meaningless stimulus on equivalence class formation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 97(2), 163–181. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2012.97-163.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fiorile, C. A., & Greer, R. D. (2007). The induction of naming in children with no echoic-to-tact responses as a function of multiple exemplar instruction. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 23, 71–88.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fryling, M., Rehfeldt, R. A., Tarbox, J., & Hayes, L. J. (2020) Applied behavior analysis in language and cognition. Oakland, CA: New Harbringer Publications, Inc.

  • Gewirtz, J. L., & Baer, D. M. (1958). Deprivation and satiation of social reinforcers as drive conditions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 57(2), 165–172.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gladstone, B. W., & Cooley, J. (1975). Behavioral similarity as a reinforcer for preschool children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 23(3), 357–368.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R., Dorow, L., Wachhaus, G., & White, E. (1973). Adult approval and students music selection behavior. Journal of Research in Music Education, 21, 345–354.

  • Greer, R. D. (1981). An operant approach to motivation and affect: Ten years of research in music learning. Documentary report of the Ann Arbor Symposium on Psychology and the Teaching and Learning of Music. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D. (2002). Designing teaching strategies: An applied behavior analysis systems approach. New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Becker, B. J., Saxe, C. D., & Mirabella, R. F. (1985). Conditioning histories and setting stimuli controlling engagement in stereotypy or toy play. Analysis & Intervention with Developmental Disabilities, 5, 269–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Chavez-Brown, M., Nirgudkar, A. S., Stolfi, L., & Rivera-Valdes, C. L. (2005). Acquisition of fluent listener responses and the educational advancement of young children with autism and severe language delays. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 6(2), 88–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Corwin, A., & Buttigieg, S. F. (2011). The effects of the verbal developmental capability of Naming on how children can be taught. Acta de Investigacion Psicologia, 1(1), 23–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Dorow, L., Williams, G., McCorkle, N., & Asnes, R. (1991). Peer-mediated procedures to induce swallowing and food acceptance in young children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 783–790.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Du, L. (2010). Generic instruction versus intensive tact instruction and the emission of spontaneous speech. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis, 5(1), 1–19 Retrieved from http://baojournal.com/SLP-ABA%20WEBSITE/SLP-ABA%20VOL-5/SLP-ABA-5-1.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Du, L. (2015a). Experience and the onset of the capability to learn the name of things by exclusion. The Psychological Record, 65, 355–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-014-0111-2.

  • Greer, R. D., & Du, L. (2015b). Identification and establishment of reinforcers that make the development of complex social language possible. International Journal of Behavior Analysis & Autism Disorder, 1(1), 13–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Han, H. A. H. (2015). Establishment of conditioned reinforcement for visual observing and the emergence of generalized visual identity matching and preference for books with three Kindergarteners with ASD. Behavior Development Bulletin, 20(2), 227–252. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0101316.

  • Greer, R. D., & Longano, J. (2010). Naming a rose: How we may learn to do it. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 26, 73–106.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Pistoljevic, N., Cahill, C., & Du, L. (2011). Effects of conditioning voices as reinforcers for listener responses on rate of learning, and preferences for listening to stories in preschoolers with autism. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 27, 103–124.

  • Greer, R. D., Pohl, P., Du, L., & Lee-Moschella (2020). Bidirectional operants as behavioral metamorphosis. In Fryling M., Rehfeldt, R. A., Tarbox, J., & Hayes, L. J. applied behavior analysis in language and cognition (pp. 38–54). Oakland, CA: New Harbringer Publications, Inc.

  • Greer, R. D., Pohl, P., Du, L., & Moschella, J. L. (2017). The separate development of children’s listener and speaker behavior and the intercept as behavioral metamorphosis. Journal of Behavioral & Brain Science, 7, 674–704. https://doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Ross, D. E. (2004). Verbal behavior analysis: A program of research in the induction and expansion of complex verbal behavior. Journal of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, 1(2), 141–165 Retrieved February 20, 2005 from http://www.jeibi.com/JEIBI-1-2.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Ross, D. E. (2008). Verbal behavior analysis: Inducing and expanding complex communication in children severe language delays. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Singer-Dudek, J. (2008). The emergence of conditioned reinforcement from observation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 89, 15–39.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Singer-Dudek, J., Longano, J., & Zrinzo, M. (2008). The emergence of praise as conditioned reinforcement as a function of observation in preschool and school age children. Revista Psychologie Mexico., 25, 5–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., & Speckman, J. (2009). The integration of speaker and listener responses: A theory of verbal development. The Psychological Record., 59, 449–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer, R. D., Stolfi, L., & Pistoljevic, N. (2007). Emergence of naming in preschoolers: A comparison of multiple and single exemplar instruction. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 8, 119–131.

  • Greer, R. D., Yuan, L., & Gautreaux, G. (2005). Novel dictation and intraverbal responses as a function of a multiple exemplar history. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 21, 99–116.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, S., Barnes-Homes, D., & Roche, B. (2001). Relational frame theory: A Post Skinnerian theory of human language and cognition. New York, NY: Kluwer/Academic Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healy, O., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Smeets, P. M. (2000). Derived relational responding as generalized operant behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 74, 207–227.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J. (1970). On the law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 13, 243–266.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, J. G. (1958). Human vigilance. Science, 128, 61–67.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holland, J. G. (1976). Ethical implications of behavior modification. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 16(3), 71–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horne, P. J., & Lowe, C. F. (1996). On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 65, 185–241.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hranchuk, K., Greer, R. D., & Longano, J. (2018). Instructional demonstrations are more efficient than consequences alone for children with naming. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 23(2), 106–117. https://doi.org/10.1037/bdb0000081.

  • Keller, F. S., & Schonfeld, N. (1950). Principles of psychology. New York, NY: Appleton Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keohane, D. D., Luke, N., & Greer, R. D. (2008). The things we care to see: The effects of rotated protocol immersion on the emergence of early observing responses. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, 5(1), 23–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100408.

  • Keohane, D., Pereira-Delgado, J., & Greer, R. D. (2009). Observing responses: Foundations of higher order verbal operants. In R. A. Rehfeldt & Y. Barnes-Holmes (Eds.), Derived relational responding: Applications of relational frame theory (pp. 41–62). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Killeen, P. R., & Jacobs, K. W. (2017). Coal is black, snow is white, food is not a reinforcer: The role of affordances and dispositions in the analysis of behavior. The Behavior Analyst, 40, 17–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-016-0080-7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinert, K. (2018). A comparison of bidirectional naming for familiar and non-familiar stimuli and the effects of a repeated probe procedure for first-grade students (Order No. 10784944). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2031071957). (Order No. 10784944). Retrieved from https://tc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.tc.idm.oclc.org/docview/2031071957?accountid=14258

  • Lamarre, J., & Holland, J. (1985). The functional independence of mands and tacts. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 43, 5–19.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J. (2016). The effect of a social condition on the establishment of direct and indirect conditioned reinforcement for writing by second graders. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (Order No. 10107565). (1791450759). Retrieved from http://eduproxy.tc-library.org.tc.idm.oclc.org/?url=/docview/1791450759?accountid=14258

  • Lee, V. (1995). What is a psychological unit? Behaviour Change, 12(2), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0813483900004277.

  • Lo, C. (2016). How the presence of the listener half of Naming leads to multiple stimulus control (Order No. 10100022). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1784011549). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.7916/D8C82988.

  • Lodhi, S., & Greer, R. D. (1989). The speaker as listener. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 51, 353–360.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Longano, J. M., & Greer, R. D. (2015). Is the source of reinforcement for naming multiple conditioned reinforcers for observing responses? Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 31, 96–117. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-014-0022-y.

  • Lovitt, T. C. (1968). Free operant assessment of musical preference. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6, 361–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, C. F., Horne, P. J., Harris, D. S., & Randle, V. R. L. (2002). Naming and categorization in young children: Vocal tact training. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 78, 527–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, C. F., Horne, P. J., & Hughes, J. C. (2005). Naming and categorization in young children: III Vocal tact training and transfer of function. Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 83(1), 47–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen, C. K., Greer, R. D., & Madsen Jr., C. J. (Eds.). (1975). Research in music behavior: Modifying music behavior in the classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen Jr., C. H., Becker, W. C., & Thomas, D. R. (1968). Rules, praise, and ignoring: Elements of elementary classroom control. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 139–150.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maffei, J., Singer-Dudek, J., & Keohane, D. (2014). The effects of the establishment of adult faces and/or voices as conditioned reinforcers for children with ASD and related disorders. Acta de Investigacion Psicologia, 4, 1621–1641. doi:101016/S2007-41719(14)70970-6

  • Maurilus, E. N. (2018). The effect of the establishment of reinforcement value for math on rate of learning for pre-kindergarten students Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2031071940). (Order No. 10784940). Retrieved from http://eduproxy.tc-library.org.tc.idm.oclc.org/?url=/docview/2031071940?accountid=14258

  • Michael, J. (1982). Skinner’s elementary verbal relations: Some new categories. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 1, 1–3.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Michael, J. (1993a). Concepts and principles of behavior analysis. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael, J. (1993b). Establishing operations. The Behavior Analyst, 16, 191–206.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miguel, C. F. (2016). Common and intraverbal bidirectional naming. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 32, 125–138.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miguel, C. F., & Petursdottir, A. I. (2009). Naming and frames of coordination. In R. A. Rehfeldt & Y. Barnes-Holmes (Eds.), Derived relational responding: Applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities (pp. 129–148). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miguel, C. F., Petursdottir, A. I., Carr, J. E., & Michael, J. (2008). The role of naming in stimulus categorization by preschool children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 89, 383–405.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Moon, C., Lagercrantz, H., & Kuhl, P. K. (2013). Language experienced in utero affects vowel perception after birth: A two-country study. Acta Paediatricia, 102, 156–160. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.12098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, B. J., & Lindsley, O. R. (1966). Operant preference for stereophonic over monophonic music. Journal of Music Therapy, 50, 493–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G., Greer, R. D., & Fienup, D. M. (2020). Descriptive analyses of the relations between bidirectional naming, arbitrary, and non-arbitrary relations. (In press).

  • Nedelcu, R. I., Fields, L., & Arntzen, E. (2015). Arbitrary conditional discriminative functions of meaningful stimuli and enhanced equivalence class formation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 103(2), 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Novak, G., & Pelaez, M. (2004). Child and adolescent development: A behavioral systems approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuzzolo-Gomez, R., & Greer, R. D. (2004). Emergence of untaught mands or tacts with novel adjective-object pairs as a function of instructional history. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 24, 30–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuzzolo-Gomez, R., Leonard, M. A., Ortiz, E., Rivera, C. M., & Greer, R. D. (2002). Teaching children with autism to prefer books or toys over stereotypy or passivity. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions., 4(2), 80–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oblak, M., Greer, R. D., & Singer-Dudek, J. (2015). Valuation alteration: Stimuli increase in value when preschoolers deliver them to peers. The Psychological Record, 65, 705–716. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-015-0140-5.

  • O'Rourke, C. A. (2006). Conditioning math as a reinforcer for performance and learning as a function of observation (Order No. 3213574). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (305354752). (Order No. 3213574). Retrieved from http://eduproxy.tc-library.org.tc.idm.oclc.org/?url=/docview/305354752?accountid=14258

  • Pereira-Delgado, J. A., Greer, R. D., Speckman, J., & Goswami, A. (2008). Effects of conditioning reinforcement for print stimuli on match-to-sample responding in preschoolers. Journal of Speech-Language Pathology & Applied Behavior Analysis, 3(2/3), 60–77 Retrieved August 12, 2009 from http://www.slp-aba.net/DOCS/VOL3/JSLP-ABA%20-%20consolidated%20issue%203-2%20&%203-3.pdf.

  • Petursdottir, A. I., Olafsdottir, A. R., & Aradottir, B. (2008). The effects of tact training and listener training on the emergence of bidirectional intraverbal relations. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 41, 411–415.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pohl, P., Greer, R. D., Du, L., & Lee-Moschella, J. L. (2018). Verbal development, behavioral metamorphosis, and the evolution of language. Perspectives on Behavior Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-00180-0.

  • Premack, D. (1971). Catching up with common sense or two sides of a generalization: Reinforcement and punishment. In R. Glaser (Ed.), The nature of reinforcement (pp. 121–150). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rehfeldt, R. A., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (Eds.). (2009). Derived relational responding: Applications of relational frame theory. Oakland. CA: New Harbinger.

  • Roche, B., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (1997). A transformation of respondently conditioned functions in accordance with arbitrarily applicable relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 67, 275–301.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers-Warren, A. R., & Baer, D. M. (1976). Correspondence between saying and doing: Teaching children to share and praise. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9, 335–354.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Romeo, R. R., Segaran, J., Leonard, J. A., Robinson, S. T., West, M. R., Mackey, A. P., et al. (2018). Language exposure relates to structural connectivity in childhood. Journal of Neuroscience, 13, 0484–0418. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0484-18.2018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosales-Ruiz, J., & Baer, D. M. (1996). A behavior-analytic view of development. In S. Bijou & E. Ribes (Eds.), New directions in behavior development. Reno, NV: Context Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosales-Ruiz, J., & Baer, D. M. (1997). Behavioral cusps: A developmental and pragmatic concept for behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30(3), 533–544.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, J. E., & Fantino, E. (1978). Conditioned reinforcement and discrimination in second-order schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 29, 393–418.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, D. E., & Greer, R. D. (2003). Generalized imitation and the mand: inducing first instances of speech in young children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 376, 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmelzkopf, J., Greer, R. D., Singer-Dudek, J., & Du, L. (2017). Two social learning conditions to establish social verbal behavior in preschoolers. Behavior Development Bulletin, 22, 44–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/bdb0000026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. M. (2012). The science of consequences: How they change genes, change the brain, and impact our world. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidman, M. (1986). Functional analysis of emergent classes. In T. Thompson & M. Zeiler (Eds.), Analysis and integration of behavioral units (pp. 213–245). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidman, M. (1992). Equivalence relations: Some basic considerations. In S. C. Hayes & L. J. Hayes (Eds.), Understanding verbal relations (pp. 15–28). Reno, NV: Context Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer-Dudek, J., Choi, J., & Lyons, L. (2013). The effects of an observational intervention on the emergence of two types of observational learning. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 14, 329–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer-Dudek, J., & Greer, R. D. (2008). The effects of an observational intervention on the acquisition of reinforcing properties of a previously neutral stimulus. Journal of Early & Intensive Behavioral Interventions, 5, 57–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer-Dudek, J., Oblak, M., & Greer, R. D. (2011). Establishing books as conditioned reinforcers for acquisition and maintenance as a function of an observational intervention with preschool children: An extension of conditioned reinforcement by observation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 421–435.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York, NY: Appleton-Century.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Acton, MA: Copley Publishing Group & the B. F. Skinner Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1968). A science and technology of teaching. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1984). Phylogenic and ontogenic environments. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 7(4), 701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1986). The evolution of verbal behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 45, 115–122.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1989). The behavior of the listener. In S. C. Hayes (Ed.), Rule-governed Behavior: Cognition, contingencies and instructional control (pp. 85–96). New York, NY: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Squires, N., Norborg, J., & Fantino, E. (1975). Second order schedules: Discrimination of components. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 24, 157–171.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Staats, A. W. (1968). Learning, language, and cognition: Theory, research, and method for the study of human behavior and its development. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, A. D. (1971). Second-order schedules and the problem of conditioned reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 14, 289–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sulzer-Azaroff, B., Drabman, R., Greer, R. D., Hall, R. V., Iwata, B., & O'Leary, S. (Eds.). (1988). Behavior analysis in education from the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1968–1987. Lawrence, KS: Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundberg, M. (2009). https://marksundberg.com/.

  • Sundberg, M. L., & Partington, J. W. (1998). Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts.

  • Thorndike, E. L. (1911). Animal intelligence: Experimental studies. New York, NY: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello, M. (2008). Origins of human communication. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, H., & Greer, R. D. (2006). Conditioned preference for books and faster acquisition of textual responses by preschool children. Journal of Early & Intensive Behavioral Interventions, 3(1), 35–60 Retrieved from http://www.behavioranalyst-online.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsiouri, I., & Greer, R. D. (2003). Inducing vocal verbal behavior through rapid motor imitation training in young children with language delays. Journal of Behavioral Education, 12, 185–206.

  • Tsiouri, I., & Greer, R. D. (2007). Different social reinforcement contingencies in inducing echoics to tacts through motor imitation responding in children with severe language delays. Journal of Early & Intensive Behavioral Interventions, 43(4), 629–647. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100397.

  • Twyman, J. S. (1996). The functional independence of impure mands and tacts of abstract stimulus properties. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 13, 1–19.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vargas, E. A. (1993). From behaviorism to selectionism. Educational Technology, 33, 46–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, M. E., & Michael, J. L. (1982). Automatic reinforcement: An important but ignored concept. Behaviorism, 10(2), 101–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waddington, E. M., & Reed, P. (2009). The impact of using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten PIRK® on school outcomes on children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research in Autism Disorders, 3, 809–827.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, B. A. (1991). Marking and bridging versus conditioned reinforcement. Animal Learning & Behavior, 19, 264–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, B. A. (1994). Conditioned reinforcement: Neglected or outmoded explanatory construct? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 1(4), 457–475.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, B. A., & Dunn, R. (1991a). Preference for conditioned reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 55, 37–46.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, B. A., & Dunn, R. (1991b). Substitutability between conditioned and primary reinforcers in discrimination acquisition. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 55, 21–35.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G., & Greer, R. D. (1993). A comparison of verbal-behavior and linguistic-communication curricula for training developmentally delayed adolescents to acquire and maintain vocal speech. Behaviorology, 1, 31–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolslayer, L. D. (2013). The functional relation between the onset of BiN and the joining of listener to untaught speaker responses (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10022//AC:P:20444

  • Zrinzo, M., & Greer, R. D. (2013). Establishment and maintenance of socially learned conditioned reinforcement in young children: Elimination of the role of the adult. The Psychological Record, 63, 43–62.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Availability of Data and Materials

There are no data that can be shared because this is a conceptual article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, Box 223, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    R. Douglas Greer

Authors
  1. R. Douglas Greer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Douglas Greer.

Ethics declarations

There are no conflicts of interest. This is a theoretical article and did not involve humans nor was informed consent necessary.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Greer, R.D. The Selector in Behavior Selection. Psychol Rec 70, 543–558 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00385-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00385-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation