Without a doubt, Charles Catania's academic life serves as an exemplary model for any young behavioral analyst. His interest in understanding human behavior was shaped by the best teachers and the fervor for research in that early era, when everything was just beginning in the analysis of behavior, and there was much work to be done. His activities have encompassed a wide range of areas, including teaching, laboratory research with animals and humans, publishing, journal editing, project leadership, and administrative responsibilities. All his contributions have led Catania to be considered one of the pillars of behavior analysis. We will focus on his contributions to the study of instructional control and its importance in the analysis of verbal behavior.
A. Charles Catania has been one of the most prominent thinkers on language and verbal behavior in the field of behavior analysis and behaviorism. He developed one of the most comprehensive behavior-analytic accounts of language evolution by conceptualizing verbal behavior as a product of selection at phylogenic, ontogenic, and cultural levels. Central to his theory is the view that language functions primarily as a means for one individual to change the behavior of another. The present paper reviews Catania’s behavioral theory of language evolution and extends it by enriching the social environments in which verbal behavior is presumed to have evolved. Drawing on findings from behavior analysis, ethology, archaeology, and anthropology, the paper argues that human ancestors were already equipped with rich, nonverbal social repertoires maintained largely by social contingencies and that these environments were fundamentally multidirectional rather than strictly hierarchical. It is proposed that verbal behavior emerged within these complex social systems as a means of augmenting, mediating, and extending existing social interactions rather than solely as a tool for top-down control. By situating Catania’s theory within a broader account of social complexity, this analysis offers an enriched behavioral framework for understanding the evolution of human language as verbal behavior.
Out of his many contributions, I focus on the tranche of Catania’s work devoted to the temporal spread of reinforcement. I alternate reports of his work with those of mine that were inspired by his. The paper begins with his report of “topographical tagging”, which elegantly picked apart the effect of reinforcement on responses before that most proximate to the reinforcer. This work revealed the reason for the failure of Skinner’s reflex reserve, explained by many of Catania’s subsequent papers, and redeemed by his revised version of that theory. His analysis made sense of my work on the difference between response rates on interval and ratio schedules. His work on the truncation of a reinforcer’s spread by the occurrence of other reinforcers became a key aspect of my Mathematical Principles of Reinforcement. Charlie was ahead of me on many of my contributions to the literature; just as he has been ahead of others on so many other topics, such as analysis of concurrent performances and the interaction of rule-governed and contingency-shaped behavior.
Selection operates not only (1) on populations of organisms over evolutionary time, as in the Darwinian sense, but also (2) on populations of responses within the lifetime of individual organisms and (3) on behavior as it is passed on from one organism to another. These three types of selection operate respectively at the phylogenic, ontogenic and sociogenic levels. Cultural diversity favors selection at the sociogenic level, and behavior analysis itself is one product of sociogenic selection. I here discuss the origins of behavior analysis and its international sociogenic dissemination using my own experiences as examples. Mexico enters early and figures prominently, later joined by Norway, Brazil, Japan, Great Britain and some others. Throughout and in various ways, language translation and translational research have played important roles. I am honored to be able to share that history here.
Behavioral variability has been shown to increase when reinforcement is contingent upon it. However, the explanation of how that comes about is not clear. Catania’s distinction between descriptive and functional operant classes may be helpful in clarifying the problem. The interpretation of what happens when variability increases in typical variability experiments is hampered by the complexity of the descriptive behavioral units. Those units typically consist of sequences of responses, separated by forced inter-response intervals. Therefore, the current experiment focused on several clearly distinguishable responses to different operanda rather than sequences of responses to only two operanda. The results support earlier findings that the degree of behavioral variability changes with changing lag requirements. However, the study of easily discriminable responses makes possible a detailed description of how local contingencies of reinforcement oscillate between reinforcement and extinction of the different response types. These local changes in contingencies apparently suffice in explaining the resulting variability and makes redundant any explanation in terms of a random generator or variability as an operant dimension on its own.
A. C. Catania has been a leading researcher, theorist and commentator in the field of behavior and analysis for more than sixty years. In publications spanning more than fifty years he has made important contributions to the molar/molecular debate. This paper tracks the development of his ideas across that time and shows that he has maintained a remarkably consistent and coherent view that sees a role for molecular processes including shaping along with processes that operate over longer time frames but sees no need for a so-called paradigm shift to molar explanations of operant behavior.
This paper honors A. Charles ("Charlie") Catania's contributions to the analysis of verbal behavior, particularly his insistence that the use of words is shaped by contingencies. Building on Charlie's foundational work and our collaborative project on behavior-analytic terminology, I examine the challenges posed when behavior analysts borrow words from the common vernacular for use as technical terms. Words like reinforcement, extinction, punishment, and control each carry colloquial baggage that can pose communication barriers. I consider four potential resolutions to these challenges: doing nothing, abandoning technical language, creating new terms, or refining stimulus control. Consistent with Charlie's longstanding call for precision, I argue that refining stimulus control over the contextual use of terms may be the best option, particularly when paired with deliberate strategies for translation to non-specialist audiences.
On May 13, 2016, I introduced myself via an email to Prof. Catania, calling myself “an apostate,” and asked whether I could buy him lunch and ask him some questions. He graciously offered to get together over Skype, which was easier for him, upon returning from ABAI in Chicago. I had nerves in advance of our meeting on Saturday, June 4. I was familiar with Prof. Catania’s legacy in behavior analysis. I very much wanted to avoid saying anything stupid.
Literacy acquisition in Brazilian public schools remains a major educational challenge, particularly for students with a history of academic failure or diagnosed developmental disorders. This study evaluated the effects of the initial teaching module from the program Aprendendo a Ler e a Escrever em Pequenos Passos (ALEPP) on 16 third- and fourth-grade students from a public elementary school, including seven with diagnoses such as Intellectual Disability, ADHD, and Cerebral Palsy. A mixed quasi-experimental longitudinal design was employed to contrast periods of exposure to regular school instruction alone with periods that included ALEPP Module 1, combining repeated measures with a staggered introduction of the intervention across groups. After exposure to the ALEPP module, students in both groups showed significant improvement in reading and writing performance, with scores increasing from averages below 15% to above 90% on trained tasks. Gains were maintained in follow-up assessments six months later. Additionally, several participants generalized learning to novel word combinations, and increased scores on the Verbal Comprehension Index of the WISC were observed. The study also demonstrated the effectiveness of individualized complementary procedures, based on functional behavioral analysis, in addressing specific learning difficulties. These results reinforce the potential of instructional technologies based on the equivalence paradigm and exclusion procedures to promote literacy in educational contexts.
This paper critically examines the concept of verbal regulation of behavior based on the seminal work Theory of Behavior by Ribes and López (1985), in order to illustrate its usefulness as a conceptual framework for addressing psychological phenomena. This work constituted the first formal effort to recognize different types of functional organization of behavior beyond the verbal–nonverbal dichotomy. Consequently, it made it possible to outline an alternative interpretation of the research area known as say–do–say correspondence and to design an empirical strategy to test it. It is argued that research on say–do–say correspondence has implicitly adopted a series of conceptual misunderstandings regarding verbal regulation as conceived within the early twentieth-century Soviet materialist tradition. In the alternative conception derived from the Theory of Behavior, say–do–say correspondence is understood as a case of functional dominance. Although this concept does not appear explicitly in the work of Ribes and López (1985), functional salience highlights the fact that, in the organization of organism–environment interdependencies, certain elements play a decisive role in structuring a particular qualitative form of behavior.
This article critically reviews the historical and conceptual development of contingency substitution, initially proposed by Ribes and López (1985). It analyzes how this concept emerged as a critique of the Skinnerian model, which relied on reflex-based logic insufficient to account for complex human behavior. It also examines how initial reliance on Kantor’s interbehavioral theory introduced conceptual ambiguity regarding fundamental terms. From this standpoint, the four most significant formulations of the concept (1983, 1985, 2012, & 2018) are systematically compared, discussing their philosophical and scientific backgrounds as well as the controversies arising from their interpretation and empirical operationalization. The paper illustrates how the proposal evolved from an initial notion of communicative reference toward a more refined concept of intentional reference, culminating in the current formulation of a molar model based on contact by extension and transformation. Finally, the article concludes by suggesting avenues for theoretical and empirical advancement, including the possibility of developing an alternative proposal.
Recent research indicates that university students face some limitations related to reading and writing skills. To provide empirical evidence about the teaching-learning conditions that could facilitate the development of these skills, a study to evaluate the effect of varying the level of achievement of two types of tasks on reading and writing skills of university students was conducted. Thirty-six students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree in psychology participated. A pretest-posttest design with a control group was used. In the pre-test and post-test, participants were asked to read an empirical article, complete 13 identification tasks, and write a conclusion. The experimental phase consisted of completing identification and elaboration tasks based on three criteria: 1) behavioral requirements linked to the article, 2) linked to hypothetical cases and unrelated to the article, and 3) unrelated to hypothetical cases and to the article. The results show a facilitating effect on reading performance based on criterion 1 and on writing performance based on criterion 2 tasks. These findings are discussed considering the relationship between task type, achievement criterion, and functional aptitude level.
In the general context of Behavior theory (Ribes & López, 1985), the Individual Scientific Practice Model (ISPM) is a theoretical resource used to outline the individual dimension of scientific practice, based on the assumptions of a field logic. Traditionally, it has been proposed that scientific activity involves the deployment of specific psychological processes. However, the ISPM assumes that psychological processes are not specific to science, and that specificity resides rather in the criteria that regulate such practice. This general assumption leads to a series of assertions, most of which have not been empirically evaluated; however, they have guided the development of research training programs. This article describes the conditions under which the model emerged, its main characteristics, the factors that comprise it, and some reflections on the type of research it enables. Finally, it advances some outstanding issues that, if addressed, could favor the empirical and conceptual development of ISPM, as well as the possible recognition of new areas of research.
This paper provides an overview of the impact of Ribes and López's (1985) “Teoría de la conducta: Un análisis de campo y paramétrico” (TC) in the context of formal education in general, and on higher education in particular. The following influences are recognized: (a) the distinction between science and technology that has allowed psychological advances to be adequately positioned in relation to theoretical and social problems. And positioning educational psychology as an interdiscipline capable of establish pertinent relationships with other disciplines and professionals; (b) proposal with heuristic potential and novelty in the current educational field; (c) encouraging the conceptual analysis and logical placement of terms used in the school setting, such as the term "learning"; (d) generation of a psychological development theory that extends the logic of TC to other non-school settings and other formative processes; (e) the configuration of a professional identity for the educational psychologist in its own right; (f) the delimitation of the psychological dimension of school education; (g) the construction of models aimed at analyzing diverse factors and processes within higher education; (h) impact on curriculum design and, consequently, on professional training. Finally, reflections are offered on the conditions that have hindered a greater impact of TC.
Food restriction is a common practice among young people, aimed at modifying body weight through strict dieting, food avoidance, and/or prolonged fasting. This behavior is influenced by social norms of dietary appropriateness, which indicate when it is suitable to eat less (inhibitory norm) or more (augmentative norm), depending on the eating behavior of others. Experimental evidence suggests that restrained eaters are particularly sensitive to these norms; however, methodological limitations have been identified that constrain the generalizability of findings. This study examined the effect of both dietary norms on the eating patterns of male and female university students using a mixed within-subject ABCA′ design, with four experimental groups and both male and female confederate models. Within-subject comparisons allowed the analysis of the effect of each norm, while between-group comparisons assessed differences by experimental condition. The results confirmed the influence of both norms on the amount of food intake, but not on the selection of food type. Differences were observed in the effect of the model depending on the sex of the participant. This study provides relevant evidence on the impact of social modeling on eating patterns, a topic still emerging within behavioral science.
Death notification is a frequent and stressful task in critical care. During COVID-19, the number of deaths increased significantly, and health personnel had to deliver this news remotely without preparation. In international research, training protocols have been described that improve physician’s communication skills and self-confidence, as well as remote communication suggestions to COVID-19. However, these recommendations are subjective and ambiguous, which can hinder their replicability. This research adopts the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis to implement a Behavioral Skills Training to identify, validate, and train the behaviors required to properly communicate a remote death notification for COVID-19 in three pilot participants. Nineteen operational definitions of the behaviors were generated and trained on three intensive care residents. Two participants demonstrated strong effect sizes following training, while the third participant did not complete the training. These preliminary results suggest that implementing a remote death notification behavioral skills training program might be feasible and effective, and could also be useful in face-to-face settings.
The present paper reviews the advances achieved by studying “food accumulation” with a parametric approach. To this end, studies on food accumulation that investigated the effect of three parameters (delay of reinforcement, temporal distribution of trials, and magnitude of reinforcement) are described. These studies showed that the amount of food accumulated increases by lengthening the delay of reinforcement, and that such effect is more marked as the trials are spaced. Besides, it was found that the effect of the delay on food accumulation depends on the magnitude of reinforcement employed: with high magnitudes, lengthening the delay has an increasing effect; with low magnitudes, the typical decreasing effect of the delay of reinforcement is replicated. These findings show that the studies on food accumulation are simply a case of a study on delay of reinforcement with a high magnitude of reinforcement. Some implications from the findings obtained by studying food accumulation with a parametric approach are raised for the established knowledge on the effect of the delay of reinforcement, the temporal distribution of trials, and the magnitude of reinforcement.
Forty years after the publication of the book “Behavior theory: A field and parametric analysis” by Emilio Ribes Iñesta and Francisco López Valadez, the impact of this work is discussed, not only in the confirmation of the object of study of psychology previously proposed by J. R. Kantor (1924, 1926) but also in the proposal of a taxonomy that organized, in five levels of different quality and complexity, the behavior of organisms. To the extent that the work above recognized the logical-conceptual existence of different types of contact media as enablers of differential interactions (i.e., physicochemical, ecological, and conventional), it has clarified the analytical phenomena specific to the psychological discipline, the distinction between individual and social behavior —the latter being exclusively human— as well as the points of contact and collaboration with bordering disciplines (i.e., biology and social-historical science). From a critical perspective on operant conditioning, this paper examines how the assumptions of TC have contributed to the understanding of social behavior, culminating in the emergence and development of a multidisciplinary area of collaboration between psychology and social-historical science: sociopsychology.
The experimental research carried out in the field of interactive styles is reviewed, based on the theoretical proposal of Ribes and Sánchez (1990) and Ribes (1990b), since the first work published to date. In this account, the empirical knowledge that has been produced in seventeen research papers written as articles or postgraduate theses is identified, to have a global appreciation of the progress in this field: What have been the purposes, methodological strategies, problems and limitations that have been faced and what possible future trends are glimpsed. It is concluded that the experimental results demonstrate intra-subject consistencies as a function of individual history, however, in some studies, certain participants do not show intra-individual consistency, which are not explained by the authors. The implementation of procedural controls and variations in the contingency structures to be studied is suggested, as well as in the measurement parameters and characteristics of the participants under study. The need to increase experimental production, particularly of the little styles researched, is also pointed out as criteria to guide future research in this field.
This study examined how the type of reinforcer (hypothetical or real) influences rule-governed behavior (RGB) and sensitivity to programmed contingencies. Two experiments were conducted using a decreasing earnings procedure with young adult participants. In Experiment 1, which involved hypothetical rewards, three behavioral patterns emerged: rule followers, rule breakers, and flexible followers. Greater variability in change points and lower adherence to instructed rules were observed, suggesting increased contact with contingencies. In Experiment 2, which involved real monetary rewards, all participants were classified as rule followers, exhibiting greater stability in change points and predominant adherence to the instructed pattern, even when it was suboptimal. The results suggest that real rewards more effectively reinforce rule-following behavior while reducing sensitivity to programmed contingencies. Additionally, real rewards enhance the ecological validity of experimental tasks and promote adherence to imprecise rules. Reinforcement history and the precision of initial rules emerge as key factors in understanding the insensitivity to contingencies observed in both experiments.
