AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF RULEGOVERNED BEHAVIOR

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF RULE-GOVERNED BEHAVIOR NIKLAS TÖRNEKE

THE BASIC PHENOMENA OF OPERANT BEHAVIOR “Men act upon the world and change it, and are changed in turn by the consequences of their action” (Skinner, 1957 in Verbal Behavior, p. 1). Antecedent Behavior

SOME (ALL? ) HUMAN BEHAVIOR LOOKS DIFFERENT… • For humans certain antecedents (verbal? ) function by specifying behavior and consequence (telling you what to do and for what). This seems to work differently than for other species. • Rule-governed behavior (instructional control). Skinner (1966) An operant analysis of problem solving. In Kleinmuntz, B. (ed) Problem solving. Research, method and theory (p. 1333 -171).

DIFFERENT TYPES OF RULE-GOVERNED BEHAVIOR • Pliance, tracking and augmenting. Zettle & Hayes (1982) Rule-governed behavior. A potential theoretical framework for cognitive-berhavioral therapy. In Kendall (ed. ) Advances in cognitive behavioral research and therapy (pp. 73 -118) • Pliance: RGB primarily under the control of apperant speaker mediated consequences for a correspondance between the rule and the relevant behavior. • Tracking: RGB under the control of the apperant correspondance between the rule and the way the world is arranged. • Augmenting: RGB under the control of the apperant changes in the capacity of events to function as reinforcers or punishers

ADDITIONAL POINTS • Two basic forms of RGB (pliance and tracking), distinguished by the type of history of reinforcing contingencies associated with them. • Augmenting works in combination with either of the other two by influencing the degree to which the consequences specified in the rule function as reinforcing or punishing. • All these definitions were described before RFT. • RFT answers the essential question: How can humans learn to do this?

QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THIS • Do these definitons hold? • Are they helpful? • If so, when and for what?