Dear colleagues, On a day when behavioral science won a Nobel Prize, I write to point out another instance of behavioral theory in the public sphere.
In the wake of the latest horrible mass shooting, 147 "scholars, professors, and law enforcement professionals" signed an open letter urging the media not to name or show pictures of this or similar perpetrators. I have not seen any media coverage of this letter, but the link to it is below. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4Z7VkWcwLk-SjFJc00tdmI1eW8/view It is interesting to note, that in this very serious context, these professionals are recommending a behavioral intervention based on the elimination of reinforcement for these acts. In my own view, the recommendations do not go far enough, but they are very clearly derived from behavioral theory, not neuroscience or cognitive psychology. Finally, this is not my area of expertise. There may be signers to this letter who are members of our tribe, but none of the names jumped out at me. Indeed, at least one of the signers has been a fairly vocal critic of behavior analysis in other contexts. So I see this as a quiet victory for us, perhaps one that the signers have failed to recognize, but a victory nonetheless. Furthermore, it comes in relation to a very serious social problem. Best, SV stuartvyse.com @stuartvyse <https://twitter.com/stuartvyse> --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=51527 or send a blank email to leave-51527-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
