Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Behavior Analyst logoLink to The Behavior Analyst
. 2003 Fall;26(2):267–279. doi: 10.1007/BF03392081

Skinner boxes for psychotics: Operant conditioning at Metropolitan state hospital

Alexandra Rutherford
PMCID: PMC2731451  PMID: 22478407

Abstract

Between 1953 and 1965, Ogden Lindsley and his associates conducted free-operant research with psychiatric inpatients and normal volunteers at Metropolitan State Hospital in Waltham, Massachusetts. Their project, originally named “Studies in Behavior Therapy,” was renamed “Harvard Medical School Behavior Research Laboratory” in 1955. This name change and its implications were significant. The role of the laboratory in the history of the relationship between the experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis is discussed. A case is made for viewing Lindsley's early work as foundational for the subfield of the experimental analysis of human behavior that formally coalesced in the early 1980s. The laboratory's work is also contextualized with reference to the psychopharmacological revolution of the 1950s. Finally, a four-stage framework for studying the historical and conceptual development of behavior analysis is proposed.

Keywords: history, behavior analysis, free operant, human behavior

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Atthowe J. M., Jr, Krasner L. Preliminary report on the application of contingent reinforcement procedures (token economy) on a "chronic" psychiatric ward. J Abnorm Psychol. 1968 Feb;73(1):37–43. doi: 10.1037/h0025439. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Ayllon T., Azrin N. H. The measurement and reinforcement of behavior of psychotics. J Exp Anal Behav. 1965 Nov;8(6):357–383. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1965.8-357. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. BALL T. S., BERNARDONI L. C. The application of an auditory apperception test to clinical diagnosis. J Clin Psychol. 1953 Jan;9(1):54–58. doi: 10.1002/1097-4679(195301)9:1<54::aid-jclp2270090116>3.0.co;2-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. BARRETT B. H. Reduction in rate of multiple tics by free operant conditioning methods. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1962 Sep;135:187–195. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. BEAN K. L. THE SOUND-APPERCEPTION TEST: ORIGIN, PURPOSE, STANDARDIZATION, SCORING AND USE. J Psychol. 1965 Mar;59:371–412. doi: 10.1080/00223980.1965.10544626. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. BIJOU S. W. A systematic approach to an experimental analysis of young children. Child Dev. 1955 Sep;26(3):161–168. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1955.tb04780.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. BIJOU S. W. Patterns of reinforcement and resistance to extinction in young children. Child Dev. 1957 Mar;28(1):47–54. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1957.tb04830.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Bassett J. E., Blanchard E. B. The effect of the absence of close supervision on the use of response cost in a prison token economy. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Fall;10(3):375–379. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Bijou S. W. Operant Extinction after Fixed-interval Reinforcement with Young Children. J Exp Anal Behav. 1958 Jan;1(1):25–29. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1958.1-25. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. COHEN D. J., LINDSLEY O. R. CATALYSIS OF CONTROLLED LEADERSHIP IN COOPERATION BY HUMAN STIMULATION. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1964 Nov;5:119–137. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1964.tb02134.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. FERSTER C. B., DEMYER M. K. A method for the experimental analysis of the behavior of autistic children. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1962 Jan;32:89–98. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1962.tb00267.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. FERSTER C. B. Positive reinforcement and behavioral deficits of autistic children. Child Dev. 1961 Sep;32:437–456. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1961.tb05042.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Glasgow R. E., Rosen G. M. Behavioral bibliotherapy: a review of self-help behavior therapy manuals. Psychol Bull. 1978 Jan;85(1):1–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Goldiamond I. Self-control procedures in personal behavior problems. Psychol Rep. 1965 Dec;17(3):851–868. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1965.17.3.851. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hake D. F. The basic-applied continuum and the possible evolution of human operant social and verbal research. Behav Anal. 1982 Spring;5(1):21–28. doi: 10.1007/BF03393137. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hayes S. C., Cone J. D. Reducing residential electrical energy use: payments, information, and feedback. J Appl Behav Anal. 1977 Fall;10(3):425–435. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1977.10-425. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hyten C., Reilly M. P. The renaissance of the experimental analysis of human behavior. Behav Anal. 1992 Fall;15(2):109–114. doi: 10.1007/BF03392593. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. LINDSLEY O. R. Characteristics of the behavior of chronic psychotics as revealed by free-operant conditioning methods. Dis Nerv Syst. 1960 Feb;21(2):66–78. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. LINDSLEY O. R. Direct measurement and functional definition of vocal hallucinatory symptoms. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1963 Mar;136:293–297. doi: 10.1097/00005053-196303000-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. LINDSLEY O. R. Experimental analysis of social reinforcement: terms and methods. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1963 Jul;33:624–633. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.1963.tb01010.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. LINDSLEY O. R. Operant conditioning methods applied to research in chronic schizophrenia. Psychiatr Res Rep Am Psychiatr Assoc. 1956 Jun;5:118-39; discussion, 140-53. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Laties Victor G. Behavior analysis and the growth of behavioral pharmacology. Behav Anal. 2003 Fall;26(2):235–252. doi: 10.1007/BF03392079. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Miller L. K., Miller O. L. Reinforcing self-help group activities of welfare recipients. J Appl Behav Anal. 1970 Spring;3(1):57–64. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1970.3-57. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. O'Leary K. D., Becker W. C. Behavior modification of an adjustment class: a token reinforcement program. Except Child. 1967 May;33(9):637–642. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Rutherford A. Radical behaviorism and psychology's public: B. F. Skinner in the popular press, 1934-1990. Hist Psychol. 2000 Nov;3(4):371–395. doi: 10.1037/1093-4510.3.4.371. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Rutherford Alexandra. B. F. Skinner's technology of behavior in American life: from consumer culture to counterculture. J Hist Behav Sci. 2003 Winter;39(1):1–23. doi: 10.1002/jhbs.10090. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. WEINER H. CONDITIONING HISTORY AND HUMAN FIXED-INTERVAL PERFORMANCE. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 Sep;7:383–385. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-383. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. WEINER H. RESPONSE COST AND FIXED-RATIO PERFORMANCE. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 Jan;7:79–81. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-79. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Behavior Analyst are provided here courtesy of Association for Behavior Analysis International

RESOURCES