Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Behavior Analyst logoLink to The Behavior Analyst
. 1996 Fall;19(2):199–210. doi: 10.1007/BF03393164

The four free-operant freedoms

Ogden R Lindsley
PMCID: PMC2733618  PMID: 22478258

Abstract

This article reviews early free-operant conditioning laboratory research and applications. The seldom-mentioned four free-operant freedoms are described for the first time in detail. Most current behavior analysts do not realize that the freedom to form responses and the freedom to speed responses were crucial steps in designing free-operant operanda in the 1950s. These four freedoms were known by the laboratory researchers of the 1950s to the point that, along with operanda design, Sidman (1960) did not feel the need to detail them in his classic, Tactics of Scientific Research. The dimensions of freedom in the operant were so well understood and accepted in the 1950s that most thought it redundant to use the term free operant. These issues are reviewed in some detail for younger behavior analysts who did not have the opportunity of learning them firsthand.

Keywords: fluency, free operant, frequency, operant conditioning, rate of response

Full text

PDF
200

Selected References

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

  1. 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]
  2. BIJOU S. W. A child study laboratory on wheels. Child Dev. 1958 Sep;29(3):425–427. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1958.tb04899.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. 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]
  4. BLOUGH D. S. Dark adaptation in the pigeon. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1956 Oct;49(5):425–430. doi: 10.1037/h0043257. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. BLOUGH D. S. Spectral sensitivity in the pigeon. J Opt Soc Am. 1957 Sep;47(9):827–833. doi: 10.1364/josa.47.000827. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Blough D. S. Stimulus generalization as signal detection in pigeons. Science. 1967 Nov 17;158(3803):940–941. doi: 10.1126/science.158.3803.940. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. FERSTER C. B. The use of the free operant in the analysis of behavior. Psychol Bull. 1953 Jul;50(4):263–274. doi: 10.1037/h0055514. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. 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]
  9. 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]
  10. LINDSLEY O. R., HOBIKA J. H., ETSTEN B. E. Operant behavior during anesthesia recovery. A continuous and objective method. Anesthesiology. 1961 Nov-Dec;22:937–946. doi: 10.1097/00000542-196111000-00012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. 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]
  12. Lovitt T. C. Free-operant preference for one of two stories: a methodological note. J Educ Psychol. 1967 Apr;58(2):84–87. doi: 10.1037/h0024318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rayfield F., Segal M., Goldiamond I. Schedule-induced defecation. J Exp Anal Behav. 1982 Jul;38(1):19–34. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1982.38-19. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SKINNER B. F. Teaching machines; from the experimental study of learning come devices which arrange optimal conditions for self instruction. Science. 1958 Oct 24;128(3330):969–977. doi: 10.1126/science.128.3330.969. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES