Name Allen Neuringer | Role Psychologist | |
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Education Columbia College of Columbia University in the City of New York, Harvard University | ||
Allen neuringer variability of the operant sqab
Allen Neuringer (born ca. 1940) is an American psychologist. He is a scientist in the field of the experimental analysis of behavior, as pioneered by B.F. Skinner. His areas of research include human volition studies, the generation of randomness in organisms, self-experimentation, and many other areas. He received his B.A. at Columbia College, and his PhD from Harvard University. He served on National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) committees, received numerous awards and grants for his research, and has published widely. As of June 2008, Dr. Neuringer retired as a professor of psychology at Reed College.
Contents
- Allen neuringer variability of the operant sqab
- An interview with allen neuringer
- Early life and education
- Career
- Research interests
- Randomness and behavior
- Melioration and self experimentation
- Awards and recognition
- Personal life
- Representative publications
- References
An interview with allen neuringer
Early life and education
Allen Neuringer born ca. 1940. He received his B.A. at Columbia College. He did his PhD at Harvard University.
Career
As of June 2008, Neuringer retired as a professor of psychology at Reed College.
He has also been an editor or assistant editor on four journals, and currently is an editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB). He has been a reviewer on 23 journals, including Science and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
He served on National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) committees.
Research interests
Neuringer is a social scientist in the field of the experimental analysis of behavior, as pioneered by B.F. Skinner. His areas of research include human volition studies, the generation of randomness in organisms, self-experimentation, and many other areas.
Randomness and behavior
Neuringer's work focused on the production of "pure randomness" in human and other organismic behavior, something that was widely considered impossible. Matching and reinforcing human and animal responses to a random number generator he was able to have humans and other organisms behave "randomly".
Melioration and self-experimentation
Dr. Neuringer has suggested that behavior analysis as a field might benefit from using experimental designs that explicitly and directly attempted to meliorate the condition of an experimental subject. He envisaged placing practical everyday goals as the objective of experiments and, especially, self-experiments.
Awards and recognition
Dr. Neuringer's work has received numerous NSF/NIMH grants.
Personal life
Dr. Neuringer, with his wife and students, built a house in the state of Oregon. During this time, they purchased multiple different animals, such as ducks, that Dr. Neuringer considered his friends. While living in this home and teaching at Reed College, Dr. Neuringer and his wife Martha were visited by Dr. Howie Rachlin and Dr. Rachlin's wife from New York. In honor of their guests, Dr. Neuringer unapologetically slaughtered two of his duck friends (one can only hope this behavior does not generalize). This act of aggression resulted in a useless gesture as the ducks were old and too gamey to eat. This traumatic event resulted in Dr. Neuringer and those closest to him becoming vegetarians for an extended period of time.