Full course description
Six Metaphysical Sources of Reinforcement
Patrick C. Friman, Ph.D., ABPP
Boys Town
The word metaphysics has several definitions. The earliest and simplest is after or beyond physics. Aristotle wrote his noted treatise “Physics” first and subsequently wrote “The Metaphysics.” The definition that best fits this talk is “lacking form or substance.” It is no exaggeration to say that behavior analysts have given metaphysics, no matter how you define it, a wide berth. In this talk, I advocate a reconsideration. I will describe six potential sources of reinforcement all which lack form and obvious material substance. This is not to say that giving them form and identifying their substance is impossible. It is merely to say that their form and substance, at present, lack operational definitions. The purpose of this talk is not to provide the definitions, although it will provide some movement towards them. The purpose of the talk is to demonstrate that behavior analysts can and will consider subject matter that affects all human beings even though it does not lend itself readily to observation and measurement. The six sources are: 1) sense of certainty and control: 2) sense of uncertainty and lack of control; 3) sense of importance or significance; 4) the experience of love, connection, and intimacy; 5) the experience of growth; 6) acts of giving beyond oneself.
Objectives:
1. Attendees will be able to describe the core idea for the field of behavior analysis.
2. Attendees will be able to describe at least three ways the application of the idea has benefitted mankind.
3. Attendees will be able to describe at least one obstacle currently limiting the dissemination of the idea.
4. Attendees will be able to describe six metaphysical sources of reinforcement.