Consequences Without Awareness

Consequences are everywhere--sometimes when we don't even realize it!  The Science of Consequences includes a number of examples of research demonstrating how we can be influenced by consequences for what we do without our awareness.  (Another reason why it's helpful to know more about how they work.)

This fact was recently brought home to me in an unexpected way.  I was at my optometrist's office, getting my vision checked with one of those eye charts--you know, the standard one with the big E on top, and rows of letters that get progressively smaller and harder to read as you move down. 

The optometrist asked me why I was tilting my head. Was I?  I was!  I hadn't even realized it, it was so well-learned and automatic an adjustment. Tilting my head back a little brought the letters into slightly better focus, as I verified when I experimented, trying to read different rows on the eye chart with my head at different angles.  It wasn't a large effect, but under the pressure of struggling to make out the tiniest letters, tilting definitely helped.  It's almost spooky.

The Joy of Checklists

After the euphoria of my book launch, a return to reality meant that I began feeling buried in book-related work again.  So I've reverted to a consequence-based technique I took advantage of when I was beginning the research for the book so many years ago:  a variation of the ubiquitous checklist.

Learning is fun and rewarding, so it wasn't hard for me to read journal articles and books.  Taking notes on the important points wasn't hard either.  But categorizing and recording all the notes in appropriate computer documents was time-consuming and tedious.  (I ended up with several thousand pages.)  I tried a number of tricks to help myself keep motivated, such as different schedules of reinforcement:  Work till 3 PM, then take a break.  Or finish entering the notes from this book, then break.  These common techniques can be quite effective.  But not always.  In this case, I still found myself dreading the drudgery.  Could I use my own science to do better?

In one of the classic forms of checklists (there are many), you might make a list of errands to run, or items to buy at the store.  Upon accomplishing each goal, you check it off.  That's frequently rewarding in itself, and can bring a small but noticeable feeling of satisfaction.  At the end of the trip, you get to toss the whole list.  Mission accomplished.

To help with the note-recording drudgery, I simply created a new document in which I summarized what I'd accomplished that day, and I did this as I finished each task (immediate reinforcement). It's not really a checklist, but it's a kissing cousin, I'd say.  For five extra minutes of work each day, the difference in motivation and emotion was significant.  Instead of just working to avoid the negative of lots of notes piling up, I was also working for a positive reinforcer:  the chance to record the completion of a task, and see all those accomplishments add up in black and white.  Clearly I was getting somewhere after all. These sorts of progress markers can help ease any large project along, at work or at home. 

Plenty of research backs up this merely anecdotal evidence, and I provided some examples in the book.  My only question is, why did it take me so long?! 

What works for you?

Consequences in Literature

Consequences are all over literature, of course, so this could be the first in a long series!  Good novelists frequently understand psychology even though they may never have studied the science.  American novelist William Maxwell (who died in 2000) is a fine example.  His best-known work, So Long, See You Tomorrow, won the National Book Award, and I highly recommend it.

From the start of one of Maxwell's last published stories, "Grape Bay (1941)," comes this description of its shy protagonist:

"When he was six years old his parents died, one immediately after the other, and he went to live with his paternal grandfather, who did not like children.  It did not take him long to learn what it means not to be wanted.  Now that he was grown, his first impulse was always to withdraw before it became necessary, before someone asked him to."

The effects of a history of aversives are presented as straightforward in this case--and so well-learned that the withdrawing, shy personality patterns become automatic ("his first impulse").  The process of overcoming these patterns often makes for a great story, and indeed, that's part of the attraction of "Grape Bay."  

Anyone have any favorite examples to share?

Motivation and the New Year's Resolution

While driving home from a holiday event last Friday, I listened to National Public Radio's "Science Friday."  I was delighted at clinical psychologist John Norcross's research-based recommendations about how best to follow up on New Year's Resolutions.  Many of his suggestions were based directly on the science of consequences (not really all that surprising). I love this quote:  "Motivation doesn't come in a bottle.  Motivation is, scientifically speaking, a series of small behaviors."  Indeed, as Norcross noted, arranging for suitable signals and positive consequences--like checklists and social support--has been shown to help us stick to our resolutions.  Just making commitments helps--and that of course is what New Year's Resolutions are all about!  Keep them realistic, and "reward your successes, reinforce yourself for each step with a healthy treat or a compliment, perhaps even create a reward contract with a loved one."    Great to see the science covered so well. 

Good luck with any resolutions you make, and have a very happy New Year!

Karen Pryor on The Science of Consequences

Just briefly--I'm pleased to provide a link to clicker training expert Karen Pryor's comments on my book.  Here's an excerpt:  "Fascinating . . . A ten-year labor of stunning scholarship across many disciplines."

Pryor's pioneering work has helped bring positive reinforcement methods to the worlds of companion animals and zoos--and to us too!  Her best-selling book Don't Shoot the Dog is as much about people as about animals, and I cite it a number of times in The Science of Consequences.  I really enjoyed her most recent book too, Reaching the Animal Mind.

Interview about B. F. Skinner

Dr. Sophia Yin has completed her series of blog posts about her interview with me, winding up with the segment about my friendship with famed psychologist B. F. Skinner.  For those interested, here's the link!

On Structure, Function, and Asian Numbers

Asian numbers?  Unlikely as it may seem, the approach taken in some Asian languages to naming numbers can help illustrate an important behavior dimension.

When you try to get someone's attention (the intended consequence), you might wave your hand, lift an eyebrow, cough gently, or just call out "Hey you!"  These behaviors have very different structures, but the same function.  In a way, just as the many nature-nurture factors always work together, so do structural and functional factors.

Structure includes shape, color, intensity, timing, etc.:  the "what" questions about something.  What is Ellie doing?  Running at quite a clip, and we can measure what her speed is.  Function deals with the "why" questions: Ellie might be running for a train or training for a run, for example.  Same structure, different function.  You get the idea.  Any behavior influenced by consequences has structure, and so do signals for consequences. 

OK, so where do Asian numbers come in?  In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell noted that the Chinese number system, to take one of several examples, has a more logical number naming system than does English:  no irregular names like "eleven."  The numbers are also shorter to say, making it easier to remember a series of numbers.  (Imagine if instead of "one," "two," "three" we had to remember "shigaroomph," "taranug," and "froomjokey.")  These are structural features.  Given comparable consequences and (relatedly) motivation levels for learning numbers and doing mathematics with them, it would be surprising if there weren't any advantages to the more logical system, especially during initial learning.  The same principle applies to the format of the numbers themselves.  How many people would be willing to enter a math contest if handicapped by having to use Roman numerals?  How long does it take to decipher dates in Roman numerals on historic buildings?  (Do architects still follow this practice? . . .  If so, I wonder about the function!)

The structure-function interaction can be found in many places:  anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) in the biomedical sciences, for example. The science of consequences is inherently focused on function, but necessarily incorporates the structural side as well--such as how best to design an effective, rewarding online math tutoring program, or tailor a coaching session for a soccer team.  Correspondingly, psychologists who focus on structural questions--such as cognitive scientists--are also necessarily dealing with function.  Just as our new knowledge of the nature-and-nurture system with its ubiquitous interactions has immensely expanded our understanding of its flexibility and potential applications, a better understanding of how structural and functional principles interact is bound to bring many benefits.  More on this in future posts . . . and comments are welcome!

News about Reviews

I only just discovered that The Science of Consequences got a (very short) review in November in the prestigious science journal Nature!--really more of a brief summary, but still, wow, I never expected that.  I was also delighted to find a very positive review in the journal ForeWord Reviews.  Here's the excerpt I just posted on the Reviews page of my website:  "Engaging and fast-paced . . . Schneider moves agilely from the worlds of genetics and neuroscience to animal behavior, education, and ethics. She layers insights from decades of research with personal anecdotes to ask increasingly provocative questions. . . From one chapter to the next, she deftly weaves a narrative that keeps the reader turning the page. This title is provocative, compelling, and rewarding." 

Link to Interview by Dr. Sophia Yin

I referred to Dr. Sophia Yin's blog back in August in my post on scrub jays.  I got to meet Dr. Yin, a well-known veterinarian and animal behavior expert, when I gave a talk at the downtown Davis, CA bookstore last weekend.  We chatted about everything from my take on B. F. Skinner's views about nature-and-nurture to intrinsic reinforcement in kids and in dogs--great fun!  She's doing a series of blog posts based on interviews with me, and here's a link to the first post in the series:  click here