The Science of Consequences Wins an Award!

I'm delighted to announce that The Science of Consequences has won the Media Award to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, which is at the San Antonio Convention Center next May.  I will be giving an acceptance speech at the opening Awards Ceremony on Saturday, May 24.  Usually, several thousand are in attendance at that session--so this will be by far my largest audience yet.  Five thousand typically attend the four-day conference.

As I noted in the book, "Behavior analysis has become the name for the academic field specializing in the basic and applied sciences of consequences per se as its core specialty area."  The Association for Behavior Analysis is the largest scientific organization devoted to this important field, and I am honored that my book has been chosen for recognition.  The organization has about 20,000 members and affiliates worldwide.

End of Main Book Tour

After 100--count 'em--book events over the 20 months since The Science of Consequences came out, I'm getting a bit of a break.  Similarly, after over 60 blog posts--2 to 4 per month for those 20 months--I'm also taking a break. 

I didn't know what to expect when I undertook a book tour, and I never would have guessed that I'd end up crisscrossing the entire United States several times, giving talks.  What an adventure!  And it will continue, but at a less strenuous pace.  In fact, my Scandinavian tour this spring was successful enough that I've been invited back in September to speak at an anniversary celebration.  (Watch my website for details.)  And I have several additional events already scheduled.

As for this blog, I will still post occasionally, and of course the site will stay open for your perusal of past posts.  For those interested in more, I will be continuing my Facebook book posts.  As a bonus, you'll also get to admire the odd photo of my garden, like this shot of my California Fuchsias.  :-)

Thank you, everyone, for your interest in The Science of Consequences. 

The Science of Consequences Heads for the Far North

Oslo (public domain)

I'm about to embark on my first overseas book tour, and I couldn't be more excited.  Norway and Sweden will be hosting me for five talks and a one-day seminar.  I'm looking forward to meeting friends and colleagues there and doing some exploring--and birding, of course.

Stockholm City Hall (public domain)

 When I was a youngster, I used to read children's books and National Geographic children's magazines about the lives of people in nations around the world, marveling at how different they were.  It seems likely that may have been useful in helping me develop some skill at perspective-taking.  Any thoughts on other methods that help?  Plenty of consequences are involved, of course--including the improved basis for communication and interaction that comes with successful perspective-taking.

Meanwhile, I find that since The Science of Consequences was published a year and a half ago, I have done over eighty book tour events--talks, book signings, and interviews.  It doesn't seem possible!

On the Road in the Research Triangle

Carolina Wren (public domain)

I'm on the road again!  After several events in the New York City area, I'm about to give a talk at the Durham East Regional library in central North Carolina. Then it's on to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, for a public Psychology Colloquium on Thursday at 3:30.  Finally, I keynote the East Coast edition--in Norfolk, Virginia--of the same program of unique ClickerExpo presentations and practica I blogged about at the end of January. 

Meanwhile, it's been years since I was in the Big Apple, and I was delighted at how helpful most New Yorkers were.  If I even looked a bit lost (which happened several times in Penn Station, believe me), or appeared to be struggling with my suitcase in the subway, people came forward to help.  Will the Tar Heelers be as welcoming?  I'm sure they will, and that their warmth, like that of the New Yorkers, will help compensate for the cold temperatures of this supposedly spring visit.  Snow flurries this morning, yikes!  But the fruit trees and daffodils are flowering and the birds are singing--including the properly located Carolina Wrens (actually widespread) and, a treat for me these days, richly red Northern Cardinals.

Positive Reinforcement for Animals

I just got back from keynoting a unique conference on a unique venue.  (Yes, "on.")  ClickerExpo is all about positive reinforcement-based animal training, for animals of all sorts, but with a focus on dogs.  It was founded by Karen Pryor, whose wonderful books I refer to--let's see--a dozen times in The Science of Consequences.  This year, the West Coast edition of Expo took place on the Queen Mary, the historic ocean liner now permanently docked at Long Beach.  Zowee!  Clicks, by the way, are "marker" sounds, part of the communication system for learning a new behavior.

In honor of this event, I want to highlight one of the links on my website:  http://www.clickertraining.com/library.   This library offers lots of useful information about positive reinforcement for animals, and in an entertaining style.  My "Links" page also connects to several other resources for animal training and enrichment, and there are dozens more excellent ones out there.  Animal lovers, enjoy!

Good Reads

A new year brings a natural opportunity to pause for a moment, take stock, and catch up on that too-long to-do list.  One of my accomplishments over the holidays was to take a look at the author page I’d created on Goodreads.com before the book touring got crazy.  For those who haven't heard of it, Goodreads is the largest site in the world for readers to share book recommendations (and do other interesting things), and it has--get this--20 million members.  How very encouraging, even if many of them are like me, checking in only occasionally. 

Naturally, The Science of Consequences is featured on my Goodreads page, but I also had a chance to add over 100 of my favorite books.  (That’s the reason that their average rating is five stars.  I’m not going to add books I dislike, am I?!)  Eventually, I’ll get around to adding more, but this is a decent start.  So many great books out there . . .  And some books--fiction as well as nonfiction--do an excellent job illustrating how consequences work.  While that will eventually be the topic of another post, my Goodreads list can help get you started.  What are your own favorites?

One Year Ago

A year ago, I was frantically preparing for the November 17th launch of The Science of Consequences at the Miami Book Fair International (and worrying about what would follow).  The book was hot off the presses--indeed, the official publication date wasn't until the 20th--so I saw it for the first time at the fair.  What a feeling!--the culmination of so many years of effort.  And what a launch . . .  I enjoyed enthusiastic receptions both at my book fair talk and at my talk at Florida International University.  I'd been a faculty member there for 5 years, so I had lots of friends and colleagues in the area to help give my book tour a memorable start.

Since then, it's taken me to 15 US states for about 60 talks, interviews, and other book events.  In the spring I'll have my first international tour, to Scandinavia.  Whew . . .  Give me a moment to take a deep breath and remember some of the highlights, like revisiting FIU, the University of Kansas, and other colleges and universities where I was a student or a faculty member.   Speaking to several large enthusiastic audiences in the hundreds--but also to informal groups of 10 or 20 who explored the science with me in stimulating and adventurous discussion.  Staying with kind friends, colleagues, and (in a few cases) strangers who opened their houses and their hearts to me.  The diner where fellow patrons unexpectedly paid for my lunch without my knowledge.  The airplane seatmates who exchanged some amazing life stories.  The NPR interview in Kansas City and the talk in the Seattle Science Lectures series, both big highlights.  The huge and completely unexpected poster about my talk on the side of Baltimore's downtown public library. Making so many new friends:  people who had read my book, or were inspired by my presentation (this is so rewarding and powerful), or who just happened to fall into intense one-on-ones about life and its possibilities.  Watching a bald eagle mount high into the sky at the end of my southeastern trip, thinking that life doesn't get much better.

And this is just a small sample . . .  Wish I'd kept a journal. 

I wrote The Science of Consequences because I felt so passionate about the incredible value of this science, its life-changing applications, and its critical role in the larger nature-and-nurture system.  It's been an immense privilege to help spread the word about it, and I'll be continuing my efforts.  Many thanks to all those who scheduled and hosted the events, conducted the interviews, wrote the blog posts, helped with the arrangements, came to the talks, and offered advice and assistance in lots of other ways.  Just as so many helped me with the book over its ten-year gestation, I would not have gotten far during this past year of book touring without you.

As I begin my second year of publicizing this science and my book about it, thanks for your support--and wish me luck!

On the Road Again (and Loving It)

OK, maybe I don't love all of it--not the long drives, for example--but I do like bringing the science of consequences to people across the nation.  I'm now into the second week of a three-week book tour to the southeast:  Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.  (I speak in Huntsville tomorrow.)  Highlights have been too many to list!

I knew I'd have trouble keeping up this blog this month. Just bear with me . . .  Gotta hit the road!

Nine Events in Nine Days

That's why I haven't posted lately!  Sixteen hundred miles into my Oregon/Northern California/Western Nevada book tour, I'm finally turning toward home.  Just two more events:  Sundance Books in Reno tonight, and Lyon Books in Chico tomorrow.  Then I take a deep breath and prepare for my big southeastern trip in a week and a half. 

While all of this makes for a hectic lifestyle, I have to say that this trip has been great, and I'm looking forward to the next one.  Hope to see some of you soon!

Following by email

Just a quick note:  I post about four times a month--not four times a week--so having the ability to follow this blog automatically is especially handy.  According to some comments I've received, the existing way to choose "follow" doesn't always work reliably.  I've now added a widget in the righthand column that should let you do this more easily (via email).  Do please let me know of any problems with it, and thanks for your interest in this blog!

Palo Alto and beyond

For those of you following my peripatetic year of book touring, August is a quiet month.  (Very welcome!)  I am really looking forward to my sole event, though--a talk at the Books Inc store in Palo Alto on Thursday the 22nd (7 PM).  Stanford is practically across the street, and it's lovely to be able to drive.

Upcoming in Sep/Oct, another driving trip, to Oregon, northern California, and western Nevada.  Then an ambitious trip crisscrossing Florida, Georgia, and Alabama . . .  I'll be ready for another break after that!

Summer is moving along swiftly; enjoy the rest of it, everyone.

Say hello to Seattle

I was in Seattle last year for the largest annual behavior analysis conference--which was terrific--and now I get to return.  I'm thrilled to be presenting in the Seattle Science Lectures series at their Town Hall on Thursday, July 11 (7:30).  My other public talk in the area is at Tacoma's King's Books on Monday, July 15 (7 PM).

And while I'm there, naturally, I'll be doing some birdwatching--possibly even Mt. Rainier!

Minnesota book tour highlights

I'm back from beautiful, rainy Minnesota, where I gave four book talks, two separate book signings, attended a conference, tried an Afghan restaurant, watched dog "flyball" practice, and fit in a bit of birdwatching with colleagues.  It was an eventful week!  One of the highlights:  Roughly 250 attended my invited address at the Association for Behavior Analysis conference (a group that specializes in the science of consequences).  Wow.  That's my biggest book tour audience yet.  Another highlight was visiting St. Olaf College, where I taught 20 years ago, and catching up with an old friend.  Actually, there were a lot of highlights!  Doing the book tours is more fun than arranging them, no question.  Rain or not.

Heading for DC area

I'll be monitoring the progress of spring in an upcoming three-state book tour to Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia.  No more snow, please . . .

The Virginia Festival of the Book is where I start, with a talk on Friday, March 22nd--right near the famous Rotunda!  I've never been to Charlottesville before, and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm in a panel with fellow nonfiction author Toby Lester, speaking about his new book Da Vinci's Ghost--which provides the history of da Vinci's famous anatomical "man in a circle" drawing. It's fascinating, and we were able to find connections between our books.  I also enjoyed Lester's first book, The Fourth Part of the World, which delves into the history of European maps of the world, leading up to how the Americas got their name.

Here's the rest of the talks:  St. Mary's College of Maryland on Monday, March 25th, University of Maryland-College Park on March 27th, West Virginia University on April 1st, and Baltimore's downtown Enoch Pratt public library on April 2nd.  For details about times and locations, please check out the Events page on my website:  here.  I hope to see some of you on the trip!

Second printing

A quick note--I just found out that The Science of Consequences has gone into a second printing!  Thanks, everyone, for your interest in the book.

The Science of Consequences on NPR! - and Book Touring Update

I'm just back from book touring in Texas and Kansas, where I had a wonderful time giving talks, doing book signings, teaching classes, and chatting about the book.  At the Art and Science of Animal Training conference at the University of North Texas, speakers covered a wide variety of applications of positive reinforcement methods for animals (see my previous blog post "Positive Reinforcement Frontiers with Zoo Animals"--link).  The audience of 200 for my keynote address was my largest yet!  The University of Kansas in Lawrence is my PhD alma mater, so being there felt like going home (and I enjoyed a large turnout there too).  Most of those in the audience are working on human applications such as early childhood education, management, choice, sustainability, community violence prevention, autism, addiction, and general health psychology.  Throughout, I met old and new friends who are excited about this science.

One of the many highlights of the trip was being interviewed on Central Standard, a live radio program from KCUR, Kansas City's National Public Radio affiliate.  If you'd like to listen, here's the link (go to February 7).  You can also download the program.  The segment about the book is first, and lasts 30 minutes.  Let me know what you think!

Scientific American Book Club

Just a quick note - The Science of Consquences is a selection of the Scientific American Book Club!  It's under the Biology/Neuroscience category.

Here's the link, for anyone who's interested.

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!

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."