| | Understanding Ourselves and Our Universe: How Psychology Can Turn the "Mysteries of Human Nature" into Useful Tools for Self Improvement and Success in Life |
| Part 4: BeMod and Antecedents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Such is the essence of a happy and successful life: using learning experiences to maximize one's genetic abilities and avoid traumas, to get the things we cherish in life, and to avoid those we dislike. So fiinally, a most important little section on antecedents (As): As you've repeatedly seen, learning and BeMod means using one's environmental cues (As) to determine for any particular situation which Bs are most likely to be Rfed and which Bs are most likely to be NRfed. Adaptive and intelligent people perform Bs (and cognitions and feelings) that are predominantly Rfed, and avoid or minimize Bs that are NRfed (or carefully perform NRfed Bs in the short run that are likely to be more Rfed by more important consequences in the long run). Such is the essence of a happy and successful life: using learning experiences to maximize one's genetic abilities and avoid traumas, to get the things we cherish in life, and to avoid those we dislike. This "long run" point is so important that it warrants a couple of examples and a Critical Thinking. At first glance, it seems maladaptive to accept or even seek out certain nonreinforcements (NRfs) -- or lesser reinforcements (Rfs) -- in the hope of gaining better Rfs in the long run, but it's actually highly adaptive and intelligent behavior (and often is a key factor in becoming a highly successful person). Humanism seems particularly in tune with this BeMod strategy (called"postponement of greater gratification" (PPGG)), which is also often called "far-sightedness" or "enlightened self-interest" or "high moral character." You love two cars, but actually buy the more expensive and utilitarian yet less flashy model, giving up immediate aesthetic Rfs for long-term value. You fight in a war, risking injury or death in the short-term for life-long principles of self-sacrifice for a just cause, honor, and patriotism. You love beer, but forego drinking too much to avoid a hangover. You suffer the irrational biases and ostracisms often associated with being a human, because you know it's the right thing to do for yourself and the world. This is but one of many advanced (mostly humanistic) BeMod strategies that seem counter-intuitive until you really understand the principles of learning, and really understand high moral values and ethical principles, and start to understand what naturally separates people who seek "instant gratification" from people who aspire to a wiser and more socially responsible lifestyle, or PPGGers. Now back to our final discussion on antecedents (As). |
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| Normal, adaptive, intelligent people don't have to experience very many A -> B -> C conditioning sequences to start learning which As foretell exactly which behaviors (Bs) will lead to reinforcements (Rfs) they want (and which As lead to NRfs they don't want). When an A (let's call it A#1 for purposes of illustration) acquires the ability to reliably predict that a particular B (B#1) will lead to a particular positive consequence (Rf#1) or even to a particular NRf#1, then A#1 becomes a discriminative stimulus (SD). Thus, an SD is an A that reliably predicts that an Rf or an NRf will follow a particular B. We further distinguish between an SD that reliably predicts Rfs for a particular B (called an S+) and an SD that reliably predicts NRfs (an S-). For example, telling a stree joke may be either Rfed or NRfed, depending on whom you tell it to (the SD). Your brother is probably an S+ for telling a street joke (he'll laugh, which Rfs you), but your grandmother is probably an S- for street joke telling behavior (she'll probably get angry or embarrassed, which NRfs you). SDs can be very subtle, such as with the B of suggesting sharing private time to your loved one when s/he's in a good mood (probably an S+ leading to a pleasurable intimacy Rf) versus when s/he's in a very bad mood (probably an S-, leading to a sharp rebuke or rejection NRf). Nothing is more important to leading an adaptive, intelligent, successful, or humanistic life than learning to discriminate S+s from S-s. Of course, not all As are SDs. Seeing a green tree or a woman in a red dress on a street corner doesn't tell us anything about whether we should drive through the intersection (B) or not, as a red or green traffic signal would. Such non-discriminative stimuli -- situational As that don't tell us anything about what Bs will be Rfed or NRfed -- are designated as S?s, called "duhs". (No, not really; I'm just kidding about the "duhs!" They're actually called non-discriminative stimuli, as we said above.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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