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| Social and Cultural Contingencies |
| Monday, May 31, 2004 |
| 9:00 AM–9:50 AM |
| Independence East |
| Area: TPC |
| Chair: Michael A. Cohen (University of South Florida) |
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| Applied Behavior Analysis in the 21st Century |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| MICHAEL A. COHEN (University of South Florida), Gudmundur T. Heimisson (University of South Florida), Darrel E. Bostow (University of South Florida) |
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| Abstract: Global oil production peaked in 2000 and now begins its steady decline. Drawdown of nonrenewable fossil fuels has been responsible for the population bloom of the last 200 years. Collapse and die-off are the typical phases found in nature following such a bloom. Currently, there is little evidence to suggest homo sapiens will avert such a fate. At present, there are no energy substitutes for fossil fuels. Furthermore, none equivalent, in terms of net energy profit, are likely to arise during the remaining service life of fossil fuels. Industrial civilization is now set to move from a period of growth to one of contraction. There is no precedent in human history for the social upheaval which will follow. Adoption of authoritarian regimes to restore order from the chaos will be the overwhelming tendency of societies. Localization will be the order of the day as unhindered mobility of people and goods will no longer be possible. Conditions will be ripe for the rise of behaviorally based communities, as powerful social contingencies will once again have their chance and the ideology of freedom, individualism, and competition, the antithesis of behavioral communities, will have been shown to be largely responsible for our inability to avert catastrophe. |
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| Analysis of Social Phenomena: Identifying Interlocking Contingencies and Metacontingencies |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| MARIA AMALIA ANDERY (Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo), Nilza Micheletto (Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo), Tereza Maria Serio (Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo) |
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| Abstract: It is recognized nowadays that social phenomena are to be accounted for by behavior analysis and should be treated under the causal mode of selection by consequences. Such recognition may be assessed by the emergence of concepts such as interlocking contingencies and metacontingencies. This paper aim is to establish some of the necessary steps for the identification and subsequent analysis of the interlocking contingencies and metacontingencies participating in social phenomena. In the study of social phenomena it is necessary to identify the unity of analysis that will be dealt with, that is, it is necessary to decide if interlocking contingencies or metacontingencies are the constitutive elements of the phenomenon under study. Once this step is taken, the analysis must (a) acknowledge the characteristic features of the social environment; (b) identify the various possibilities of interlacement among the contingencies; (c) identify the origin of the controlling variables of the participants’ responses; (d) identify the characteristics of the controlling consequences; and (e) identify the role of verbal behavior related to the interlocking contingencies under analysis. |
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