The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you've gotten the fish..

The fish trap exists because of the fish.  Once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap.  The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit.  Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare.  Words exist because of meaning.  Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.  Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?  ~Chuang Tzu

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound. ~Zen Saying

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.  ~Zen Saying

Oh, Heaven, it is mysterious, it is awful to consider that we not only carry a future Ghost within us; but are, in very deed, Ghosts! ~Thomas Carlyle

Oh, Heaven, it is mysterious, it is awful to consider that we not only carry a future Ghost within us; but are, in very deed, Ghosts!  ~Thomas Carlyle

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying. ~Charles C. Finn

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying.  Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying.  ~Charles C. Finn

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run. The daily work - that goes on, it adds up. ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run.  The daily work - that goes on, it adds up.  ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

When they go fishing, it is not really fish they are after. It is a philosophic meditation. ~E.T. Brown (Thanks, Walden Woods Project, walden.org)

When they go fishing, it is not really fish they are after.  It is a philosophic meditation.  ~E.T. Brown (Thanks, Walden Woods Project, walden.org)

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water. ~Zen Buddhist Proverb

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.  After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.  ~Zen Buddhist Proverb

A gun gives you the body, not the bird. ~Henry David Thoreau

A gun gives you the body, not the bird.  ~Henry David Thoreau

When the student is ready, the master appears. ~Buddhist Proverb

When the student is ready, the master appears.  ~Buddhist Proverb

Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly. ~Edward Albee

Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.  ~Edward Albee

We are all but recent leaves on the same old tree of life and if

We are all but recent leaves on the same old tree of life and if this life has adapted itself to new functions and conditions, it uses the same old basic principles over and over again.  There is no real difference between the grass and the man who mows it.  ~Albert Szent-Györgyi

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky? ~Stanislaw J. Lec

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?  ~Stanislaw J. Lec

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth. ~Ludwig Börne

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.  ~Ludwig Börne

Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day. ~Polish Proverb

Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.  ~Polish Proverb

The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. ~Edward R. Murrow

The obscure we see eventually.  The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.  ~Edward R. Murrow

There's more to the truth than just the facts. ~Author Unknown

There's more to the truth than just the facts.  ~Author Unknown

I am a part of all that I have met. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

I am a part of all that I have met.  ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying. ~Baba Ram Dass

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying.  ~Baba Ram Dass

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. ~Aesop

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.  ~Aesop

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. ~Andre Gide

Believe those who are seeking the truth.  Doubt those who find it.  ~Andre Gide

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop. ~Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.  ~Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.  

~Lee Segall

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.  ~Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Overt and covert behavior

The term "behavior" has been misrepresented and misinterpreted by many in the school psychology field, including proponents as well as opponents of behavior analysis. Proponents have used the term too loosely, while opponents have used a bit of a warped definition to attack the field.

Furthermore, school psychologists as well as behavior analysts have also taken a very narrow view of the definition of behavior.

According to Cooper, Heron, and Heward (2007), in order for a phenomenon to be considered a behavior, we need to have several conditions:

1. there must be a part of the organism which is moving.
2. there must be a change in the environment as a result of this movement.

With this, it is easy to see that throwing a desk or completion of homework are behaviors. However, some individuals in the field develop behavior plans based on the lack of a behavior, such as "not doing homework" and "not throwing a desk as targets or goals of behavior plans.

That is not going to work.

You need to target behaviors constantly. You may want to reduce certain behaviors or increase other ones, but you want to target behaviors or to set behaviors as goals - not non-behaviors.

Let's look at reading, something that is often not considered to be a behavior. While reading, there is movement of the lips, tongue, and vocal chords. After the behavior is done, there is a transformation of the sound waves in the environment, which informs us that we have had a behavior occur.

Ahh, someone would say - that only counts if the person is reading out loud. What if the person is reading silently.

Yes, it is sticky, but not unmanageable. If one is reading silently, thinking, feeling mad, or examining a beautiful painting, there are neurotransmitters which are being released and activating neurons. After the neurosynaptic reaction the brain is different than what it was prior to starting the behavior. Therefore, these activities qualify as a behavior.

Overt behaviors are those that anyone can observe, while covert behaviors are those that only the organism can examine.

More on this after a bit....