October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Reader, 

I have read “Operant Variability and the Power of Reinforcement” (2009) by Neuringer. The author presents research about reinforcing behavioral variability. In the case of a person with ADHD there is too much behavioral variability, while in the case of someone with autism there is too little. Therefore, the former will be helped by contingencies which decrease behavioral variability, but the latter is benefitted by contingencies which increase behavioral variability. I find myself on the ADHD side of the spectrum and I am benefitted from consistent direct reinforcement, which, according to the literature decreases behavior variability.  However, inconsistent reinforcement and uncertainty about reinforcement again increases behavioral variability and exacerbates ADHD-like phenomena. 

This is what I seem to be experiencing in one of my classes in which students reinforce me at lower rates than in my other three classes. My nervousness in that class and my behavioral variability appear to go hand in hand. Students in that class respond much less than students in my other three classes. They can be viewed as being on the autistic side of the spectrum. I am going to increase their behavioral variability by reinforcing it and by decreasing my own behavior variability.  I was trying all sorts of things, but it didn’t work so well. I think I should be doing less so that they are stimulated to do more. I am happy I read this as it makes clear to me what is happening. This writing also decreases my behavioral variability. I think that my Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) also increases my behavioral variability, while my Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB) decreases it. 

I have never looked at NVB from this positive perspective. NVB, by decreasing my own behavioral variability, makes my life easier, while SVB, by increasing behavioral variability, makes life more complicated. The more bored I am, the better my life seems to get. I haven’t had sex for two months. It is relatively new to me, not to masturbate, but, surprisingly, I don’t seem that strong of an urge for it. Yet, I am feeling intimate with my wife and it doesn’t feel as if I am missing anything. To the contrary, a sense of restlessness has settled. My high behavioral variability has to do with my sexuality. I notice a calming down about things which used to upset me. They are now memories from the past and these bad memories are far removed from how I live my life today.  

I want to write about how writing decreases my behavioral variability. It really calms me down and that is why it is so reinforcing. It is a form of hygiene, to write something every day. I have gotten used to writing about three pages a day. I don’t worry at all about what I write. When I respond to a paper, the things I write about SVB and NVB pop up. This discovery that I like, and perhaps even need, a certain amount of NVB, so that I don’t go overboard with my creativity and philosophizing, is something I want to further explore. I still think, however, that the increase of behavioral variability by SVB, is quite a different matter than the increase of behavioral variability that is caused by NVB. I think that ADHD symptoms are primarily a consequence of NVB, but not of SVB. Likewise, I also claim that autism symptoms are a consequence of NVB and not of SVB. My attraction to SVB is because it makes consistent reinforcement available.

The autistic is attracted to SVB as it increases behavioral variability so that there will be more opportunity for reinforcement. SVB stimulates less speech and calmness in those who say too much and more speech in those who don’t speak or say too little. The manic bipolar patient can calm down with SVB, while the depressed patient perks up and comes out of his or her hole or rut. The maintenance of bipolar and depressive symptoms is based on the high rate of NVB in the client’s verbal repertoire. Movement to the middle and melioration of various pathological conditions is possible as our speaking and listening behavior happen at the exact same rate in SVB. 

Each person, depending on his or her behavioral history has a different experience of coming to SVB. The different psycho-pathologies emerging from NVB are also of course due to different ontogenetic and phylogenetic behavioral histories. It is because are used to looking at our maladaptive behaviors through the lens of NVB that we cannot consider these behaviors as adaptations. Only with SVB can these behaviors be reliably reduced and eventually extinguished. The behavioral variability that is made available by SVB sets the stage for recovery from the many problems created by NVB. 

I want to end today’s writing by reflecting on the fact that writing limits my behavioral variability and makes my behavior more effective. It feels good to have written something that makes sense to me. I am reminded how I discovered SVB by speaking out loud and by listening to myself. At that time, it felt so good to listen to myself, but now I find more comfort in writing and reading what I have written. Soon I am going to make this writing available to others, but for now I am keeping it to myself. It is a feeling of freedom that I feel of not being in hurry to share it. This is another behavior that is slowly becoming more prominent in my repertoire:  self-management. It involves planning, thinking things through, writing things out, weighing the pros and cons and getting a better understanding of what is best for others. What is best for others, their successes, their interests and their joys is what reinforces me.