Rule-governed behavior and human behavioral pharmacology: A brief commentary on an important topic.
Words can act like drug modifiers—record and share client rules when meds are on the table.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yuwiler et al. (1992) wrote a short think-piece, not an experiment.
They told pharmacologists to stop ignoring Skinner’s idea of rule-governed behavior.
The paper says verbal rules people hear can change how drugs act on their bodies.
What they found
There is no data set.
The authors simply argue that words are variables worth measuring in drug studies.
They want behavior analysts at the table when scientists test new medicines.
How this fits with other research
Lowe et al. (1977) already proved the point. Their preschool study showed teacher praise beat Ritalin for hyperactivity without speech side-effects.
Reiss et al. (1993) took the idea into ID services. They sketched a drug-diagnosis system built on behavior functions, not DSM labels.
Tincani et al. (2020) show the field still loves verbal processes. Their review found SGD studies over-use multiply-controlled mands and beg for cleaner verbal-operant work.
Together the four papers form one thread: what people say, hear, or sign can boost, block, or mimic a drug effect.
Why it matters
If you run medication-behavior cases, add a verbal probe. Ask the client what they think the pill does, then track if that rule helps or hurts the data trend. Share the rule statement with the prescriber; dose changes may work better when the client’s verbal context is on the chart.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Over 25 years ago, B. F. Skinner introduced the concept of rule-governed behavior, which is the topic of this commentary. To date, behavioral pharmacologists have given rule-governed behavior little consideration in their analyses of drug action. There are, however, published studies that demonstrate the importance of rule-governed behavior in modulating drug effects in humans. Rule-governed behavior may help to explain differences in drug self-administration in humans and nonhumans and, in humans, differences in drug effects across individuals and situations. This commentary suggests that rule-governed behavior merits further attention in the context of human behavioral pharmacology, and posits that scientists who are experts in verbal behavior can make a unique contribution to the theoretical and experimental analysis of drug-related human behaviors, including drug abuse and its treatment.
The Analysis of verbal behavior, 1992 · doi:10.1007/BF03392873