Rethinking Reinforcement: Was it antecedent control all along?

In the talk, I examine some of the evidence where reinforcer effects are inconsistent with strengthening by reinforcement and present an alternative view. In this view, behavior is guided by contingencies between behavior and important environmental events. The importance of events might be either phylogenetically selected or events become important when functioning as signals for guiding behavior to when and where currently relevant events might be avoided or contacted. Traditionally, behavior analysis accounts for behavior by identifying the three-term contingency consisting of an antecedent event, a response, and a consequence. In this talk, I discuss whether the distinction between antecedents and consequences is constructive in our attempt to understand the interaction between behavior and the environment. Dropping the distinction might imply a major change in the way we think about our most fundamental process: Reinforcement. As an example of antecedent control, I discuss so-called Nudging, a currently popular applied means of behavior change. The talk also examines some of the data that has led us to change the way we understand control by current and past environmental conditions.