Observing ben wyckoff: from basic research to programmed instruction and social issues

Abstract

L. Benjamin Wyckoff's seminal contributions to both psychological theory and application are the subject of this review. Wyckoff started his academic career as a graduate student at Indiana University, where he developed the observing-response procedure under the guidance of B. F. Skinner and C. J. Burke. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wyckoff refined his mathematical theory of secondary reinforcement. This theory was the impetus for his creation of an electronic simulation of a rat running a T maze, one of the first "computer models" of learning. Wyckoff next went to Emory University, leaving there to help create two of the most successful companies dedicated to the advancement of programmed instruction and teaching machines: Teaching Machines, Inc. and the Human Development Institute. Wyckoff's involvement in these companies epitomizes the application of basic behavior-analytic principles in the development of technology to improve education and human relationships. The emergent picture of Wyckoff is that of a man who, through his research, professional work in educational applications of behavioral principles, and active involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, was strongly committed to applying behavioral science to positively influence human behavior change.

Keywords: Benjamin Wyckoff; client-centered therapy; conditioned reinforcement; diversity issues; human relationships; observing responses; programmed instruction; teaching machines.

Figure 1

The picture shows from left to right, the Min/Max I, the Min/Max II, and the Min/Max III teaching machines.

Figure 2

Three versions of the Wyckoff film-tutor. The diagram on the left shows the first version of the machine available in 1959. The machine was controlled with five keys, projected the material on a screen, and could be folded to make it portable (drawing based on U.S. Patent No. 3,137,948). The middle drawing shows an improved version with a full keyboard. This drawing was used as the TMI logo in commercial letters circa 1960 (William S. Verplanck Papers, Box M1887, Folder 1. Archives of the History of American Psychology, The University of Akron). The picture on the right shows the commercial version of the Wyckoff film-tutor (picture based on Malpass et al., 1963).

Figure 3

Sample items from the General Relationship Improvement Program and Improving Communication in Marriage (courtesy of Jerome Berlin). The first edition of the former was written by the Human Development Institute in 1963. The top three items were designed to teach people how to avoid punishing others' verbal responses. The bottom three items were used to teach people how to distinguish different situations in a marital relation that require different types of conversations. The terminology was taken from Rogers's client-centered therapy.

Figure 4

Fragments of a brochure distributed by the Human Development Institute in 1964 (courtesy of Jerome Berlin). The left section shows a teaching machine, designed by Wyckoff, that could be used to work through HDI's manuals. The right section shows hand drawings of Jerome Berlin and Benjamin Wyckoff.