Logo IMG   The Experimental Analysis of Behavior  The 1957
American Scientist article, reproduced in full  B. F. Skinner
The Effects of Drugs on Behavior  Other powerful variables which
affect operant behavior are found in the field of pharmacology.
Some drugs which affect behavior—alcohol, caffeine, nicotine,
and so on—were discovered by accident and have had a long
history. Others have been produced explicitly to yield such
effects. The field is an active one (partly because of the
importance of pharmacotherapy in mental illness) and available
compounds are multiplying rapidly. Most of the behavioral drugs
now available have effects which would be classified in the
fields of motivation and emotion. There is no reason, however,
why the effects of various contingencies of reinforcement could
not be simulated by direct chemical action—why “intelligence”
could not be facilitated or confusion or mental fatigue reduced.
In any case, the behavior generated by various contingencies of
reinforcement (including the