Background
Amsel, Abram was born on December 4, 1922 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Son of Aaron Harry and Annie (Levitt) Amsel. came to the United States, 1946, naturalized, 1957.
(We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rat...)
We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rather than the exception and this is particularly true with regard to rewards and frustrations. In some cases, rewards and frustrative nonrewards appear to occur randomly for what seems to be the same behavior; in others a sequence of rewards is suddenly followed by nonrewards, or there are large rewards followed by small rewards. Sometimes we are rewarded for responding quickly, other times for responding slowly. The important common factor in these and other cases is frustration, how we learn about it and how we respond to it. Without our awareness, our long-term dispositions are shaped from infancy and early childhood by inconsistency of reward and by our reactions to discrepancy, and they are marked by changes in arousal, suppression, persistence and regression. The explanatory domain of Frustration Theory includes an area of experimental research that has evolved over some forty years. Although most of the work is with animals, it constitutes an animal model of many of the myriad human manifestations of nonreward, thwarting of purpose, and reactions to physical and emotional insult that are regarded as frustrations. This book, by the originator of the theory and the first book to be devoted solely to Frustration Theory, gives a detailed account of the theory and its ramifications and it examines the relationship between frustration symptoms and the limbic system that is thought to be the region of the brain responsible for generating these symptoms.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521247845/?tag=2022091-20
(We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rat...)
We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rather than the exception and this is particularly true for rewards and frustrations. In some cases, rewards and frustrative non-rewards appear randomly for what seems to be the same behaviour; in others a sequence of rewards is suddenly followed by non-rewards, or large rewards by small rewards. The important common factor in these and other cases is frustration - how we learn about it and how we respond to it. This book provides a basis in learning theory and particularly in frustration theory, for a comprehension not only of the mechanisms controlling these dispositions, but also of their order of appearance in early development and, to an approximation at least, their neural underpinnings.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I5QHSH4/?tag=2022091-20
(Behaviorism, Neobehaviorism, and Cognitivism in Learning ...)
Behaviorism, Neobehaviorism, and Cognitivism in Learning Theory presents the insights and opinions of Abram Amsel -- a comprehensive viewpoint that encompasses more than 40 years of research work and theorizing -- on the "cognitive revolution" in psychology and the behavioral sciences as it pertains to learning theory. The volume was derived from three MacEachran Lectures held at the University of Alberta and presents: * a historical-theoretical analysis of the origins of the modern cognitivist approach * a critical examination of the major premises on which the modern cognitivist approach is based * a study of the intellectual tensions that exist between recent versions of cognitive structuralism as they apply to humans and animals, and the various forms of behaviorism.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805803327/?tag=2022091-20
educator experimental psychologist
Amsel, Abram was born on December 4, 1922 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Son of Aaron Harry and Annie (Levitt) Amsel. came to the United States, 1946, naturalized, 1957.
Bachelor, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 1944. Master of Arts, McGill University, Montreal, 1946. Doctor of Philosophy, University Iowa, 1948.
Member of faculty, Tulane University, 1948-1960;
member of faculty, U. Toronto, 1960-1969;
visiting professor, University of California, Berkeley, 1962;
National Science Foundation senior postdoctoral fellow, University College, London, 1966-1967;
professor experimental psychology, University Texas, Austin, since 1969;
Ashbel Smith professor, University Texas, Austin, since 1981. Philips lecturer Haverford College, 1970. Visiting professor University of Pennsylvania, 1974-1975, U. Oxford, England, fall 1979.
D.E. Berlyne lecturer U. Toronto, 1986. I.E. Farber lecturer University of Illinois, Chicago, 1987. MacEachran lecturer U. Alberta, 1987.
Horsley Gantt lecturer Pavlovian Society, 1991.
(Behaviorism, Neobehaviorism, and Cognitivism in Learning ...)
(We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rat...)
(We live in a world in which inconsistency is the rule rat...)
Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (chairman electorate nominating committee division J 1990, chair-elect division J 1995). Member National Academy of Sciences, International Brain Research Organization, International Society Development Psychobiology, Society Experimental Psychologists (chairman 1976, chair Warren medal committee 1983, 95, Howard Crosby Warren medal 1980), Society Neurosci., Psychonomic Society (chairman governing board 1978), Southwestern Psychological Association, Southern Society Philosophy and Psychology.
Married Tess Steinbach, June 11, 1947. Children: Steven David, Andrew Jay, Geoffrey Neal.