Robert Epstein
(1953 - )
Primary Areas of Study
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Creativity
Self-Control and Self-Management
Memory
Parenting and Adolescence
Academic Timeline
1970-1974 -- Trinity College; B.A., Psychology.
1976-1977 -- University of Maryland Baltimore County; Graduate program in Community/Clinical Psychology.
1977-1981 -- Harvard University; M.A., Experimental Psychology, 1980; Ph.D., Experimental Psychology, 1981.
1981 -- Founder, Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.
1983-1985 -- Adjunct Assistant Professor; Department of Psychology, Northeastern University.
1986-1992 -- Adjunct Associate Professor; Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
1986-1993 -- Adjunct Associate Professor; Department of Psychology, Boston University.
1993-1994 -- Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, National University.
1994-1995 -- Research Professor, National University.
1998-1999 -- University Professor, United States International University.
1998-2000 -- Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University.
1999-2001 -- University Research Professor, United States International University.
2001-2003 -- University Research Professor, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University
2003-2009 -- Visiting Scholar, Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego.
2009-2010 -- Lecturer, Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego.
2010-present -- Research Faculty, Santa Barbara Graduate Institute.
Links
Dr. Robert Epstein's personal website
Selected Papers
Epstein, R. (1977). A listing of the published works of B. F. Skinner, with notes and comments. Behaviorism, 5, 99-110. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1980). Defining creativity. The Behavior Analyst, 3(2), 65. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1981). A convenient model for the evolution of early psychology as a scientific discipline. Teaching of Psychology, 8, 42-44. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1981). On pigeons and people: A preliminary look at the Columban Simulation Project. The Behavior Analyst, 4(1), 43-5 (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1983). Resurgence of previously reinforced behavior during extinction. Behaviour Analysis Letters, 3, 391-397. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1984). The case for praxics. The Behavior Analyst, 7, 101-11. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1985). The spontaneous interconnection of three repertoires. Psychological Record, 35, 131-141. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1985). Extinction-induced resurgence: Preliminary investigations and possible applications. Psychological Record, 35, 143-153. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1987). The spontaneous interconnection of four repertoires of behavior in a pigeon. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 101, 197-201. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1991). Skinner, creativity, and the problem of spontaneous behavior. Psychological Science, 6, 362-370. (available online here)
Epstein, R. (1997). Skinner as self-manager. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 545-56. (available online here)
Epstein, R., Kirshnit, C. E., Lanza, R. P., & Rubin, L. C. (1984). “Insight” in the pigeon: Antecedents and determinants of an intelligent performance. Nature, 308, 61-62. (available online here)
Epstein, R., Lanza, R. P., & Skinner, B. F. (1980). Symbolic communication between two pigeons (Columba livia domestica). Science, 207, 543-545. (available online here)
Epstein, R., Lanza, R. P., & Skinner, B. F. (1981). “Self-awareness” in the pigeon. Science, 212, 695-696. (available online here)
Epstein, R., & Skinner, B. F. (1981). The spontaneous use of memoranda by pigeons. Behaviour Analysis Letters, 1, 241-246. (available online here)
Selected Books
Epstein, R. (Ed.). Notebooks: B. F. Skinner. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1980.
Epstein, R. (Ed.). (1982). Skinner for the classroom: Selected papers. Champaign, Ill.: Research Press.
Epstein, R. (1992). Learn to fish, and you'll never be hungry: The ultimate guide to managing your life. East Orange, NJ: Psience Press.
Epstein, R. (1996). Creativity games for trainers. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Epstein, R. (1996). Cognition, creativity, and behavior: Selected essays. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Epstein, R. (1996). Self-help without the hype. Tucker, GA: Performance Management Publications.
Epstein, R. (2000). The big book of stress-relief games. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Epstein, R. (2000). The big book of creativity games. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Epstein, R., & Rogers, J. (2001). The big book of motivation games. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Epstein, R., Roberts, G., & Beber, G. (Eds.). (2008). Parsing the Turing Test: Methodological and philosophical issues in the quest for the thinking computer. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Media
Dr. Robert Epstein has his own youtube channel, with many video clips from his lectures and media appearances, as well as footage from experimental work. The following clips are of particular interest to the history of behavior analysis.
A Pigeon Solves the Classic Box-And-Banana Problem (1:10)
Laboratory footage showing a pigeon solving Wolfgang Kohler's famous box-and-banana problem, which he studied with chimpanzees in the early 1900s. Dr. Robert Epstein and his colleagues used operant conditioning to get pigeons to solve this problem "spontaneously" in the 1980s. Depending on their previous experience, a pigeon could solve this problem in a human-like fashion in as little as a minute.
Cognition, Creativity and Behavior: The Columban Simulations
This 1982 film is available on youtube in its entirety.
Part 1 (14:10)
Part 2 (13:51)
The film features Robert Epstein and B.F. Skinner discussing the implications of the Columban Simulations--a series of research projects where pigeons were taught to perform complicated behaviors that are usually thought of as uniquely human. Actual laboratory footage of pigeons is included from numerous studies, including research on imitation, the box and banana problem and the mirror test for "self concept."
Dr. Robert Epstein on Creativity and Innovation (4:57)
This video is part of a keynote address given by Robert Epstein in Germany. Much of Epstein's basic laboratory work on creativity has important implications for real life problems. Epstein discusses how we can engineer creative behavior and increase productivity and creativity in the classroom and for businesses.
Students
Intellectual Ancestry
Student of B. F. Skinner
Additional Information
