Department of Psychology
University of Notre Dame

Research Interests

As my background indicates, my early career in psychology was predominately devoted to the study of basic mechanisms in learning and motivation using animal subjects. Although my research has diversified over the years to include some of the other areas listed here, I continue to maintain an interest in basic processes. My published work in this area includes the entries under this link.

From time to time, it is been possible to extrapolate what has been discovered about basic processes using animal subjects to the realm of human behavior. My work in this area is listed here.

In this work, we have examined various psychological and ethical issues dealing with the relationship between humans and computers. This area remains a viable and interesting field.

Another applied interest of mine has included the development of techniques, methods and systems to promote more effective learning. My published work in this area includes the articles listed here.

The workplace is another area of application that has profited from what has been learned in the laboratory about motivation and reinforcement. An active interest of mine has been to explore ways in which basic psychological principles can be utilized to improve the productivity and efficiency of work behavior. This general area has become known as Organizational Behavior Management (OBM).  I have included links to some of my recent articles and talks here as well as a list of my published works in this area.

Over the years, my interests have included development of mechanical or electronic methods, procedures and techniques for investigating behavior or helping to improve it. My work in this area is shown here.