ABSTRACT
Dr. Jack McDowell (Fig. 9.14) was the first researcher to use Herrnstein’s matching equation for a single schedule of reinforcement (Equation 9.6) to describe human behavior in a natural setting. Many people are interested in his work on applications of matching theory to the treatment of clinical problems. However, McDowell states, “I really think of myself as a basic researcher” (personal communication, March 3, 1989). As a college student, he started out as a physics major and gained a strong background in natural science. He recalls that, “I regarded psychology as a discipline with interesting problems but terrible methods. Indeed, I thought it was absurd to consider psychology a science. Then I took a course in what we now call behavior analysis. I was surprised to find a specialty in psychology that looked like what I had always thought of as science. So I changed my major to psychology and later entered a behavioral graduate program” (personal communication, March 3, 1989). In 1972, at Yale University, McDowell worked on the philosophical foundations of behavior modification. By 1978, he had completed a clinical internship at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and a year later he received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology. McDowell’s doctoral dissertation focused on the mathematical description of behavior, and he has maintained this emphasis throughout his career. At the time of this writing, he is a professor of clinical psychology and psychobiology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; he also maintains a private practice in behavior therapy.
