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Contents

Foreword by Henry D. Schlinger, Jr.xi

Prefacexv

╇ 1 A Science of Behavior: Perspective, History, and Assumptions 1

Science of Behavior 2
Focus On: Behavior Analysis and Neuroscience 7
Focus On: Burrhus Frederic Skinner 13
A Brief History of Behavior Analysis 16
Science and Behavior: Some Assumptions 24
Focus On: Thinking Aloud About Chess Moves 28
Chapter Summary 29

╇ 2 The Experimental Analysis of Behavior 33

Functional Analysis of Behavior 33
Functional Analysis of the Environment 36
Tactics of Behavioral Research 43
Single-Subject Research 50
Advanced Section: Perceiving as Behavior 54
Focus On: Perception, Signal Detection, and the Payoff Matrix 57
Chapter Summary 60

╇ 3 Reflexive Behavior and Respondent Conditioning 63

Phylogenetic Behavior 63
Ontogenetic Behavior 69
Temporal Relations and Conditioning 79
Second-Order Respondent Conditioning 81
Aspects of Complex Conditioning 86
Advanced Section: Rescorla–Wagner Model of Conditioning 89
Chapter Summary 92

╇ 4 Reinforcement and Extinction of Operant Behavior 97

Operant Behavior 97
Focus On: Reward and Intrinsic Motivation 103
Operant Conditioning 107
Focus On: Behavioral Neuroscience and Operant Conditioning of the Neuron 108
Focus On: Reinforcement and Problem Solving 119
Extinction121
Chapter Summary 130

╇ 5 Schedules of Reinforcement 135

Importance of Schedules of Reinforcement 135
Focus On: C.â•›B. Ferster and Schedules of Reinforcement 136

vii
viii╇╇Contents

Behavior Analysis: A€Progressive Science 137

Focus On: A€System of Notation 141
Schedules of Positive Reinforcement 143
Ratio and Interval Schedules of Reinforcement 145
Focus On: Generality of Schedule Effects 150
Progressive-Ratio Schedules 156
Schedule Performance in Transition 160
Advanced Section: Schedule Performance 164
Chapter Summary 171

╇ 6 Aversive Control of Behavior 175

Aversive Control in Everyday Life 175
Contingencies of Punishment 178
Use of Punishment in Treatment 188
Punishment: Permanence and Paradox 190
Focus On: Physical Punishment and Psychiatric Disorders 192
Contingencies of Negative Reinforcement 193
Focus On: Escape and Infant Caregiving 196
Determinants and Analysis of Avoidance Behavior 200
Side Effects of Aversive Procedures 203
Chapter Summary 216

╇ 7 Operant–Respondent Interrelationships: The Biological Context

of Conditioning 221
Analysis of Operant–Respondent Contingencies 222
The Biological Context of Conditioning 233
Focus On: Taste Aversion, Neural Activity, and Drug Cravings 237
Experimental Analysis of Adjunctive Behavior 240
Advanced Section: Autoshaping as Operant–Respondent Interrelationships 248
Chapter Summary 250

╇ 8 Stimulus Control 255

Differential Reinforcement and Discrimination 256
Stimulus Control and Multiple Schedules 261
Focus On: Discrimination and the “Bird-Brained” Pigeon 264
Multiple Schedules and Behavioral Contrast 265
Generalization268
Errorless Discrimination and Fading 272
Complex Stimulus Control 276
Behavior Analysis of Remembering and Forgetting 278
Focus On: Concept Formation in Pigeons 282
Conditional Discrimination 284
Chapter Summary 287

╇ 9 Choice and Preference 291

Experimental Analysis of Choice and Preference 291
The Matching Relation 296
Extensions of the Matching Relation 300
Matching on Single-Operant Schedules 302
 Contents╇╇ix

Choice, Foraging, and Behavioral Economics 306

Behavioral Economics, Choice, and Addiction 310
Focus On: Activity Anorexia and Substitutability of Food and Physical Activity 312
Advanced Section: Quantification of Choice and the Generalized
Matching Law 318
Chapter Summary 328

10 Conditioned Reinforcement 333

Chain Schedules and Conditioned Reinforcement 335
Focus On: Backward Chaining 337
Conditioned Reinforcement: Determinants and Analysis 338
Information and Conditioned Reinforcement 343
Delay Reduction and Conditioned Reinforcement 348
Generalized Conditioned Reinforcement 351
Advanced Section: Quantification and Delay Reduction 357
Chapter Summary 360

11 Correspondence Relations: Imitation and Rule-Governed Behavior 365

Correspondence and Human Behavior 365
Correspondence and Spontaneous Imitation 368
Imitation in the Laboratory 369
Infant Imitation Research 371
Correspondence, Generalized Imitation, and Observational Learning 377
Focus On: Rules, Observational Learning, and Self-Efficacy 385
Rule-Governed Behavior 386
Focus On: Instructions and Contingencies 389
Chapter Summary 392

12 Verbal Behavior 397

Language and Verbal Behavior 397
Focus On: Speaking and Evolution of the Vocal Apparatus 398
Verbal Behavior: Some Basic Distinctions 400
Operant Functions of Verbal Behavior 404
Research on Verbal Behavior: Manding and Tacting 406
Additional Verbal Relations: Intraverbals, Echoics, Textuals, and Autoclitics 411
Focus On: Higher-Order Verbal Classes and the Naming Relation 416
Symbolic Behavior and Stimulus Equivalence 418
Advanced Section: A€Formal Analysis of Mand and Tact Relations 428
Chapter Summary 430

13 Applied Behavior Analysis 435

Characteristics of Applied Behavior Analysis 436
Research Strategies in Applied Behavior Analysis 441
Contingency Management and Substance Abuse 446
Behavior Analysis in Education 451
Applications of Behavior Principles: Self-Control and Autism 455
Behavioral Treatment and Prevention: The Problem of Obesity 462
Focus On: Conditioned Overeating and Childhood Obesity 466
Chapter Summary 467
x╇╇Contents

14 Three Levels of Selection: Biology, Behavior, and Culture 471

Level 1: Evolution and Natural Selection 472
Genetic Regulation of Behavior 474
Focus On: Genetic Control of a Fixed-Action Pattern 474
Level 2: Behavioral Selection by Reinforcement 481
Focus On: Operant Regulation in the Marine Snail, Aplysia483
Evolution, Reinforcement, and Verbal Behavior 486
Level 3: Selection and Evolution of Culture 490
Focus On: Macrocontingency, Depleting Resources, and Costly Use of Punishment 492
Origin, Transmission, and Evolution of Cultural Practices 495
Chapter Summary 498

Glossary501
References537
Author Index593
Subject Index613
Foreword

In my Foreword to the fifth edition of Behavior Analysis and Learning by David Pierce and Carl
Cheney, I€suggested that five editions of the book reflected the vitality and longevity of behavior
analysis. The publication of the sixth edition goes even further to reflect the current breadth and
depth of the discipline and its evolution as a member of the family of biological sciences by includ-
ing research and concepts from the related sciences of neurophysiology and epigenetics, all in the
context of an evolutionary framework. Because of this increased emphasis on how these other bio-
logical sciences intersect with the science of behavior analysis, Pierce and Cheney have added the
subtitle, A Biobehavioral Approach. Throughout all of its incarnations, however, Behavior Analysis
and Learning has dealt fundamentally with learning and behavior. To understand how Pierce and
Cheney arrived at the sixth edition of Behavior Analysis and Learning, it is important to understand
a few of the basic concepts of behavior analysis—behavior, environment, and learning—that the
book has elucidated since it was first published.
Behavior—anything an organism does in response to a particular situation or stimulus—is
defined by its reciprocal interaction with the environment, which itself is defined in terms of all of
the stimuli that affect an organism’s behavior at a given moment. Behavior is the means by which
animals find food and shelter and escape predation. Evolutionarily, it is largely an organism’s behav-
ior that determines whether it will survive, that is, live long enough to pass on its genes. Physiolog-
ically, these environment–behavior interactions are mediated by a nervous system that has evolved
two broad and basic functions—sensory and motor—that are supported by different and specialized
areas in the brain and their corresponding nerves.
Learning refers to relatively permanent changes in environment–behavior relationships as a
result of certain types of experiences. Thus, what changes when learning is said to occur is not
simply behavior, but rather relationships between environmental events (stimuli) and behavior. The
“certain types of experiences” that produce learning are Pavlovian and operant conditioning. Just as
behavior and stimuli are mediated by the nervous system, so too is learning. What we might refer
to as behavioral plasticity, that is, behavior’s capacity to be modified, is mediated by what neuro-
scientists refer to as neural plasticity, that is, the capacity of neuronal connections to be modified.
Learning and behavior as it relates to any particular species is a function of that species’ evolu-
tionary history. If human beings represent the pinnacle of anything evolutionarily, it is their evolved
capacity for seemingly infinite behavioral and neural plasticity, that is, their capacity to learn.
Although it is possible to scientifically study and understand the environment’s role in selecting and
maintaining behavior (i.e., learning) without any knowledge of genes and physiology—and, indeed,
such a science, behavior analysis, already exists—a complete understanding of learning requires
scientific inquiry at three levels: environment, genes, and neurophysiology.
There are textbooks on learning and behavior that do a fine job of explicating the laws of
environment–behavior relations and their accompanying theories, but to date, only one textbook,
Behavior Analysis and Learning by David Pierce and Carl Cheney, broadens the perspective. Since
it was first published in 1995 (with W. Frank Epling), Pierce and Cheney’s textbook has changed
to reflect the evolution of the field of behavior analysis into a science that incorporates both neu-
rophysiological and epigenetic concepts all within a selectionist framework. In so doing, Pierce
and Cheney present behavior analysis as a member of the family of biological sciences, which, as

xi
xii╇╇Foreword

a selectionist science, emphasizes Skinner’s concept of selection by consequences at three levels:

genes (i.e., natural selection), the behavior of individual organisms (i.e., operant conditioning), and
cultural practices (i.e., cultural selection). In fact, the authors acknowledge that the capacity for
learning itself is an evolved trait and that the behavior of scientists who study it is, in part, a function
of cultural contingencies.
For each new edition, Pierce and Cheney have not only met the minimal requirements for a
revision, they have updated the content (and references) to reflect changes in research and scholar-
ship in the field. But Pierce and Cheney have also pushed the envelope in each new edition and have
expanded the scope of learning and behavior to include the broader context of evolution, genes, and
physiology. In the fifth edition, the authors added a section called “New Directions” that related
the topic of each chapter to recent developments in behavioral neuroscience. The sixth edition goes
even further with an increased focus on behavior analysis and neuroscience, neurophysiology, neu-
robiology, and epigenetics, creating what Pierce and Cheney refer to as a “grand synthesis” of
behavioral science.
The phrase “grand synthesis” is derived from the Modern Synthesis in biology in which ideas
and concepts from several separate fields of biology (e.g., natural selection theory, genetics, ecol-
ogy, paleontology, etc.) were synthesized to form a stronger and more unified account of evolution.
The term “grand synthesis” implies an even broader account of evolution to include nothing short of
the universe itself. Thus, a grand synthesis of behavior science, while still perhaps a somewhat lofty
goal, brings together ideas from three general areas of inquiry—behavior analysis, neuroscience,
and epigenetics—all in the context of selectionism (i.e., natural selection and operant learning), to
create a more complete picture of behavior. Thus, to fully understand behavior, scientists must now
take a biobehavioral approach. As the authors write, “Our goal in this textbook also is to further
the integration of applied and basic areas of behavior analysis and to encourage closer ties to other
biological sciences.”
As with the previous editions, the sixth covers not just learning and behavior, but behavior
analysis as “a comprehensive, natural-science approach to the study of the behavior of organisms.”
To wit, Pierce and Cheney address not only the experimental foundations of the science, but its con-
ceptual framework, philosophical implications, and applications to real-world behavioral problems.
As with the fifth edition, each chapter still includes a section—“On the Applied Side”—in which
the authors illustrate how the basic concepts or principles presented in the chapter have been used
to ameliorate some socially significant behavior. Many chapters in the sixth edition include a “New
Directions” section, which, consistent with the new emphasis and title, highlight some research
topic in neuroscience that relates to the topic of the chapter. Other special sections include “Focus
On,” “Note On,” and “Advanced Section,” which cover a range of experimental, theoretical, and
applied issues related to the content of each chapter.
Finally, a feature of Behavior Analysis and Learning that makes it stand out as a superior text-
book is that, in addition to presenting the experimental foundations of behavior analysis in a broad
biological context and showing how they can be used to improve socially significant behaviors,
Pierce and Cheney demonstrate how the basic principles of behavior detailed in the book can be
used to interpret behavior that is either novel, too complex to be studied in the lab, or seemingly
mentalistic or cognitive. Interpretation is fundamental to all of the experimental sciences, and
behavior analysis is no different. By demonstrating how laboratory-derived principles of behavior
can be used to understand behaviors that go by such names as language, memory, consciousness,
and perception, Pierce and Cheney broaden the reach of behavior-analytic theory and provide a
parsimonious account of behaviors that have tempted dualistic thinking among psychologists and
philosophers for centuries.
 Foreword╇╇xiii

Beginning with the first edition, Behavior Analysis and Learning has been dedicated to B.â•›F.
Skinner, and I€can think of no better tribute to him than a book which not only details the basic
principles of the science he helped to establish, but also does so in the context of the selectionist
principles he championed, and which demonstrates how, to paraphrase Skinner, we may be able to
use those principles to act to save the world.

Henry D. Schlinger, Jr.

California State University, Los Angeles
16 September€2016
Preface

Behavior Analysis and Learning has come a long way since 1995. The experimental analysis of
behavior has also come a long way. Many things have changed and some have not—behavior is
still a function of its consequences; reinforcement still works; resurgence still happens in extinction;
differential reinforcement of successive approximations still shapes new responses; and the Skinner
Box is still a major component for exploring environment–behavior interactions. As things change
they also remain the same. Students still have to be taught by skilled, attentive teachers; labeling
and inferences about behavior are still just that and the behavior of the organism itself remains an
important subject for scientific investigation; people still act as if non-physical, invented cognitive
constructs such as mental maps, mindlessness, or other explanatory fictions provide a scientific
account of human behavior.
In this sixth edition of our textbook, we have continued to expand the presentation of neuro-
physiological mechanisms as context for the experimental analysis of behavior, believing that the
contributions of neuroscience and neurobiology will substantially improve our ultimate explanation
of where behavior comes from and how it can be controlled. The “grand synthesis” is growing expo-
nentially. One might say that the scientific study of behavior is working its way back into biology
from whence it should never have left.
We maintain the world view or paradigm of selection by consequences at the biological, behav-
ioral, and cultural levels and are impressed by the growing number of evidenced-based studies that
support this position. We continue to promote the broad practice of applied behavior analysis and
the growing literature illustrating diverse applications of behavior science. Several professional
organizations have come into existence whose members express, either in research or application,
Skinner’s philosophy of radical behaviorism in the analysis of behavior. The discovery of the way
behavior works upon the world is illuminated by the experimental analysis of behavior in learning
and genetics laboratories, free-ranging animal environments, programmed instruction for class-
rooms, training centers for explosive sniffing dogs, care and treatment of zoo animals, early inten-
sive behavioral intervention for children with autism and developmental disabilities, computer labs
and human learning environments, applications to business and organizations, and university behav-
ior laboratories investigating control by contingencies of reinforcement with a variety of organisms.
To ensure we stay current with the scientific analysis of behavior–environment relationships,
we have added approximately 300 new references to the sixth edition, some from traditional sources
like the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and other citations from generalist and
biological journals, including Science and Nature. Refinements of technology, research design, and
data treatment together with an increased number of active investigators has vastly expanded the
field of behavior analysis and therefore the topics and sources to present to students and readers. We
have been driven by the breadth of related and contributing findings that appear from a huge scien-
tific literature and media coverage to peruse and select only some of the relevant, emerging material.
We suggest teachers recommend their students access original sources to more fully appreciate the
new lines of research and evolution of specific topics.
Chapter titles and their order have remained virtually the same as the fifth edition. The addition
of more recent citations, however, has necessitated the removal of a substantial number of refer-
ences, in many cases older papers. However, we consider many early papers in the experimental
analysis of behavior to remain as relevant today as ever. It may be that we assume most readers or

xv
xvi╇╇Preface

instructors to be somewhat familiar with older terms and findings when they are not. In which case,
we recommend perusing the references of cited papers in the sixth edition to locate original sources.
The appropriate application of behavior principles in society at large is progressing. The basic
behavior principles such as reinforcement, discrimination, and generalization have always been in
operation, but many times these principles are used poorly, inaccurately, or under a different name.
Committed students of behavior science are growing in number and even President Obama ordered
agencies of the US government to be informed by the findings of behavior science. Nonetheless,
as epigenetic transmission of the knowledge of behavior science does not seem viable in the fore-
seeable future, more traditional forms of education appear necessary. Enter Edition 6 of Behavior
Analysis and Learning.
For this edition we began with the desire to include aspects of neuroscience as it contributes
to a more comprehensive understanding of the behavior of organisms. Epigenetic research, optical
excitement of neurons, computer/neural interfacing, and gut bacteria influences may seem a far cry
from schedules of reinforcement or errorless learning, but as a biological organism all such elements
contribute to the whole. We might recall that B.â•›F. Skinner did his major research work in the physio-
logical labs at Harvard. The point is, however, that BFS could see that behavior in and of itself was a
separate field of biology and it deserved a special level of analysis. So, no matter how thoroughly we
understand the neurobiological operations of the organism, principles of selection by consequences
remain at work at the level of behavior. We may become more sophisticated about the overlap of
frontal lobe circuitry and the nuanced action of synaptic neurotransmitters, but it will remain func-
tional to distinguish between behavior under the influence of fixed-ratio or variable-interval sched-
ules when accounting for specific instances of behavior on a given occasion. Recently, Skinner’s
functional approach for the analysis of language as verbal behavior has received empirical support
by the wider scientific community, findings at odds with Chomsky’s nativist, linguistic perspective.
A final issue that has not changed is our deep appreciation to the memory of W. Frank Epling,
PhD, an original author. Our friend and colleague was instrumental in generating what we con-
sider the best available source for behavior analysis and learning based on a consistent philosophy,
research program, principles and examples of application. It should also go without saying that we
acknowledge the origination of a science of behavior to B.â•›F. Skinner. He discovered and articulated
the basic principles of how the world works through selection by consequences as the operating
process.

W. David Pierce
Carl D. Cheney
A Science of
Behavior: Perspective,
History, and
1
Assumptions
1. Inquire about learning, a science of behavior and behavior analysis.
2. Discover how selection by consequences extends to evolution and behavior.
3. Explore new directions in behavior analysis and behavioral neuroscience.
4. See how early learning is retained by epigenetic mechanisms.
5. Investigate the early beginnings of behavior analysis and learning.
6. Analyze feeling and thinking as complex behavior.

Learning refers to the acquisition, maintenance, and change of an organism’s behavior as a result
of lifetime events. The behavior of an organism is everything it does, including private and covert
actions like thinking and feeling (see “Science and Behavior: Some Assumptions” section of this
chapter). Learning also involves neuroplasticity—alterations in the brain that accompany behavior
change and participate in the regulation of behavior. While our focus in this book is centered on
the study of behavior for its own sake, the links to the brain and neural processes are increasingly
important to the field of learning and behavior analysis as we discuss throughout the book.
An important aspect of human learning concerns the experiences arranged by other people.
From earliest history, people have acted to influence the behavior of other individuals. Rational
argument, rewards, bribes, threats, and force are used in attempts to promote learning or change the
behavior of people. In civilized societies, people are required to learn socially appropriate behaviors.
As long as a person conforms, no one pays much attention. As soon as conduct substantially departs
from cultural norms, people get upset and socially reject the non-conformist—ensuring that most of
us comply (Williams€& Nida, 2011). All societies have codes of conduct and laws that their people
have to learn; people who break moral codes or civil laws face penalties ranging from minor fines
to capital punishment. Clearly, all cultures are concerned with human learning and the regulation
of human conduct. Without regulation, anarchy and confusion eventually destroy the civil order of
society.
Theories of learning and behavior have ranged from philosophy to natural science. When Soc-
rates was told that new discoveries in anatomy proved that bodily movement was caused by the
arrangement of muscles, bones, and joints, he replied, “That hardly explains why I€am sitting here in
a curved position talking to you” (Millenson, 1967, p. 3). About 2300€years later, in 1934, the great
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead and the famous behaviorist B.â•›F. Skinner were seated together
at dinner involved in a discussion about the behaviorist approach to psychology. After listening

1
2╇╇ A Science of Behavior

to Skinner’s interpretations of human behavior based on principles discovered in the laboratory,

Whitehead challenged the behaviorist to account for the generative nature of human language. He
said, “Let me see you account for my behavior as I€sit here saying, ‘No black scorpion is falling
upon this table’â•›” (Skinner, 1957, p. 457). Whitehead’s point was that no theoretical or empirical
system existed to account for the spontaneous and generative nature of human language. Although
there was no satisfactory behavioral account of complex human behavior and language in the 1930s,
the science of behavior is currently addressing such puzzling questions.
Human behavior has been attributed to a great variety of causes. The causes of behavior have
been located both within and outside of people. Internal causes have ranged from metaphysical
entities like the soul to hypothetical structures of the nervous system. Suggested external causes of
behavior have included the effect of the moon and tides, the arrangement of stars, and the whims of
gods. Unfortunately, some of these bizarre, prescientific attempts to explain human behavior remain
popular today. For example, the use of astrological forecasts is even found in modern corporations,
as demonstrated in the following passage taken from The Economist:

Is astrology the ultimate key to competitive advantage? That is what Divinitel, a French company
specializing in celestial consulting, claims. For FFr350 ($70) a session, the firm’s astrologers offer
advice on anything from the timing of takeovers to exorcisms.€.€.€. So who is daft enough to pay for
such mystical mumbo-jumbo? About 10% of French businesses are, according to a study by HEC, a
French business school.
(“Twinkle, Twinkle,” The Economist, 22 December€1990, p. 95)

In an interview with Ashley Lutz for Business Insider (2012), Susan Miller, a successful astrol-
oger with a business degree from NYU, said, “What I€do is scientific. Astrology involves careful
methods learned over the years and years of training and experience.” Her website has six million
visitors every month and she has built an empire based on her “scarily accurate” predictions, said
the Insider. Miller states “one unlikely group of customers€.€.€. are professional men from 25 to
45-years-old. In these uncertain economic times, astrology is more important than ever!” Many
people faced with the unpredictability of daily existence turn to the theory of celestial alignment
(astrology) to inform and guide their actions in business, life, and personal relationships.
The trouble with astrology and other primitive accounts of human behavior is that they are not
scientifically valid. These theories do not hold up to objective testing, replication, and close scruti-
nizing by researchers who follow the scientific method. Over the last century, a science-based model
of learning and behavior has developed. Behavior theory states that all behavior is due to a complex
interaction between genetic influence and environmental experience. The theory is based on obser-
vation and controlled experimentation, and it provides a natural-science account of the learning and
behavior of organisms, including humans. This book is concerned with such an account.

SCIENCE OF BEHAVIOR
The experimental analysis of behavior is a natural-science approach to understanding behavior
regulation. Experimental analysis is concerned with controlling and changing the factors that affect
the behavior of humans and other animals. For example, a behavioral researcher in a classroom
may use a computer to arrange corrective feedback for a student’s mathematical performance. The
relevant condition manipulated or changed by the experimenter may involve presenting corrective
feedback on some days and withholding it on others. In this case, the researcher would probably
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 3

observe more accurate mathematical performance on days with programmed feedback. This simple
experiment illustrates one of the most basic principles of behavior—the principle of reinforcement.
The principle of reinforcement (and other behavior principles) provides a scientific account of
how people and animals learn complex actions. When a researcher identifies a basic principle that
governs behavior, this is called an analysis of behavior. Thus, the experimental analysis of behav-
ior involves specifying the basic processes and principles that regulate the behavior of organisms.
Experiments are then used to test the adequacy of the analysis.

NOTE ON: Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Experimental analysis occurs when, for example, a researcher notices that more
seagulls fly and congregate along a shoreline when people are on the beach than
when the beach is deserted. After checking that changes in climate, temperature,
time of day, and other conditions do not affect the behavior of the seagulls, the
researcher offers the following analysis: People feed the birds and this reinforces
flocking to the beach. When the beach is abandoned, the seagulls are no longer
fed for congregating on the shoreline. This is a reasonable guess, but it can only be
tested by an experiment. Pretend that the behavior analyst owns the beach and has
complete control over it. The experiment involves changing the usual relationship
between the presence of people and food. Simply stated, people are not allowed to
feed the birds, and food is placed on the beach when people are not around. Over
time and repeated days of food with no people, and no food plus people days, the
behavior analyst notes that there are fewer and fewer seagulls on the beach when
people are present, and more and more gulls when the shoreline is deserted. The
behaviorist concludes that people regulated coming to the beach because the birds
were fed, or reinforced, for this behavior only when people were present. This is one
example of an experimental analysis of behavior.

Behavior Analysis: A€Science of Behavior

Experimental analysis is the fundamental method used to establish the principles for a science of
behavior. Contemporary researchers no longer refer to their science as behavioral psychology, rec-
ognizing that psychology is focused on mental or cognitive events rather than on the behavior of
organisms. Today, a science of behavior informed by a philosophy of naturalism is called behavior
analysis. This term implies a more general scientific approach that includes assumptions about how
to study behavior, techniques for carrying out the analysis, a systematic body of knowledge, and
practical implications for society and culture.
Behavior analysis is a comprehensive, natural-science approach to the study of the behavior
of organisms. Primary objectives are the discovery of principles and laws that govern behavior,
the extension of these principles across species, and the development of an applied technology for
the management of behavior. One behavior principle is called discrimination. The principle of dis-
crimination states that an organism will respond differently to two situations (e.g., predator vs. no
predator) if its behavior has been reinforced in one setting but not in the other (differential reinforce-
ment). Two assumptions should be noted here. First, behavior is a product of the organism’s past and
4╇╇ A Science of Behavior

current interactions with the environment, as well as its biological or evolutionary history (primarily
coded by the genes). Secondly, the principles (e.g., discrimination) discovered by an experimental
analysis have wide generality, applying to all animal life.
The principle of discrimination may be extended to human behavior and social reinforcement.
You may discuss dating with Carmen, but not Tracey, because Carmen has shown interest in such
conversation while Tracey has not (differential reinforcement). In a classroom, the principle of dis-
crimination can be used to improve teaching and learning. A€child is given a series of multiplication
problems from the 2-times table such as 2 × 4 =_?_. Correct answers result in the next question,
while incorrect responses lead to corrective feedback from the teacher, and repetition of the question.
In this way, most children learn their 2-times table. The use of behavior principles to solve practical
problems is called applied behavior analysis and is discussed at some length in Chapter€13.
As you can see, behavior analysis has a strong focus on behavior–environment relationships. The
focus is on how organisms alter their behavior to meet the ever-changing demands of the environment.
When an organism learns new ways of behaving in reaction to the changes in its environment, this is
called conditioning. The two basic kinds of conditioning are called respondent and operant.

Two Types of Conditioning

A reflex involves respondent behavior elicited by a biologically relevant stimulus. When a stimulus
(S) automatically elicits (→) a stereotypical response (R) or respondent, the S → R relationship
is called a reflex. The reflex is inherited in the sense that those animals that quickly and reliably
responded to particular stimuli were more likely than other organisms to survive and reproduce. For
instance, animals that startle and run in response to a sudden noise may escape a predator, hence the
startle reflex may have provided an adaptive advantage over organisms that did not run, or that ran
less quickly in response to the noise. Thus, reflexes are selected across the history of the species. Of
course, different species of organisms exhibit different sets of reflexes.

Respondent Conditioning
Respondent conditioning occurs when a feature (or event) of the environment without a known
effect on behavior is correlated with an unconditioned stimulus (US). The US is a stimulus that
elicits a response based on an organism’s biological history—thus, a puff of air (US) in the eyes
elicits blinking (UR or unconditioned response) as an inherited response without apparent learning
on the part of the organism. Presentation of a light does not elicit eye blinking, and has no stimulus
function with respect to the eye-blinking response before conditioning (a non-functional stimulus).
However, if the light comes to predict the air puff (US) and control the blink response, we say the
light has acquired a conditioned-stimulus (CS) function. One method to ensure that a feature of
the environment predicts the US is called pairing or temporal contiguity; the US closely follows the
feature in time. For example, respondent conditioning occurs when the buzz of bees is paired with
painful stings (US), but other insect sounds are not. After this conditioning, a buzzing bee (CS) usu-
ally causes people to behave so as to escape it; this is the conditioned response (CR) or respondent.
The Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov made explicit this form of conditioning at the turn
of the 20th century. He observed that dogs salivated when food was placed in their mouths. This
relation between the food stimulus and salivation is an unconditioned reflex, and it occurs because
of the animals’ biological history. However, when Pavlov rang a bell just before feeding the dogs
and not on other occasions (discrimination), the animals began to salivate at the sound of the bell.
In this way, a new feature (the sound of the bell) that predicted the presentation of food came to
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 5

control the respondent behavior of salivation. As shown in

Figure€1.1, the respondent (CR) is now elicited by the new
conditioned stimulus (CS).
Respondent (classical or Pavlovian) conditioning is
one way in which organisms meet the challenge of change
in their environments. A€grazing animal that conditions to
the sound of rustling grass before a predator’s attack, but FIG. 1.1╇ Simple respondent
not to grass blowing in the wind, gains a survival advan- conditioning: In a reflex for a dog, food
tage. The animal is able to efficiently consume food, run- in the mouth produces salivation as
respondent behavior. Next, a bell rings
ning away only when its life is threatened. All species that (new stimulus) just before feeding the
have been tested, including humans, show this kind of dog; after several pairings of bell and
conditioning. In terms of human behavior, many of what food the dog begins to salivate at the
we call our likes and dislikes are based on evaluative con- sound of the bell.
ditioning. Evaluative conditioning of humans replicates
many of the respondent-conditioning effects found in ani-
mals, although some differences have been noted (De Houwer, Thomas,€& Baeyens, 2001). Gener-
ally, when good or bad things happen to us we usually have an emotional reaction. These emo-
tional responses can be conditioned to other people who are present when the positive or negative
events occur. Thus, respondent conditioning plays an important role in our social relationships—Â�
determining, to a great extent, how we evaluate and come to “feel” about our friends as well as our
enemies. Respondent conditioning is covered in more detail in Chapter€3.

Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning involves the regulation of behavior by its consequences. B.â•›F. Skinner called
this kind of behavior regulation operant conditioning because, in a given situation or setting (SD),
behavior (R) operates on the environment to produce effects or consequences (Sr). An operant
is any behavior that operates on the envi-
ronment to produce an effect. The effect
or consequence in turn changes the like-
lihood that the operant will occur again
in a similar situation. During operant
conditioning, an organism emits operant
behavior based upon its genetic endow-
ment; the operant produces an effect that
increases (or decreases) the frequency of
the response in a given situation (Skinner,
1938, p. 20). In the laboratory, a hungry rat
in a chamber may receive food if it presses
a lever when a light is on. If lever pressing
increases in the presence of the light, then
operant conditioning has occurred and FIG. 1.2╇ Simple operant conditioning: In an operant
food functions as reinforcement (Sr) for chamber, lever pressing produces food for a hungry rat.
this operant response (Figure€1.2). The consequences of lever pressing (presentation of
In this example, the light (SD) even- food) increase its frequency in that setting. In another
example, a baby smiles to a human face and is picked
tually sets the occasion for lever pressing up. The consequence of smiling (social attention)
in the sense that the operant is likely to increases the frequency of this behavior in the presence
occur when the light is on and is unlikely of human faces.
6╇╇ A Science of Behavior

to occur when it is off. Basically, the frequency of lever pressing increases in the presence of the
light (SD). Turning the light on, however, does not force or elicit lever pressing as with a respondent
conditioned stimulus; it simply increases the probability of the lever-pressing response when the
light is on. The control by the light stimulus is based on the past history of reinforcement for lever
pressing in the presence of the light and no reinforcement when it is off.
Most of what we commonly call voluntary, willful, or purposive action is analyzed as operant
behavior. Operant conditioning occurs, for example, when a baby smiles to a human face and is then
picked up. If smiling to faces increases in frequency because of such social attention, then smiling
is an operant and the effect is a result of conditioning. The presentation of a human face (SD) sets
the occasion for infant smiling only after a history of operant conditioning. When a face appears,
the frequency of smiling increases; also, smiling has a low frequency of occurrence when no one is
around. In a more complex example using video games, the presence of targets on the screen (SD)
sets the occasion for pressing a sequence of buttons (operant) that result in hitting a target (Sr) and
increasing the probability of the response sequence. Other examples of operant behavior include
driving a car to work to get paid, talking on the phone for fun, taking lecture notes to pass a test,
walking to the store to buy groceries, reading a book for pleasure, writing a term paper for grades,
or conducting an experiment to resolve a scientific question. In each case, we say the operant is
selected by its consequences.

Selection as a Causal Process

B.â•›F. Skinner (1938) viewed psychology as the study of the behavior of organisms. From this point
of view, psychology is a subfield of biology. The main organizing principle of contemporary biol-
ogy is evolution through natural selection. Skinner generalized this concept to a broader principle
of selection by consequences. Selection by consequences applies at three levels: (1) the selection
over generations for genes related to survival and reproduction (natural or Darwinian selection);
(2) the selection for behavior within the lifetime of an individual organism (selection by operant
conditioning); and (3) the selection for behavior patterns (practices, traditions, or rituals) of groups
of human beings that endure beyond the lifetime of a single individual (cultural selection). In all
three cases, it is the consequences arranged by the environment that select for (or against) the fre-
quency of genetic, behavioral, and cultural forms (see Chapter€14).
Selection by consequences is a form of causal explanation. In science we talk about two kinds
of causation: immediate and remote. Immediate causation is the kind of mechanism studied by
physics and chemistry—the “billiard ball” type of process where we try to isolate a chain of events
that directly result in some effect. For example, chemical reactions are explained by describing
molecular interactions. In the study of behavior, an immediate causal explanation might refer to the
physiology, biochemistry, and genetics of the organism. For example, the bar pressing of a rat for
food or a gambler playing roulette could each involve the release of endogenous opiates and dopa-
mine in the hypothalamus (Shizgal€& Arvanitogiannis, 2003).
In contrast, remote causation is typical of sciences like evolutionary biology, geology, and
astronomy. In this case, we explain some phenomenon by pointing to remote events that made it
likely. Thus, the causal explanation of a species characteristic (e.g., size, coloration, or exceptional
vision) involves the working of natural selection on the gene pool of the parent population. An evo-
lutionary account of species coloration, for example, would involve showing how this characteristic
improved the reproductive success of organisms in a given ecological environment. Thus, natural
selection for coloration explains the current frequency of the characteristic in the population.
On the behavioral level, the principle of selection by consequences is a form of explanation by
remote causation called functional analysis. When a rat learns to press a lever for food, we explain
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 7

the rat’s behavior by pointing to its past consequences (the function of behavior). Thus, the current
frequency of bar pressing is explained by the contingency between bar pressing and food in the past.
The rat’s behavior has been selected by its history of reinforcement. Thus, the history of reinforce-
ment is what explains why the rat presses the lever.
Both immediate and remote causal explanations are acceptable in science. Behavior analysts
have emphasized functional analysis and selection by consequences (remote causation), but are also
interested in direct analysis of physiological and neurochemical processes (immediate causation). Ulti-
mately, both types of causal explanation will provide a more complete account of learning and behavior.

FOCUS ON: Behavior Analysis

and Neuroscience
Behavior analysis is becoming more involved with the scientific analysis of the brain and
nervous system or neuroscience (Schlinger, 2015). Researchers who primarily study the be-
havior of organisms and learning are often interested in the brain processes that partic-
ipate in the regulation of behavior (Schaal, 2013; see also special issue on “Relation of
Behavior and Neuroscience” (2005) in Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
84, pp. 305–667). The word participate is used because the brain shows neuroplasticity,
or changes in the interconnections of neurons or nerve cells (Kandel, 2006) and glia or
non-neuronal cells (Fields, 2009) as an organism interacts with the world in which it lives—
altering gene transmission, gene expression, and neural pathways related to learning and
memory (McClung€& Nestler, 2008; also see “New Directions: Epigenetics and Retention of
Early Learning” in this chapter). The brain is not a static structure that determines behav-
ior, but a malleable organ constantly adjusting to the behavioral requirements of everyday
life or the laboratory (Draganski et al., 2004; Schlinger, 2004). For example, brain mecha-
nisms (neurons or groups of neurons) obviously participate in the regulation of behavior
(bar pressing) by its consequences (food). Describing how neurons assemble, code for, and
respond to stimulation and reinforcement is an important and exciting addition to a be-
havior analysis (Fiorillo, Tobler,€& Schultz, 2003).
Currently, neuroscientists are mapping neurons to behavior in simple organisms like
the fruit fly, Drosophila (Vogelstein et al., 2014). Flies are genetically engineered to selec-
tively express a light-sensitive protein in defined sets of neurons (1054 neuron lines), which
researchers activate with the presentation of light (optogenetic stimulation). Larvae are
placed in plastic dishes and light stimulation is applied to the genetically engineered neu-
rons, allowing observation and control of defined behavioral sequences (e.g., “wiggle
escape” or “turn-turn-turn”). One finding is that the relation between a specific line of neu-
rons and evoked behavior is probabilistic—repeatedly activating the same neurons did not
always produce the identical behavioral sequence; thus, the topography of response varies
even though the identical brain pathway is activated. The researchers note that optogenetic
mapping of neurons to behavior would allow for an atlas of connectivity–activity maps to
further investigate how neurons participate in the regulation of complex behavior.
At the practical level, knowing the reinforcement contingencies for lever pressing is
sufficient by itself to allow us to predict and control the rat’s behavior. We can get the rat
to increase or decrease its lever pressing by providing or denying food reinforcement for
this behavior—there is no need to look at neural systems. However, we gain a more com-
plete account of how a rat’s behavior increases when the action of neurons (and neural
8╇╇ A Science of Behavior

systems) is combined with the analysis of behavior. For example, in some cases it may be
possible to “sensitize” or “desensitize” a rat to the behavioral contingencies by drugs that
activate or block the action of specialized neurons (e.g., Bratcher, Farmer-Dougan, Dou-
gan, Heidenreich,€& Garris, 2005). Research at the neural level could, in this way, add to the
practical control or regulation of behavior by its consequences.
Neural processes also may participate as immediate consequences (local contingencies)
for behavior that had long-range benefits for organisms—remote contingencies, as in evo-
lution and natural selection (Tobler, Fiorillo,€& Schultz, 2005). The so-called neural basis of
reward involves the interrelationship of the endogenous opiate and dopamine systems (as
well as other neural processes) in the regulation of behavior and learning (Fiorillo, Tobler,€&
Schultz, 2003; Puig, Rose, Schmidt,€& Freund, 2014). For example, rats that are food restricted
and allowed to run in activity wheels increase running over days—up to 20,000 wheel turns.
Wheel running leads to the release of neural opiates that reinforce this behavior (Pierce,
2001; Smith€& Rasmussen, 2010). If wheel running is viewed as food-related travel, one func-
tion of neural reinforcement is to promote locomotion under conditions of food scarcity.
The long-range or remote contingency (travel produces food: travel → food) is supported
proximally by the release of endogenous opiates (physical activity → release of endogenous
opiates) that “keep the rat going” under conditions of food scarcity (e.g., famine or drought).
The integration of the science of behavior with neuroscience (behavioral neurosci-
ence) is a growing field of inquiry. Areas of interest include the effects of drugs on behav-
ior (behavioral pharmacology), neural imaging and complex stimulus relations, choice and
neural activity, and the brain circuitry of learning and addiction. We shall examine some
of this research in subsequent chapters in sections that focus on behavior analysis and
neuroscience (“Focus On” sections) or in sections that emphasize applications (“On the
Applied Side” sections).

The Evolution of Learning

When organisms were faced with unpredictable and changing environments in their evolutionary past,
natural selection favored those individuals whose behavior could be conditioned. Organisms that condi-
tion are more flexible, in the sense that they can learn new requirements and relationships in the environ-
ment (see section on “Behavioral Flexibility” in Chapter€14 for evidence by Mery and Kawecki (2002)
on the link between learning ability and improved fitness in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster).
Such behavioral flexibility must reflect underlying structural changes of the organism. During embry-
onic development, genes are sequenced to form the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the
individual, allowing for different degrees of functional flexibility (Mukherjee, 2016, pp. 185–199). Thus,
differences in the structure of organisms based on genetic control give rise to differences in the regulation
of behavior. Processes of learning, like operant and respondent conditioning, lead to greater (or lesser)
reproductive success. Presumably, those organisms that changed their behavior as a result of experiences
during their lifetimes survived and had offspring (passing on the genome), while those that were less
flexible did not. Simply stated, this means that the capacity for learning is inherited.
The evolution of learning processes had an important consequence. Behavior that was closely
tied to survival and reproduction could be influenced by experience. Specific physiological processes,
orchestrated by genes and proteins at the cellular level, typically regulate behavior related to sur-
vival and reproduction. However, for behaviorally flexible organisms, this control by physiology
may be modified by experiences during the lifetime of the individual. The extent of such modification
depends on the amount and scope of behavioral flexibility. For example, sexual behavior is closely
tied to reproductive success and is regulated by distinct physiological processes. For many species,
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 9

sexual behavior is rigidly controlled by genetically driven mechanisms. In humans, however, sexual
behavior is also influenced by socially mediated experiences. It is these experiences, not genes, which
come to dictate when sexual intercourse occurs, how it is performed, and who can be a sexual partner.
Powerful religious or social controls can make people abstain from sex. This example demonstrates
that even the biologically relevant behavior of humans is partly determined by life experience.

The Biological Context of Behavior

As we have emphasized, behavior analysts recognize and promote the importance of biology, genes,
and evolution, but focus more on the interplay of behavior and environment. To maintain this focus,
the evolutionary history and biological status of an organism are examined as part of the context of
behavior (see Morris, 1988). This contextualist view is seen in B.â•›F. Skinner’s analysis of imprinting
in a duckling:

Operant conditioning and natural selection are combined in the so-called imprinting of a newly hatched
duckling. In its natural environment the young duckling moves towards its mother and follows her
as she moves about. The behavior has obvious survival value. When no duck is present, the duckling
behaves in much the same way with respect to other objects. Recently it has been shown that a young
duckling will come to approach and follow any moving object, particularly if it is the same size as a
duck—for example, a shoebox. Evidently survival is sufficiently well served even if the behavior is not
under the control of the specific visual features of a duck. Merely approaching and following is enough.
Even so, that is not a correct statement of what happens. What the duckling inherits is the
capacity to be reinforced by maintaining or reducing the distance between itself and a moving object.
In the natural environment, and in the laboratory in which imprinting is studied, approaching and
following have these consequences, but the contingencies can be changed. A€mechanical system can
be constructed in which movement toward an object causes the object to move rapidly away, while
movement away from the object causes it to come closer. Under these conditions, the duckling will
move away from the object rather than approach or follow it. A€duckling will learn to peck a spot
on the wall if pecking brings the object closer. Only by knowing what and how the duckling learns
during its lifetime can we be sure of what it is equipped to do at birth.
(Skinner, 1974, pp. 40–41)

The duckling’s biological history, in terms of providing the capacity for reinforcement by prox-
imity to a duck-sized object, is the context for the regulation of its behavior. Of course, the anatomy
and neurophysiology of the duckling allow for this capacity. The way the environment is arranged
during its lifetime, however, determines the behavior of the individual organism on a specific occa-
sion. Laboratory experiments in behavior analysis identify the general principles that govern the
behavior of organisms, the specific events that regulate the behavior of different species, and the
arrangement of these events during the lifetime of an individual.

NEW DIRECTIONS: Epigenetics and

Retention of Early Learning
One discovery that has rocked the scientific world in recent years is that learning
experiences (and other environmental factors) can affect gene expression (transcrip-
tion and translation), resulting in structural and functional changes to the brain and
behavior, which may be long lasting (Roth€& Sweatt, 2011).
10╇╇ A Science of Behavior

Epigenetics is a branch of biology concerned with heritable, functional changes

to the genome that do not involve alterations of the gene itself (sequence of deoxy-
ribonucleic acid, or DNA code). All cells in the body have a nucleus which includes
chromatin, a combination of DNA and histone protein in a spool-like structure (see
illustration at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics#/media/File:Epigenetic_�
mechanisms.jpg). Biochemical markings of the chromatin control accessibility to genes and
gene expression, allowing cells to adapt to an ever-changing environment, beginning
with cell differentiation and fetal development in utero and continuing through-
out the organism’s lifetime. The molecular biology of epigenetic (outside of genetic)
processes is beyond the scope of this textbook (see Tammen, Friso,€& Choi, 2013 for
overview), but the basics can be outlined briefly. There are two primary epigene-
tic mechanisms called DNA methylation (adding mythyl groups to DNA) and histone
modification (e.g., acetylation, adding acetyl groups to histone tails), both of which
determine whether “packaged” cellular DNA is available for gene transcription by
messenger RNA (mRNA) and subsequent translation by mRNA into proteins. DNA
methylation increases the affinity between DNA and histone (alkaline proteins of
eukaryotic cell nuclei) “spools,” limiting accessibility to the genetic code and silencing
the gene transcription machinery; therefore, DNA methylation provides an epigene-
tic mark (signal) for gene silencing. Histone acetylation, in contrast, usually decreases
the affinity between histone and DNA, allowing for mRNA transcription and subse-
quent translation into proteins; thus, histone acetylation is an epigenetic mark for
gene activation. Thus, an active chromatin structure (“packaged” genes available for
activation) allows mRNA access to the genetic material for transcription and subse-
quent translation into proteins, which in turn control the cell structure and function
of the organism—including the cells or neurons in its brain (Day€& Sweatt, 2011).
Evidence in rats indicates that epigenetic changes underlie the effects of maternal
caretaking of pups on the adult behavior of these offspring (see Roth, 2012). Rodent
mothers (dames) differ in the amount of grooming and licking they provide to pups
within the first 10 days after birth. Compared to low nurturing mothers, dames that
provided high levels of grooming and licking produced adult offspring with lower
indicators of physiological stress and less fear responses to a novel environment.
Subsequent research showed that maternal care influenced DNA transcription of
the glucocorticoid receptor gene (GR) in the hippocampus (see Roth, 2012). Notably,
increased GR gene transcription helps to moderate the animal’s neural and behav-
ioral responses to stressful (aversive) situations with higher GR expression linked
to less severe stress responses. Thus, adult male rats from high-caregiving dames
were shown to have less DNA-methlylation markers (lower silencing of GR gene) and
greater histone-acetylation markers (higher transcription of GR gene) in the hippo-
campus than dames providing lower amounts of grooming and licking of pups after
birth. Further research subsequently established causal connections among postnatal
maternal caretaking, epigenetic alterations of gene expression, and differences in
adult offspring responses to stressful situations.
Non-genetic factors including learning experiences (e.g., conditioning) can result
in epigenetic changes by histone acetylation and DNA methylation, which in turn
affect brain and behavior via mRNA transcription and mRNA translation to proteins;
although still controversial (Francis, 2014), it appears that cell division passes on epi-
genetic markings over one’s lifetime and even from one generation to the next via
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 11

noncoding mRNAs of sex cells or gametes (Dias€& Ressler, 2014; Gapp et al., 2014;
see Jablonka€& Raz, 2009 for a complete discussion of transgenerational epigen-
etic inheritance). One implication is that learning sometimes can be transmitted
epigenetically from one generation to the next with no change in the genes them-
selves. Also, in the future, it may be possible to produce lasting reversal of epigenetic
changes by targeted early behavioral interventions (as in autism; see Chapter€13) or
reverse epigenetic effects in later life by arranging new (re)programmed learning
experiences (Tammen et al., 2013). Generally, evolution has provided animals with
epigenetic mechanisms that allow for retention of learning experiences (changes
in behavior due to the prevailing environmental contingencies) over an organism’s
lifetime and perhaps beyond.

The Selection of Operant Behavior

Early behaviorists like John B. Watson (1903) used the terminology of stimulus–response (S–R)
psychology. From this perspective, stimuli force responses much like meat in a dog’s mouth elicits
(or forces) salivation. In fact, Watson based his stimulus–response theory of behavior on Pavlov’s
conditioning experiments. Stimulus–response theories are mechanistic in the sense that an organism
is compelled to respond when a stimulus is presented. This is similar to a physical account of the
motion of billiard balls. The impact of the cue ball (stimulus) determines the motion and trajec-
tory (response) of the target ball. Although stimulus–response conceptions are useful for analyzing
reflexive behavior and other rigid response patterns, the push–pull model is not as useful when
applied to voluntary actions or operants. To be fair, Watson talked about “habits” in a way that
sounds like operant behavior, but he lacked the experimental evidence and vocabulary to distinguish
between respondent and operant conditioning.
It was B.â•›F. Skinner (1935) who made the distinction between two types of conditioned reflex,
corresponding to the difference between operant and respondent behavior. In 1938, he introduced
the term “operant” in his classic book, The Behavior of Organisms. Eventually, Skinner rejected
the mechanistic (S–R) model of Watson and based operant conditioning on Darwin’s principle of
selection. The basic idea is that an individual emits behavior that produces effects or consequences.
Based on these consequences, those performances that are appropriate to the environmental require-
ments increase, becoming more frequent in the population or class of responses for the situation;
at the same time, less appropriate forms of response decline or become extinct. Julie Vargas is the
daughter of B.â•›F. Skinner and was a professor of behavior analysis at West Virginia University. She
has commented on her father’s model of causation:

Skinner’s paradigm is a selectionist paradigm not unlike Darwin’s selectionist theory of the evolution
of species. Where Darwin found an explanation for the evolution of species, Skinner looked for vari-
ables functionally related to changes in behavior over the lifetime of an individual. Both explanations
assumed variation; Darwin in inherited characteristics, Skinner in individual acts. Skinner, in other
words, does not concern himself with why behavior varies, only with how patterns of behavior are
drawn out from the variations that already exist. In looking at the functional relationships between
acts and their effects on the world, Skinner broke with the S–R, input–output transformation model.
(Vargas, 1990, p. 9)

Skinner recognized that operants are selected by their consequences (behavioral selection). He
also noted that operant behavior naturally varies in form and frequency. Even the simple movement
12╇╇ A Science of Behavior

of opening the door to your house is not done exactly the same way each time, an observation con-
sistent with recent optogenetic studies of variation of neuron firing in fruit flies (Vogelstein et al.,
2014). Pressure on the doorknob, strength of pull, and the hand used change from one occasion to
the next. If the door sticks and becomes difficult to open, a more forceful response may eventually
occur. This energetic response may succeed in opening the door and become the most likely perfor-
mance for the situation. Other forms of response may occur at different frequencies depending on
how often they succeed in opening the door (reinforcement). Thus, operants are selected by their
consequences.
Similarly, it is well known that babies produce a variety of sounds called “babbling.” These
natural variations in sound production are important for language learning. When sounds occur,
parents usually react to them. If the infant produces a familiar sound, parents often repeat it more
precisely. Unfamiliar sounds are usually ignored. Eventually, the baby begins to produce sounds
(we say talk) like other people in their culture or verbal community. Selection of verbal behavior
by its social consequences is an important process underlying human communication and lan-
guage (Skinner, 1957).

Culture and Behavior Analysis

Although much of the basic research in the experimental analysis of behavior is based on labora-
tory animals, contemporary behavior analysts are increasingly concerned with human behavior.
The behavior of people occurs in a social environment. Society and culture refer to aspects of the
social environment, the social context, which regulates human conduct. One of the primary tasks of
behavior analysis is to show how individual behavior is acquired, maintained, and changed through
interaction with others. An additional task is to account for the practices of the group, community,
or society that affect an individual’s behavior (Lamal, 1997).
Culture is usually defined in terms of the ideas and values of a society. However, behavior ana-
lysts define culture as all the conditions, events, and stimuli arranged by other people that regulate
human action (Glenn, 2004; Skinner, 1953). The principles and laws of behavior analysis provide
an account of how culture regulates an individual’s behavior. A€person in an English-speaking cul-
ture learns to speak in accord with the verbal practices of that community. People in the community
provide reinforcement for a certain way of speaking. In this manner, a person comes to talk like and
share the language of other members of the public and, in doing so, contributes to the perpetuation
of the culture. The customs or practices of a culture are therefore maintained through the social
conditioning of individual behavior.
Another objective is to account for the evolution of cultural practices. Behavior analysts sug-
gest that the principles of variation and selection by consequences occur at the biological, behavioral
and cultural levels (Wilson, Hayes, Biglan,€& Embry, 2014). Thus, cultural practices increase (or
decrease) based on consequences produced in the past. A€ cultural practice of making containers
to hold water is an advantage to the group because it allows for the transportation and storage of
water. This practice may include using shells or hollow leaves, or making fired-clay containers. The
cultural form selected (e.g., clay jars) is the one that proves most efficient and least costly. In other
words, the community values and uses those containers that last the longest, hold the most, and
are easily stored. People manufacture and use clay pots, while production and use of less efficient
containers declines.
Behavior analysts are interested in cultural evolution because cultural changes alter the social
conditioning of individual behavior. Analysis of cultural evolution suggests how the social environ-
ment is arranged and rearranged to support specific forms of human behavior. On a more practical
level, behavior analysts suggest that the solution to many social problems requires a technology of
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 13

cultural design. B.â•›F. Skinner addressed this possibility in his utopian book, Walden Two (Skinner,
1948a). Although this idealistic novel was written more than six decades ago, contemporary behav-
ior analysts have conducted small-scale social experiments based on Skinner’s ideas (Komar, 1983).
Behavioral technology also has been used to manage environmental pollution, encourage energy
conservation, and regulate overpopulation (Bostow, 2011; Lehman€& Geller, 2004; Wilson, Hayes,
Biglan,€& Embry, 2014).

FOCUS ON: Burrhus Frederic Skinner

B.â•›F. Skinner (1904–1990) was the intellectual force behind behavior analysis. He was born
and named Burrhus Frederic Skinner on 20 March€1904 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.
When he was a boy, Skinner spent much of his time exploring the countryside with his
younger brother. He had a passion for English literature and mechanical inventions. His
hobbies included writing stories and designing perpetual-motion machines. He wanted to
be a novelist, and went to Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he graduated
with a degree in English. After graduation in 1926, Skinner reported that he was not a
great writer because he had nothing to say. He began reading about behaviorism, a new
intellectual movement at that time, and as a result went to Harvard in 1928 to learn more
about a science of behavior. He earned his master’s degree in 1930 and his PhD the fol-
lowing year.
Skinner (Figure€1.3) began writing about the behavior of organisms in the 1930s, when
the discipline was in its infancy, and he continued to publish papers until his death in 1990.
During his long career, he wrote about and researched topics ranging from utopian societ-
ies to the philosophy of science, teaching machines, pigeons that controlled the direction
of missiles, air cribs for infants, and techniques for improving education. Some people
considered him a genius, while others were critical of his theory of behavior.
Skinner was always a controversial figure. He proposed a natural-science approach
to human behavior. According to Skinner, the behavior of organisms, including humans,
was determined by observable and measurable processes. Although common sense sug-
gests that we do things because of our feelings, thoughts, and intentions, Skinner stated
that behavior resulted from genetic endowment and environment. This position both-
ered many people who believed that humans have some degree of self-determination
and free will. Even though he was constantly confronted
with arguments against his position, Skinner maintained
that the scientific facts required the rejection of feelings,
thoughts, and intentions as causes of behavior. He said
that these internal (private) events were not explana-
tions of behavior; rather these events were additional
activities of people that needed to be explained:

The practice of looking inside the organism for an explana-

tion of behavior has tended to obscure the variables which
are immediately available for a scientific analysis. These vari-
ables lie outside the organism in its immediate environment
and in its environmental history. They have a physical status FIG. 1.3╇ B. F. Skinner.
to which the usual techniques of science are adapted, and Source: Reprinted with permission
they make it possible to explain behavior as other subjects from the B.â•›F. Skinner Foundation.
14╇╇ A Science of Behavior

are explained in science. These independent variables [causes] are of many sorts and their
relations to behavior are often subtle and complex, but we cannot hope to give an adequate
account of behavior without analyzing them.
(Skinner, 1953, p. 31)

One of Skinner’s most important achievements was his theory of operant behavior.
The implications of behavior theory were outlined in his book, Science and Human Behav-
ior (Skinner, 1953). In this book, Skinner discussed basic operant principles and their appli-
cation to human behavior. Topics include self-control, thinking, the self, social behavior,
government, religion, and culture. Skinner advocated the principle of positive reinforce-
ment and argued against the use of punishment. He noted how governments and other
social agencies often resort to punishment for behavior control. Although punishment
works in the short run, he noted that it has many negative side effects. Positive reinforce-
ment, Skinner believed, is a more effective means of behavior change—people act well
and are happy when behavior is maintained by positive reinforcement.
People have misunderstood many of the things that Skinner has said and done (Cata-
nia€& Harnard, 1988). One popular misconception is that he raised his children in an exper-
imental chamber—the so-called “baby in a box.” Some critics claimed that Skinner used
his daughter as an experimental subject to test his theories. A€popular myth was that this
experience drove his child crazy. His daughter, Julie, was confronted with this myth and
recalls the following:

I took a class called “Theories of Learning” taught by a nice elderly gentleman. He started
with Hull and Spence, and then reached Skinner. At that time I€had read little of Skinner,
and I€could not judge the accuracy of what was being said about Skinner’s theories. But
when a student asked whether Skinner had any children, the professor thought Skinner
had children. “Did he condition his children?” asked another student. “I€heard that one
of the children was crazy.” “What happened to his children?” The questions came thick
and fast.
What was I€to do? I€had a friend in the class, and she looked over at me, clearly expect-
ing action. I€did not want to demolish the professor’s confidence by telling who I€was, but
I€couldn’t just sit there. Finally, I€raised my hand and stood up. “Dr. Skinner has two daugh-
ters and I€believe they turned out relatively normal,” I€said, and sat down.
(Vargas, 1990, pp. 8–9)

In truth, the “box” that Skinner designed for his children had nothing to do with an
experiment. The air crib is an enclosed bed that allows air temperature to be controlled.
Because of this feature no blankets are needed, so the baby is free to move and there is
no danger of suffocating. The air crib was designed to keep the child warm, dry, and safe.
Most importantly, the infant spent no more time in the air crib than other children do in
ordinary beds (Skinner, 1945).
Although Skinner did not experiment with his children, he was always interested in
the application of conditioning principles to human issues. His writings on applied behav-
ioral technology led to the field of applied behavior analysis, ABA (see Rutherford, 2009
who provides an historical account of the transition from Skinner’s work in the laboratory
to applications of behavior principles in everyday life). Applied behavior analysis is con-
cerned with the extension of behavior principles to socially important problems. In the
first issue of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968) out-
lined a program of research based on Skinner’s views:
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 15

The statement [of behavior principles] establishes the possibility of their application to problem
behavior. A€society willing to consider a technology of its own behavior apparently is likely to
support that application when it deals with socially important behaviors, such as retardation,
crime, mental illness, or education. Better applications, it is hoped, will lead to a better state
of society, to whatever extent the behavior of its members can contribute to the goodness of a
society. The differences between applied and basic research are not differences between that
which “discovers” and that which merely “applies” what is already known. Both endeavors ask
what controls the behavior under study.€.€.€.€[Basic] research is likely to look at any behavior,
and at any variable which may conceivably relate to it. Applied research is constrained to look
at variables which can be effective in improving the behavior under study.
(Baer, Wolf,€& Risley, 1968, p. 91)

One area of application that Skinner wrote about extensively was teaching and learn-
ing. Although Skinner recognized the importance of behavior principles for teaching
people with learning disabilities, he claimed that the same technology could be used to
improve our general educational system. In his book The Technology of Teaching, Skinner
(1968) offered a personalized system of positive reinforcement for the academic perfor-
mance of students. In this system, teaching involves arranging materials, designing the
classroom, and programming lessons to shape and maintain the performance of students.
Learning is defined objectively in terms of answering questions, solving problems, using
grammatically correct forms of the language, and writing about the subject matter.
A less well-known aspect of Skinner’s history is his humor and rejection of formal titles.
He preferred to be called “Fred” rather than Burrhus, and the only person who called him
Burrhus was his close friend and colleague Fred Keller, who felt he had prior claims on the
name Fred from being a few years older than Skinner. One of Skinner’s earliest collabora-
tors, C.â•›B. Ferster, tells about a time early in his acquaintance when Skinner tried to get Fer-
ster to call him “Fred.” The story goes (Ferster, personal communication to Paul Brandon)
that one day Ferster walked into the living room of Skinner’s house to see Skinner seated
on the sofa with a large sign around his neck saying “FRED.”
In the later part of his life, Skinner worked with Margaret Vaughan (Skinner€& Vaughan,
1983) on positive approaches to the problems of old age. Their book Enjoy Old Age: A€Pro-
gram of Self-Management is written for the elderly reader and provides practical advice
on how to deal with daily life. For example, the names of people are easy to forget, and
even more so in old age. Skinner and Vaughan suggest you can improve your chances of
recalling a name by reading a list of people you are likely to meet before going to an
important occasion. If all else fails “you can always appeal to your age. You can please the
friend whose name you have momentarily forgotten by saying that the names you forget
are always the names you most want to remember” (Skinner€& Vaughan, 1983, p. 52).
Skinner, who held the Edgar Pierce Chair in Psychology, officially retired from Harvard
University in 1974. Following his retirement, he continued an active program of research
and writing. Each day he walked two miles to William James Hall, where he lectured, su-
pervised graduate students, and conducted experiments. Eight days before his death on
August€18, 1990, B.╛F. Skinner received the first (and only) Citation for Outstanding Lifetime
Contribution to Psychology from the American Psychological Association (Schlinger, 2011).
The citation for the award, published in the American Psychologist, read “Few individuals
have had such a dynamic and far-reaching impact on the discipline” (1990, p. 1205). In a
study of renowned psychologists by Haggbloom (2002), Skinner ranked as the most emi-
nent psychologist of the 20th century. Skinner’s contributions to psychology and a science
16╇╇ A Science of Behavior

of behavior are documented in the film B.╛F. Skinner: A€Fresh Appraisal (1999). Murray
Sidman, a distinguished researcher in the experimental analysis of behavior, narrated the
film (available from the bookstore of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, www.
behavior.org).

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

Contemporary behavior analysis is based on ideas and research that became prominent at the turn
of the 20th century. The Russian scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov discovered the conditional reflex
(a€reflex that only occurs under a particular set of conditions, such as the pairing of stimuli), and
this was a significant step toward a scientific understanding of behavior.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936)

Pavlov (Figure€1.4) was born the son of a village priest in 1849. He attended seminary school to fol-
low his father into the priesthood. However, after studying physiology he decided on a career in the
biological sciences. Although his family protested, Pavlov entered the University of St. Petersburg
where he graduated in 1875 with a degree in physiology. After completing his studies in physiology,
Pavlov was accepted as an advanced student of medicine. He distinguished himself and obtained
a scholarship to continue his studies of physiology in Germany. In 1890, Pavlov was appointed to
two prominent research positions in Russia. He was Professor of Pharmacology at the St. Petersburg
Medical Academy and Director of the Physiology Department. For the next 20€years, Pavlov studied
the physiology of digestion, and in 1904 he won the Nobel
Prize for this work, the year that B.â•›F. Skinner was born.
Ivan Pavlov initially worked on the physiology of saliva-
tion and digestion; later he began investigations of “psychic
secretions” involving the salivary reflex and its role in diges-
tion. Pavlov had dogs surgically prepared to expose the sal-
ivary glands in the dogs’ mouths. The animals were brought
into the laboratory and put in restraining harnesses. As shown
in Figure€1.5, food was then placed in the dogs’ mouths and
the action of the salivary glands was observed and measured.
The analysis of the salivary reflex was based on prevail-
ing notions of animal behavior. At this time, many people
thought that animals, with the exception of humans, were
complex biological machines. The idea was that a specific
stimulus elicited a particular response in much the same way
that turning a key starts an engine. In other words, animals
reacted to the environment in a simple cause–effect manner.
FIG. 1.4╇ Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Humans, on the other hand, were seen as different from other
Source: Reprinted with permission animals in that their actions were purposive. Humans were
from the Archives of the History of said to anticipate future events. Pavlov noticed that his dogs
American Psychology, Center for the
History of Psychology, The University began to salivate at the sight of an experimenter’s lab coat
of Akron. before food was placed in the animal’s mouth. This suggested
 A Science of Behavior╇╇ 17

that the dogs “anticipated” the delivery of

food. Pavlov recognized that such a result
challenged conventional wisdom.
Pavlov made an important observa-
tion in terms of the study of behavior. He
reasoned that anticipatory reflexes were
learned or conditioned. Further, Pavlov
concluded that these conditioned reflexes
were an essential part of the behavior of
organisms. Although some behaviors were
described as innate reflexes, other actions FIG. 1.5╇ A€dog in the experimental apparatus used by
were based on conditioning that occurred Pavlov.
during the animal’s life. These conditioned
reflexes (termed conditional reflexes in Pavlov, 1960) were present to some degree in all animals, but
were most prominent in humans.
The question was how to study conditioned reflexes systematically. Pavlov’s answer to this ques-
tion represents a major advance in the experimental analysis of behavior. If dogs reliably salivate at
the sight of a lab coat, Pavlov reasoned, then any arbitrary stimulus that preceded food might also be
conditioned and evoke salivation. Pavlov replaced the experimenter’s lab coat with a stimulus that he
could systematically manipulate and reliably control. In some experiments, a metronome (a device
used to keep the beat while playing the piano) was presented to a dog just before it was fed. This pro-
cedure resulted in the dog eventually salivating to the sound of the metronome. If a particular beat pre-
ceded feeding while other rhythms did not, the dog salivated most to the sound associated with food.
Although Pavlov was a physiologist and believed in mental associations and subjective experi-
ence (Specter, 2014), his research was directed at observable responses and stimuli and he foreshad-
owed the modern study of behavioral neuroscience, the
objective and direct study of brain and behavior empha-
sized in this book. He discovered many principles of the
conditioned reflex including spontaneous recovery, dis-
crimination, generalization, and extinction. The later part
of his career involved an experimental analysis of neuro-
sis in animals. He continued these investigations until his
death in 1936.

John Broadus Watson (1878–1958)

Pavlov’s research became prominent in North America,
and the conditioned reflex was incorporated into a more
general theory of behavior by the famous behaviorist
John B. Watson (Figure€ 1.6). Watson argued that there
was no need to invent unobservable mental associations
to account for human and animal behavior. He proposed
that psychology should be a science based on observ-
able behavior. Thoughts, feelings, and intentions had
no place in a scientific account, and researchers should FIG. 1.6╇ John Watson.
Source: Reprinted with permission from
direct their attention to muscle movements and neural the Archives of the History of American
activity. Although this was an extreme position, Watson Psychology, Center for the History of
succeeded in directing the attention of psychologists to Psychology, The University of Akron.
18╇╇ A Science of Behavior

behavior–environment relationships, although his status as the originator or “founder” of behavior-

ism is doubtful (Malone, 2014).
Watson was a rebellious young man who failed his last year at Furman University because he
handed in a final-exam paper written “backwards.”1He graduated in 1899, when he was 21€years
old. After spending a year as a public-school teacher, Watson was admitted to graduate studies at
the University of Chicago. There he studied philosophy with John Dewey, the famous educator.
He never really appreciated Dewey’s ideas, and later in his life commented, “I€never knew what he
was talking about then, and, unfortunately for me, I€still don’t know” (Watson, 1936, p. 274). While
a graduate student at the University of Chicago, he also studied psychology with James Angell
and biology and physiology with Henry Donaldson and Jacques Loeb (Pauley, 1987). In 1903, he
obtained his doctorate for research with laboratory rats. The experiments concerned learning and
correlated changes in the brains of these animals.
Watson (1903) published Animal Education: An Experimental Study on the Psychical Devel-
opment of the White Rat, Correlated with the Growth of Its Nervous System, which was based on
his doctoral research. The book demonstrated that Watson was a capable scientist who could clearly
present his ideas. Ten years later, he published his most influential work in Psychological Review,
“Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.” This paper outlined Watson’s views on behaviorism as
the only way to build a science of psychology, avoiding the philosophical speculation of mind–
body dualism and focusing research on objective behavior (Watson, 1913; also see Malone€ &
Â�Garcia-Penagos, 2014 for Watson’s contributions to behaviorism).
In his 1913 paper, Watson rejected as scientific data what people said about their thoughts and
feelings. Further, he pointed to the unreliability of psychological inferences about another person’s
mind. He also noted that the psychology of mind had little practical value for behavior control and
public affairs. Modern behavior analysts, informed by the writings of Watson and B.â•›F. Skinner,
study what people say as verbal behavior regulated by the social environment (behavior of other
people), not reports on the mind or mental states. Behavior analysts study thinking and remembering
as private behavior often related to challenges or problems faced by the person. A€person may “think
about the house key” and check her coat pocket just before leaving for work, especially if she has
been locked out in the past. Notice that thinking about the key is not treated as a cause of behavior
(as in cognitive psychology), but as more behavior to be explained by its interaction with the envi-
ronment (history of being locked out of the house).
In addition to his influence on modern behaviorism, Watson is best known for his early studies of
conditioning. Perhaps Watson’s most famous experiment was the study of fear conditioning with Little
Albert (Watson€& Rayner, 1920). Little Albert was a normal, healthy 9-month-old child who attended
a day-care center. Watson and his assistant used classical-conditioning procedures to condition Little
Albert to fear a white rat. When first exposed to the animal, the child looked at the rat and tried to touch
it. The unconditioned stimulus was the sound of a hammer hitting an iron rail. This sound made Little
Albert jump, cry, and fall over. After only six presentations of the noise (US) and the rat (CS), the furry
animal alone also produced the fear responses. The next phase of the experiment involved a series of
tests to see if the child’s fear reaction transferred or generalized to similar stimuli. Albert was also
afraid (showed fear behaviors) when presented with a white rabbit, a dog, and a fur coat.
At this point, Watson and Rayner discussed a number of techniques that could be used to elim-
inate the child’s fear. (If fear behavior was learned, the opposite behavior could also be learned.)
Unfortunately, Little Albert was removed from the day-care center before counterconditioning could
be carried out. In his characteristic manner, Watson later used the disappearance of Little Albert to
poke fun at Freud’s method of psychoanalysis. He suggested that as Albert got older, he might go to
an analyst because of his strange fears. The analyst would probably convince Albert that his prob-
lem was the result of an unresolved Oedipal complex. But, Watson remarked, we would know that
Albert’s fears were actually caused by conditioning—so much for Freudian analysis.
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Caen démoli:
Recueil de notices sur des monuments
détruits ou défigurés, et sur l'ancien port de
Caen
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
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you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Caen démoli: Recueil de notices sur des monuments détruits

ou défigurés, et sur l'ancien port de Caen

Author: Gaston Lavalley

Release date: June 14, 2022 [eBook #68314]

Language: French

Original publication: France: Le Blanc-Hardel, 1878

Credits: J.-M. Mariot from files generously made available by the

British Library.

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAEN

DÉMOLI: RECUEIL DE NOTICES SUR DES MONUMENTS
DÉTRUITS OU DÉFIGURÉS, ET SUR L'ANCIEN PORT DE CAEN
***
Notes du transcripteur:
L’orthographe en usage à l’époque de la rédaction de l’ouvrage a été conservée.

LʼERRATA apparaissant dans lʼouvrage original a été pris en compte dans la présente transcription.

Les notes figurant au bas de page dans l’ouvrage original ont été regroupées à la fin du texte principal.
 CAEN
DÉMOLI
RECUEIL DE NOTICES
SUR DES

MONUMENTS DÉTRUITS OU DÉFIGURÉS

ET SUR LʼANCIEN PORT DE CAEN

Avec cinq gravures, dʼaprès des aquarelles de A. L ASNE, et des dessins inédits de
LE NOURICHEL et CH. PICHON
PAR

GASTON LAVALLEY

CAEN
IMPRIMERIE DE F. LE BLANC-HARDEL

RUE FROIDE, 2 ET 4

1878
 TABLE DES MATIÈRES

LE SECOND HOTEL DE VILLE DE CAEN, construit entre les années 1346 et 1367,
détruit en 1755
LʼANCIEN PORT DE CAEN. Notice sur les travaux auxquels il a donné lieu
ANCIENNE ÉGLISE SAINT-SAUVEUR (aujourdʼhui Halle au blé), avant la
démolition de sa flèche en bois
ABBAYE-AUX-DAMES (aujourdʼhui Hôtel-Dieu), avant la démolition du donjon et
de lʼancienne porte dʼentrée
LA PORTE-NEUVE, dite des Prés, construite vers 1590, démolie en 1790
LE SECOND HOTEL DE VILLE DE CAEN
 LE
SECOND HOTEL DE VILLE
DE CAEN
CONSTRUIT ENTRE LES ANNÉES 1346 ET 1367,
DÉTRUIT EN 1755

N sait dans quelles circonstances la ville de Caen obtint

ses lettres dʼaffranchissement, avec tous les droits
attachés à la commune. Tandis que les troupes
françaises faisaient la conquête de la Haute-Normandie,
le duc Jean sans Terre, réfugié à Caen, sʼétourdissait sur
les dangers de sa position au milieu des fêtes et des orgies. Mais,
quand il se vit abandonné des barons anglais que lassait sa
nonchalance, quand il apprit que Philippe Auguste sʼapprochait avec
des forces nombreuses en prenant lʼun après lʼautre tous ses
châteaux, le débauché, frappé de terreur, sortit enfin de sa longue
inaction. Afin de subvenir à la solde des troupes mercenaires quʼil
leva pour sa défense, il dut recourir aux plus pitoyables expédients.
Il emprunta aux abbayes, aux barons et bourgeois, et vendit même
jusquʼà la justice. Cependant, comme ces recettes ne suffisaient
pas, il aliéna, en échange de sommes plus ou moins fortes, la
majeure partie de ses droits. Et cʼest ainsi quʼil se résigna à écrire,
dans ses lettres patentes du 17 juin 1203: « Sachez que nous avons
concédé à nos bien amés et fidèles bourgeois de Caen le droit
dʼavoir leur commune à Caen, avec toutes les libertés et libres
coutumes attachées à la commune... »
La ville de Caen ne doit donc pas, comme on lʼa dit, sa charte
communale à Jean sans Terre; elle la lui a certes bel et bien payée,
avec toute dispense de reconnaissance. Depuis cette date
mémorable de 1203 jusquʼà nos jours, les représentants de la
commune de Caen ont siégé dans quatre hôtels de ville différents.
e
Au commencement du XIII siècle, nous trouvons le corps de ville
installé sur le pont St-Pierre, dans une petite forteresse quʼon appela
1
plus tard le Chastelet ou le petit Château de Caen . On nʼa aucune
notion sur ces anciens bâtiments communaux, où furent enfermés
en 1307, pendant leur procès, les Templiers du grand bailliage de
2
Caen. Lʼabbé De La Rue dit cependant « quʼil paraît, par le récit
des historiens anglais, témoins oculaires de la prise de cette ville par
Édouard III en 1346, que ce pont étoit moult bien afforcé de
brétesches et de barrières. » « Ces brétesches, ajoute-t-il,
nʼannoncent que des tours et des fortifications en bois. Mais comme
elles furent emportées de vive force par les Anglais, elles durent
souffrir beaucoup et peut-être même être rasées. » Cette assertion
de lʼauteur des Essais sur Caen est tout à fait erronée. La petite
forteresse du pont St-Pierre ne fut pas emportée de vive force, pour
cette bonne raison quʼelle ne fut pas défendue. Le comte de Guines,
connétable de France, et le chambellan de Tancarville, qui sʼy
étaient réfugiés, la livrèrent à lʼennemi sans combat pour avoir la vie
3
sauve. « Dont il avint, dit Froissard dans ses Chroniques , que li
connestables de France et li contes de Tankarville, qui estaient
monté en celle porte au piet dou pont a sauveté, regardoient au
lonch et amont la rue, et veoient si grand pestilence et tribulation que
grans hideurs estait à considerer et imaginer. Si se doubtèrent dʼeulz
meismes que il nʼescheissent en ce parti et entre mains dʼarciers, qui
point ne les cognuissent. Ensi que il regardoient aval en grant
doubte ces gens tuer, il perçurent un gentil chevalier englès, qui
nʼavoit cʼun œl, que on clamait monsigneur Thumas de
Hollandes... » Or, comme ils ne voulaient pas avoir le sort du peuple
qui mourait les armes à la main et, selon les Grandes chroniques de
France, « se deffendoit tant quʼil povoit », le connétable et le
chambellan appelèrent le « gentil chevalier englès », dont ils avaient
fait la connaissance dans des voyages en pays étrangers. « Nous
sommes telz et telz. Venés parler à nous en ceste porte, et nous
prendés à prisonniers. Quant li dis messires Thumas oy ceste
parolle, si fu tous joians, tant pour ce que il les pooit sauver que pour
ce quʼil a voit, en yaus prendre, une belle aventure de bons
prisonniers, pour avoir cent mil moutons. Si se traist au plus tost quʼil
peut à toute se route celle part, et descendirent li et seize des siens,
et montèrent amont en le porte; et trouvèrent les dessus dis signeurs
et bien vingt cinq chevaliers avoecques eulz, qui nʼestoient mies bien
asseur de lʼoccision que il veoient que on faisoit sus les rues. Et se
rendirent (tous) sans delay, pour yaus sauver au dit monsigneur
Thumas, qui les prist et fiança prisonniers. Et puis mist et laissa de
ses gens assés pour yaus garder, et monta à cheval et sʼen vint sus
les rues... »
Il arriva donc quʼen voulant sauver leur vie, les sieurs de Guines
et de Tancarville préservèrent en même temps dʼune destruction
presque certaine la petite forteresse du pont St-Pierre. Si, quelques
années plus tard, ce premier hôtel de ville disparut, pour faire place
4
au beau château que le continuateur de Guillaume de Nangis
signale à la date de 1367, cʼest que la prise de Caen par Édouard III
avait démontré, avec la logique brutale du malheur, la nécessité de
protéger la ville par un système plus sérieux de fortifications.
Un sceau, attaché à un acte passé devant un tabellion de Caen
le 29 mai 1429, est le plus ancien document que nous possédions
sur le second hôtel de ville, qui dut être certainement construit entre
les années 1346 et 1367. Cet écusson porte, sur un fond de
gueules, couleur du duché, un château crénelé et donjonné dʼor,
accosté de deux tours. M. Gervais y voit une réminiscence, si ce
nʼest une image de la maison commune, élevée sur le pont St-
5
Pierre. « Voilà bien, dit-il , cette large porte par laquelle on
communiquait de lʼintérieur de la ville avec le quartier St-Jean; le
donjon élevé qui la surmontait et les deux tours qui protégeaient de
chaque côté les angles de lʼédifice! »
Une description du vieux chroniqueur de Caen, M. de Bras,
vient, plus dʼun siècle après, compléter cette esquisse imparfaite.
« Ceste rivière dʼOurne coulle et descend de dessoubs ce pont
sainct Jacques, le long des murailles de la ville, par dessoubs le
pont sainct Pierre, sur lequel est située la maison commune de
ladicte ville, de fort ancienne et admirable structure, de quatre
estages en hauteur, en arcs boutans fondez dedans la rivière sur
pilotins, laquelle flue par trois grandes arches, et aux coings de cest
édifice et maison, sont quatre tours qui se joignent par carneaux, en
lʼune desquelles (qui faict le befroy) est posée la grosse orloge:
ceste quelle maison, pont et rivière, séparent les deux costez de la
ville, de façon que les quatre murailles dʼicelle commencent,
finissent et aboutissent sur ce pont, anciennement appellé de
Dernetal, comme il se treuve par certaine chartre, estant au
matrologe ou chartrier de la ville, de lʼan 1365. »
« En passant par dessus lequel, ceux qui viennent de devers le
grand pont Frilleux et la porte Millet, le long de ceste grande rue
Humoise ou Exmesine, et autres qui sʼacheminent de lʼautre costé
de ville, apperçoyvent de beaux quadrans au haut de ceste maison
commune, fort dorez et si bien ordonnez quʼon y remarque les
heures de part et autre, crois et decrois de la Lune; et au dessoubs
sont escripts en grosses lettres, Un Dieu, Un Roy, Une Foy, Une
Loy... »
Cette description de M. de Bras demande à être complétée par
lʼexamen du plan quʼil avait communiqué lui-même à Belleforest, et
que celui-ci publia en 1575 dans sa Cosmographie. Sur ce plan,
lʼhôtel de ville présente à lʼobservateur la vue de la façade qui
regardait sur la rue St-Jean. Cette façade se compose dʼun corps de
logis encadré entre deux tours rondes à trois étages, dont les toits
pointus, terminés par des girouettes, dépassent légèrement celui du
6
corps de logis . Au centre de la façade sʼouvre une porte cintrée,
très-haute, qui faisait communiquer la rue St-Jean avec le quartier
St-Pierre; sur la voûte de cette porte sʼavance une petite
construction en encorbellement, percée de trois fenêtres et
couronnée dʼun toit aigu avec lucarne triangulaire. Enfin, au-dessus
du toit du corps de logis, sʼélève une tour octogone à deux étages
qui, sauf les créneaux supprimés, rappelle fidèlement la
physionomie du château crénelé et donjonné dʼor de lʼécusson de
1429. Cʼétait dans cette tour, évidemment, que se trouvait la grosse
orloge quʼapercevaient ceux qui, suivant lʼexpression de M. de Bras,
venaient de la « grande rue Humoise ou Exmesine ou qui
sʼacheminaient de lʼautre costé de ville ». Pour être vue ainsi à
distance des deux côtés de lʼédifice, une des tours, qui formaient les
angles de la façade tournée vers St-Pierre, devait dépasser
considérablement les trois autres. Nous ajouterons quʼelle se
terminait, non par un toit aigu, mais par deux étages couronnés
dʼune plate-forme.
Nous insistons sur ces détails, parce quʼils vont nous aider à
faire la légende de la lithographie qui accompagne notre notice.
Cette lithographie est la reproduction dʼune aquarelle de A. Lasne,
exécutée elle-même en 1832, probablement dʼaprès un dessin à la
mine de plomb que possède la Bibliothèque de Caen. Ce dessin,
signé par un certain La Rose de Caen, a dû être fait avant la
destruction de lʼhôtel de ville en 1755. Il représente la façade du
monument prise du côté de St-Pierre, et porte en tête cette mention:
« Horloge du Pont-Saint-Pierre de Caen, faite en 1314 et détruite le
15 mai 1755. » Cette note renferme deux erreurs; dʼabord, le second
hôtel de ville de Caen ne fut point construit en 1314, mais, comme
nous lʼavons déjà indiqué, entre les années 1346 et 1367; de plus, le
dessin ne reproduit pas lʼédifice tel quʼil était à lʼorigine, mais dans
lʼétat où le surprit, en 1755, le marteau des démolisseurs. Or, depuis
e
le milieu du XIV siècle jusquʼà cette époque, le second hôtel de ville
avait subi, à différentes dates, des retouches et des modifications
considérables, indiquées dʼailleurs par le dessin lui-même. Un des
trois étages figurés sur le plan de Belleforest a disparu; les tours des
angles de lʼédifice nʼen ont plus que deux; et le corps de logis,
couronné maintenant par un fronton avec œil-de-bœuf, paraît sʼêtre
aussi affaissé lui-même avec lʼâge. La construction en
encorbellement qui sʼavançait au-dessus de la porte est remplacée
par trois niches où apparaissent des images de saints et, plus haut,
par une croisée à meneaux de pierre qui indique clairement une
e e
retouche de la fin du XVI ou du commencement du XVII siècle. Et
– changement plus significatif – au-dessus de cette fenêtre, sous
lʼœil-de-bœuf du fronton, on aperçoit un simple cadran, de forme
carrée, sans ornements et sans inscriptions. Quʼétaient donc
devenus les « beaux quadrans dont parlait M. de Bras, fort dorez et
si bien ordonnez quʼon y remarque les heures de part et autre, crois
et decrois de la lune? » Il avaient eu le triste destin du beffroi primitif
et avaient dû disparaître avec lui à une époque quʼil serait difficile de
fixer aujourdʼhui. Nous savons toutefois que la tour du beffroi,
terminée par deux étages octogones, avait été déjà décapitée à la
date de 1672; car le plan de Caen, dressé à cette époque par
Bignon, figure lʼhôtel de ville flanqué de quatre tours rondes de
même hauteur et couvertes également de toits aigus.
Peu de temps après, entre 1672 et les dernières années du
e
XVII siècle, cette ancienne tour du beffroi dut perdre son toit, qui fut
remplacé par une balustrade en pierre ornée de trèfles, telle quʼon la
voit sur le dessin dont nous donnons une reproduction. Ce
changement est, en effet, indiqué sur le « plan de la ville de Caen,
e
levé par Étienne, graveur, à la fin du XVIII siècle. »
Nous pouvons constater encore sur ce plan que le corps de
logis de lʼhôtel de ville reposait sur la plus grande arche du pont St-
Pierre; les deux autres arches, plus petites, passaient sous les tours
qui flanquaient les angles de lʼédifice. Dès la deuxième moitié du
e
XVI siècle, lʼétat menaçant des piles du pont St-Pierre fut une cause
fréquente dʼinquiétude pour les échevins. Après une visite des
murailles de la ville ordonnée par M. de Matignon, lʼarchitecte
Stéphane Dupérac, dans son rapport sur les travaux quʼil déclare
urgents, émet, à la date du 2 novembre 1578, lʼavis suivant: « Est
aussi fort nécessaire de refonder les piles de la Maison de Ville,
autrement il en pourrait venir grand inconvénient, parce que ladite
maison sʼest ouverte et ouvre à vue dʼœil journellement. » Le 7 juillet
1584, nouvel avertissement de Jean Bastan, maître maçon de la
ville, qui trouve « quʼil est très-nécessaire réparer les arches du pont
sur lequel est assise cette Maison de Ville, lesquelles sont proches
de tomber en ruine, sʼil nʼy est promptement pourvu. »
Malgré ces cris dʼalarme, le Conseil de la commune continua de
délibérer encore pendant dix-huit ans dans lʼhôtel de ville lézardé.
Plus intrépides que les sénateurs romains, qui se contentaient
dʼattendre lʼennemi sur leurs chaises curules, les échevins bas-
normands, résignés à aller au-devant de lui, pouvaient, pendant
leurs séances, comme au coup de sifflet dʼun machiniste, disparaître
subitement dans le troisième dessous, capitonné, il est vrai, par la
vase accumulée de lʼOrne et de lʼOrlon réunis.
 Enfin, au mois de juin 1602, le péril devint assez sérieux pour
décider les échevins à mettre un peu de prudence dans un
héroïsme, qui nʼavait eu peut-être dʼautre cause que lʼapathie ou la
routine. Ils se firent conduire dans une barque sous les arches du
pont St-Pierre où ils vérifièrent eux-mêmes, à loisir, lʼétendue du mal.
Il fut reconnu dans cette visite que la ruine du pont avait été en
partie consommée par lʼinstallation de maisons particulières qui, dit
le procès-verbal du 7 juin 1602, « sʼétoient suspendues contre les
arches du pont. » Le même procès-verbal nous apprend quelles
mesures de sûreté furent prises contre ces parasites dangereux. « ...
A été ordonné, dit-il, que tous les propriétaires des maisons proches
et contiguës dudit pont et hôtel commun de ville, et desquelles le
bois est porté et enclavé sur les arches dudit pont et murailles de la
ville, répareront ce qui est endommagé et qui requiert réparation, au
droit de leurs maisons; et que lesdits gouverneurs échevins de ville
feront de leur part travailler à la réparation de la grande arche... »
Lʼancien hôtel de ville péchait par la base, mais cʼétait là son
moindre défaut; car, après les travaux de consolidation qui y furent
exécutés, nous voyons quʼil fut sérieusement question de le
remplacer pour une raison qui nous est indiquée par lʼintendant
Foucault dans ses Mémoires. « Jʼai mandé à M. de Châteauneuf,
écrit Foucault à la date du 28 mars 1689, que la demande que les
échevins de Caen faisaient au roi de la maison du sieur de Brieu,
religionnaire qui a quitté le royaume, pour en faire un hôtel-de-ville,
me paroissoit très-favorable, nʼy ayant point de lieu à Caen pour
tenir les assemblées publiques... » Il ressort de cette note que
lʼédifice du pont St-Pierre était depuis longtemps regardé comme
beaucoup trop étroit. Cet inconvénient nʼapparut jamais plus
clairement quʼà la date du 4 novembre 1608, lorsquʼil fallut
convoquer une assemblée générale des habitants de Caen, pour
prononcer sur lʼadmission ou le rejet des Jésuites. « Cette
7
assemblée fut si nombreuse, dit lʼabbé De La Rue , quʼon ne put la
tenir à lʼHôtel-de-Ville, et les délibérans se transportèrent dans la
grande salle des procureurs du bailliage. Ce local, quoique vaste,
étoit encore insuffisant; car, suivant les mémoires du temps, les
votans étoient au nombre de plus de 3,000. »
 Lʼédifice du pont St-Pierre était même trop exigu pour contenir
les convives dʼun repas officiel. Cʼest ainsi que le 16 janvier 1679, à
lʼoccasion des fêtes pour la paix entre le roi de France et le roi
dʼEspagne, nous voyons le maire et les échevins obligés
dʼemprunter la maison dʼun riche particulier. « La compagnie, disent
r
les anciens registres de la ville, sʼest rendue chez le s Daumesnil,
dont elle avoit emprunté la maison, pour donner un souper, auquel
se sont trouvées toutes les personnes de qualité. »
Lorsque le nombre des invités était trop grand pour quʼon pût
les convoquer dans la maison dʼun particulier, les maire et échevins
durent quelquefois, comme en 1729, faire construire une grande
salle en charpente. « Le divertissement quʼun chacun prist à voir
8
lʼillumination, dit une brochure très-rare du temps , conduisit
insensiblement jusquʼà lʼheure du souper que lʼHôtel-de-Ville donna,
et auquel furent invités les plus qualifiés dʼentre les nobles et les
bourgeois. Monsieur de Jumilli, chef de cet illustre corps, au
discernement duquel on doit tout ce quʼil y eut de galant et de bien
ordonné dans ceste feste, avoit fait bastir sur le boulevard de la
Prairie une grande sale de chapente; sa longueur était dʼenviron
60 pieds sur 25 de largeur et 20 de hauteur, le sol était couvert de
planches attachées sur des lambourdes en manière de parquet; tout
le tour était descoré de plusieurs rideaux de verdure dont deux
entrouverts, dans un ordre parfaitement cimétrisés, formoient une
grande grotte ou berceau, dans lʼenfoncement duquel était un buffet
chargé de tout ce que le bon goût peut inventer de plus commode
pour le service de tels conviés; le plafond de cette sale était fait avec
des toiles blanches si bien assemblées quʼil imitait parfaitement les
plafonds ordinaires; de ce plafond pendaient deux rangs de lustres
garnis de bougies dont la lumière, réfléchie par les cristaux,
reproduisait lʼéclat. Les endroits où il nʼy avait point de verdures
étaient couverts de très-belles tapisseries représentant lʼhistoire de
Samson, etc. »
Les dépenses, que lʼon dut faire en cette occasion, amenèrent
sans doute la ville à penser quʼelle réaliserait une sérieuse économie
en transportant le siége de la commune dans un local, dont les
dimensions la dispenseraient dʼélever des constructions provisoires
et ruineuses. En effet, trois ans après les fêtes données pour la
naissance du Dauphin, il y eut un arrêt du Conseil de la municipalité
(13 avril 1733) relatif au déplacement de lʼHôtel de Ville. Ce
déplacement suivit de près la délibération, sʼil faut en croire une note
9
manuscrite qui dit, à la date du 15 mai 1755, « quʼil y avait plus de
vingt ans que lʼHôtel-de-Ville tenait ses assemblées au Grand-
Cheval. »
Cependant, quoique la ville eût déjà fait lʼacquisition du Grand-
Cheval ou hôtel Le Valois (aujourdʼhui la Bourse), le pont St-Pierre
ne fut pas abandonné brusquement par les représentants de la cité.
Quelques services y restèrent et le carillon de la fameuse horloge
continua de sʼy faire entendre jusquʼen lʼannée 1755. Cette année-là,
le 3 février, le Bureau des Finances, par une sentence des plus
iniques, dit un contemporain, que cette mesure indignait, ordonna la
destruction de lʼancien édifice du pont St-Pierre. M. Mauger, avocat
10
du roi à lʼHôtel de Ville, nous a conservé le prononcé de cette
sentence avec quelques commentaires irrités.
« ... Et attendu quʼil résulte des faits contenus dans les procès-
verbaux, quʼil est au moins douteux que le pont (St-Pierre) soit
solide; quʼil est certain, dʼun autre côté, que le passage est trop étroit
et dangereux; que dʼailleurs les différens plans et projets produits et
proposés par les maire et échevins sont insuffisans pour procurer un
élargissement convenable, nous avons ordonné que les bâtimens
étant sur led. pont seront démolis dans trois mois du jour de la
signific. de la présente, faute de quoi, après led. temps passé, il y
sera pourvu, ainsi quʼil appartiendra.
« Cette sentence signifiée le 15 dud. mois de févr. 1755, on a
fait assembler le général (cʼest-à-dire lʼassemblée générale du corps
de ville) le 25 dud. mois pour avoir son avis sur lʼappel. Mais les uns
furent sollicités par M. lʼIntendant, et les autres intimidés de sa part,
en sorte quʼil nʼy eut que huit voix pour lʼappel, dont jʼétais du
nombre, en sorte quʼil a fallu acquiescer... »
Trois mois après, comme le voulait lʼarrêt, le condamné fut livré
à ses bourreaux; des bruits sourds se firent entendre..... la justice
des démolisseurs était satisfaite!.... Lʼœuvre de destruction dut être
 11
poussée avec activité; car une note dʼun sieur Étienne Deloges ,
échevin, nous apprend que les maisons qui remplacèrent lʼédifice du
pont St-Pierre étaient déjà bâties en 1756.
Le second hôtel de ville de Caen renfermait dans son beffroi
une horloge si remarquable que lʼensemble de lʼédifice en prit dans
lʼusage le nom de Gros Horloge. Dans une de ses lettres, datée du
er
1 octobre 1699, le P. Martin envoyait à Huet, qui préparait son livre
des Origines de Caen, un quatrain où lʼâge de lʼhorloge communale
est établi comme par un acte authentique de lʼétat civil. « Voici, lui
dit-il, un quatrain qui se trouve gravé sur le timbre de notre gros
horloge, dont notre P. Labé a fait augmenter les accompagnements:
Puisque la ville me loge

Sur ce pont pour servir dʼauloge

Je feray les heures ouïr

Pour le commun peuple réjouir.

Mʼa faite Beaumont lʼan mil trois cents quatorze. »

Cette horloge primitive sʼest conservée depuis cette date

jusquʼà la destruction du second hôtel de ville, en 1755. Toutefois,
elle ne traversa point les âges sans subir de profondes modifications
qui font un peu ressembler son histoire à celle du couteau de
Jeannot. Déjà, au mois de juin 1537, les pièces de la vénérable
horloge se trouvaient si endommagées que le conseil de la
commune se vit obligé de voter une somme de dix écus dʼor pour les
réparations les plus urgentes. Le procès-verbal de cette séance est
à citer tout entier; car il contient le premier renseignement
authentique sur lʼétat de la fameuse horloge dans la première moitié
e
du XVI siècle.
« Est comparu Denis Ollivier, serrurier, natif et demeurant en la
paroisse St-Pierre de Caen, qui a présenté requête par laquelle il
suppliait être commis pour lʼavenir au gouvernement et
entretenement de lʼhorloge de la ville, assise sur le pont St-Pierre,
dont de présent a la charge Marin Paulon. Laquelle horloge est
assez mal conduite, gouvernée et entretenue par led. Paulon, tant à
cause de son antiquité et faiblesse que à cause que les roues et
autres instruments en sont rompus et usés. Offrant led. Ollivier
prendre lad. charge aux gages accoutumés, montant 20 livres
chacun an, et de la moitié dʼiceux en laisser jouir, led. Paulon sa vie
durant. Ordonné que icelle charge sera baillée aud. Ollivier, si
prendre la veut, par les moyens, qui ensuivent, cʼest à savoir quʼil
refera et réparera tout ce entièrement quʼil est requis faire en lad.
horloge et cadrans dʼicelle, pour être en bon ordre et état du et pour
lʼavenir les conduira et entretiendra en toutes choses. Et par
semblable, les tinterelles, si la ville y en veut ajouter et faire faire,
bien et dûment, ainsi quʼil sera requis, aux coûts, charges et dépens
dud. Ollivier, parce que icelle ville lui paiera comptant la somme de
10 écus dʼor, pour lui aider à refaire, réparer et remettre en état du
lesd. horloge et cadrans, sans que led. Ollivier soit sujet à la peinture
dʼiceux. »
Il faut croire que le métier de gouverneur de lʼhorloge réservait
plus dʼun mécompte à ceux qui sʼétaient chargés de son
entretenement; car nous voyons en 1592 un sieur Robert Régnier
adresser aux échevins, à plusieurs reprises, une requête dans
laquelle il mettait en avant son grand âge et ses infirmités, afin
dʼobtenir quʼon lui donnât un successeur. Les échevins eurent pitié
12
de son sort, et, pour se lʼattacher, portèrent ses gages à 30 écus ,
non toutefois sans quelques conditions. « Sera tenu led. Régnier
faire en sorte que lʼhorloge soit toujours bien réglée et que les
cadrans de lʼun et de lʼautre côté de lʼhôtel commun de ville
marquent certainement les heures; aussi que les globes ou lunes,
qui étaient par ci-devant sur lesdits cadrans et qui en sont de
présent hors, après quʼelles y auront été remises aux frais et dépens
de la ville, seront par après par lui entretenus en usage, pour
marquer certainement la nouvelle et pleine lune, décours ou
13
croissant dʼicelle, comme elles faisaient par ci-devant, etc., etc. »
Tous les torts nʼétaient peut-être pas du côté de lʼhorloge, qui se
vieillissait, et lʼon peut supposer, sans être accusé de construire trop
légèrement des hypothèses, que la vénérable mécanique nʼavait pas
reçu les soins délicats quʼexigeait son grand âge. Le gouvernement