Susan M. Schneider - The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World

Published 2012 by Prometheus Books

The Science of Consequences: How They Affect Genes, Change the Brain, and Impact Our World. Copyright 2012 by Susan M. Schneider. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Cover image iStockphoto.com/Mazzzsur
Cover design by Jacqueline Nasso Cooke
Interior illustrations by Ren C. Reyes

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schneider, Susan M., 1958

The science of consequences : how they affect genes, change the brain, and impact our world / by Susan M. Schneider.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9781616146627 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 9781616146634 (ebook)

1. Reinforcement (Pyschology) 2. Decision MakingPyschological aspects. 3. Nature and nurture. I. Title

BF319.5.R4S358 2012

153.8'5dc23 2012023395

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

For my mother
and in memory of my father

Every day our actions have consequences, large and small. A completed chore, a smile, a promotion. Consequences motivate: Newborns work to hear their mothers voices. Toddlers graduate to turning lights on and off for that lovely, surprising feeling of control. A kaleidoscope of consequences awaits.

Despite their dazzling variety, consequences appear to follow a common set of scientific principleswhich was a big surprise to early researchers. Correspondingly, very different consequences appear to share some similar effects in the brain. Weve long known of so-called pleasure centers, for example.

From simple rewards to far more complex relations, the science of consequences has expanded and flourished over the past century, becoming an integral part of psychology, biology, medicine, education, economics, and many other fields. Taking an interacting systems approach, this book describes this science, its role in the larger realm of nature-and-nurture, and its many applications.

Consequences shape our choices, and our choices shape us and our societies. (Even the ancient Greeks understood that.) The Science of Consequences tells the story of how something so deceptively simple can help make sense of so much.

Part 1: Consequences and How NatureNurture Really Works

Imagine not being able to learn from consequences. A tiny primordial creature, for example, might have a reflex-like reaction moving it away from light. Move it to a lighted area to its food, then watch its automatic reaction kick in, shuttling it away and letting it starve to death in the midst of plenty. A little more flexibility would help a lot.

Once natures ability to capitalize on success developed, it stuck. Birds and bees, even flatworms and fruit flieswe all learn from consequences. Which consequences? Some get learned the hard way, while others are taught or come naturally. Thats a story in itself.

Part 1 explores the intricacies of the biological bigger picture, which is more complex than we could have imagined. Well see nature and nurture always working together, interacting across all levels, from the nucleotide bases of our DNA to our rich, stimulating environments. Thanks to molecular biology, for example, we know consequences routinely activate and deactivate genes. Thanks to neuroscience, we can now see how learning from consequences expands and rewires the brain. From the latest neuroscience-based applications to the exciting new field of epigenetics, consequences are there.

Part 2: Theres a Science of Consequences?

Sometimes you get what you want quickly and easily: look out the window, see a view. More often, you have to work or wait: you might have to check several times for an eagerly anticipated e-mail, for example. As B. F. Skinner noted, consequences effectively come on some sort of schedule. Different schedules proved to have different orderly effects, effects powerful enough to influence how hard we work and how often. Thanks to schedules, fewer rewards routinely leverage more behavior. Changing a schedule can change the effect of a drug, even the very value of a consequence.

Schedules affect us every day (whether or not we realize it) and so do the signals that tell us what consequences are available. Likewise, when we decide what we feel like doing, were choosing among consequences, immediate and delayed, positive and negative. Consider the way experienced procrastinators juggle conflicting consequencessomething many of us know all too well. The science that applies to choice and decision making relies on consequences.

So do the language sciences. Ask for a smoothie at a juice bar and get one, voil. Communication brings many rewards, and from baby babbling to birdsong, consequences have a surprisingly big say. Language lets us create rules, and they in turn create and destroy consequences. (Dont eat yellow snow.) And naturally, we follow rulesor break thembecause of consequences. Consequences bespeak even our inmost thoughts, as well see. Theyre everywhere.

Part 3: Shaping Destinies

Because consequences are everywhere, their applications are too, from the home to the hospital, from the classroom to the boardroom. Few of us give or receive enough praise, researchers find. Yet something so simple can strengthen a marriage, rescue a struggling employee, and boost a childs self-esteem (if its earned, and theres a tale). And that is just the beginning: The science of consequences enriches the lives of pets and zoo animals, fights prejudice, frees addicts of their addictive behaviors, and helps lift depression with its devalued consequences (nothing to live for). Ultimately, knowing what drives us puts us in the drivers seat.

Lets hope that is the case for many of our biggest societal challenges, which confront short-term against long-term consequences