Behavior modification survived only by renaming itself without positive reinforcement

Evidence

A Federal Bureau of Prisons official recommended that program leaders avoid using “the term ‘behavioral modification’ but to talk about positive reward and reinforcements for the type of behavior we are attempting to instill.” Another said, “We’re doing what we always did… but to call it ‘behavior modification’ just makes things more difficult.” Skinner’s 1976 “primer,” titled About Behaviorism, motivated by what he believed were public misconceptions stirred by the wave of harsh reaction to Beyond Freedom & Dignity, failed to capture much public attention. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1022

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates how an impugned practice outlasts its label by rebranding, which Zuboff later argues surveillance capitalism itself does.
• SEED: An essay angle: the rebranding-as-survival technique in behavioral control, from prison ‘positive reinforcement’ to today’s ‘personalization’ and ‘nudging’ as euphemisms for the same machinery.
• XREF: connects to: Behavior modification now operates through ninety-three codified techniques in sixteen clusters — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2443; Behavior modification resurfaced as a market project after state versions were rejected — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1024

Broader Connections

• Behavior modification now operates through ninety-three codified techniques in sixteen clusters #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 2443