Michael Commons
Encyclopedia
Michael Lamport Commons is a theoretical behavioral scientist and a complex systems scientist. He developed the Model of Hierarchical Complexity
. He also is the founder of the Journal of Adult Development, Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior
and the Society for Research in Adult Development
, and co-editor of the journal Behavioral Development Bulletin.
, and grew up in Hollywood. Commons holds two B.A.s from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), one in mathematics
, the other in psychology
. He earned his M.A., and M.Phil. and in 1973 received his Ph.D., in psychology from Columbia University
. Currently, he is Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Dare Institute, Cambridge, MA.
His research interest is the quantitative analysis of psychological reality as it develops across the life span
and evolutionarily
. With Francis Asbury Richards, Edward Trudeau, and Alexander Pekker, he developed the Model of Hierarchical Complexity
, a mathematical psychology
model.
He is one of the cofounders of Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior
, the Society for Research in Adult Development
, the Society for Terrorism Research and the Special Interest Group
, Developmental Behavior Analysis in the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
He is on the governing board of the Journal of Behavior Analysis Online. He is past co-editor of the Journal of Behavior Analysis Online. He was a senior editor of Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Volumes 1-11 and of four volumes on Adult Development including ‘’Beyond Formal Operations: Late Adolescent and Adult Cognitive Development’’ and ‘’Clinical Approaches to Adult Development,’’ as well as associate editor for a special issue of Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
on the nature of reinforcement
. He is the Consulting Editor of ‘’Moral Development Series.’’
Articles, a selection
Model of hierarchical complexity
The model of hierarchical complexity is a framework for scoring how complex a behavior is. It quantifies the order of hierarchical complexity of a task based on mathematical principles of how the information is organized and of information science...
. He also is the founder of the Journal of Adult Development, Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior
Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior
The Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior was founded in 1978 by Michael Lamport Commons and John Anthony Nevin. The first president was Richard J. Herrnstein. In the beginning it was called the Harvard Symposium on Quantitative Analysis of Behavior...
and the Society for Research in Adult Development
Society for research in adult development
The Society for Research in Adult Development was formed in 1981. It held its first symposium that year at Harvard University on the 15th floor of William James Hall for one day. It has met yearly ever since for one and a half or two days. Its email listserve has around 300 members. The topics...
, and co-editor of the journal Behavioral Development Bulletin.
Life and work
Michael Lamport Commons was born in 1939 in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and grew up in Hollywood. Commons holds two B.A.s from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), one in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, the other in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. He earned his M.A., and M.Phil. and in 1973 received his Ph.D., in psychology from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Currently, he is Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts is a major flagship teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital and New England Deaconess Hospital...
a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Dare Institute, Cambridge, MA.
His research interest is the quantitative analysis of psychological reality as it develops across the life span
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
and evolutionarily
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
. With Francis Asbury Richards, Edward Trudeau, and Alexander Pekker, he developed the Model of Hierarchical Complexity
Model of hierarchical complexity
The model of hierarchical complexity is a framework for scoring how complex a behavior is. It quantifies the order of hierarchical complexity of a task based on mathematical principles of how the information is organized and of information science...
, a mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology
Mathematical psychology is an approach to psychological research that is based on mathematical modeling of perceptual, cognitive and motor processes, and on the establishment of law-like rules that relate quantifiable stimulus characteristics with quantifiable behavior...
model.
He is one of the cofounders of Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior
Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior
The Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior was founded in 1978 by Michael Lamport Commons and John Anthony Nevin. The first president was Richard J. Herrnstein. In the beginning it was called the Harvard Symposium on Quantitative Analysis of Behavior...
, the Society for Research in Adult Development
Society for research in adult development
The Society for Research in Adult Development was formed in 1981. It held its first symposium that year at Harvard University on the 15th floor of William James Hall for one day. It has met yearly ever since for one and a half or two days. Its email listserve has around 300 members. The topics...
, the Society for Terrorism Research and the Special Interest Group
Special Interest Group
A Special Interest Group is a community with an interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences...
, Developmental Behavior Analysis in the Association for Behavior Analysis International.
He is on the governing board of the Journal of Behavior Analysis Online. He is past co-editor of the Journal of Behavior Analysis Online. He was a senior editor of Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Volumes 1-11 and of four volumes on Adult Development including ‘’Beyond Formal Operations: Late Adolescent and Adult Cognitive Development’’ and ‘’Clinical Approaches to Adult Development,’’ as well as associate editor for a special issue of Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior was established in 1958 as apeer-reviewed, psychology journal, that publishes fundamental research about the experimental analysis of behavior....
on the nature of reinforcement
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
. He is the Consulting Editor of ‘’Moral Development Series.’’
Publications
Commons has also contributed chapters to a number of books, and written a number of peer-reviewed papers. Books:- 1984, Beyond formal operations: Vol. 1. Late adolescent and adult cognitive development. with F. A. Richards & C. Armon (Eds.), New York: Praeger.
Articles, a selection
- 1982, "Systematic and metasystematic reasoning: A case for a level of reasoning beyond Piaget's formal operations". With Richards, F. A., & Kuhn, D. in: Child Development, 53, 1058-1069.
- 1990. "Equal access" without "establishing" religion: The necessity for assessing social perspective-taking skills and institutional atmosphere". With J.A. Rodriguez In: Developmental Review, 10, 323-340.
- 1991, "A comparison and synthesis of Kohlberg's cognitive-developmental and Gewirtz's learning-developmental attachment theories". In: J. L. Gewirtz & W. M. Kurtines (Eds.), Intersections with attachment (pp. 257–291). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- 1993. "The development of hierarchically complex equivalence classes". With J.A. Rodriguez In: Psychological Record, 43, 667-697.
- 1993, "Atmosphere and stage development in the workplace". With Krause, S. R., Fayer, G. A., & Meaney, M. In: J. Demick & P. M. Miller (Eds.). Development in the workplace (pp. 199–220). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
- 1995. "Formal, systematic, and metasystematic operations with a balance-beam task series: A reply to Kallio's claim of no distinct systematic stage". With others. In: Adult Development, 2 (3), 193-199.
- 1995. "Moral stage of reasoning and the misperceived "duty" to report past crimes (misprision)". With others. In: International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 18(4), 415-424.
- 1997. Psychophysics of Stage: Task Complexity and Statistical Models. With: Goodheart, E. A., & Dawson T. L.. Paper presented at the International Objective Measurement Workshop at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
- 1998. "Hierarchical Complexity of Tasks Shows the Existence of Developmental Stages". With others. In: Developmental Review, 8(3), 237-278.
- 2001, "A quantitative behavioral model of developmental stage based upon hierarchical complexity theory". With P.A. Miller. In: Behavior Analyst Today, 2(3), 222-240.
- 2002. "A complete theory of human evolution of intelligence must consider stage changes: A commentary on Thomas Wynn’s Archeology and Cognitive Evolution". With P.A. Miller. In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 25(3), 404-405.
- 2004. "Development of behavioral stages in animals". With P.A. Miller. In: Marc Bekoff (Ed.). Encyclopedia of animal behavior. (pp. 484–487). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
- 2006. "Informed Consent: Do you know it when you see it?" With others in: Psychiatric Annals, June, 430-435.
- 2007. "Using Rasch scaled stage scores to validate orders of hierarchical complexity of balance beam task sequences". With others. In: E. V. Smith, Jr. & R. M. Smith (Eds.). Rasch measurement: Advanced and specialized applications (pp. 121–147). Maple Grove, MN: JAM Press.
External links
- Dare Association
- Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior (Click here for Wikipedia pageSociety for Quantitative Analysis of BehaviorThe Society for Quantitative Analysis of Behavior was founded in 1978 by Michael Lamport Commons and John Anthony Nevin. The first president was Richard J. Herrnstein. In the beginning it was called the Harvard Symposium on Quantitative Analysis of Behavior...
) - Proceedings of the Society for Quantitative Analyses of Behavior published in Behavioral Processes
- Society for Terrorism Research
- Behavior Analyst Online
- Behavior Analyst Online listing on the Association for Behavior Analysis International website
- Behavioral Development Bulletin
- Behavioral Development Special Interest Group