Functional Relations #36 - Did Skinner Meditate? Behaviorism Meets Contemplative Living w/ David Roth
Nov 1, 2025
David Roth, a behavior analyst and member of the B.F. Skinner Foundation, explores the intersection of behaviorism and meditation. He shares insights into Skinner's thoughts on meditation and offers a behavior-analytic breakdown of self-mands and mindful practices. The conversation delves into everyday meditative routines, the significance of breath observation, and the challenges of loving-kindness. David also emphasizes the link between a deterministic view and enhanced compassion, encouraging practical ways to integrate contemplative habits into daily life.
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Silent Verbal Behavior Develops With Practice
- As speaker and listener repertoires converge, self‑tacting becomes quieter and more subtle but still functional.
- Sustained practice shifts overt self-talk into swift, almost unnoticed discriminations.
Train Observation Across Contexts
- Systematically extend objective self-observation from breath to walking and other behaviors to build transferable skills.
- Persist through difficulty; extending the repertoire requires continued practice and effort.
NA Sponsor: Meditating On The Wrong Thing
- David attended NA meetings and heard a sponsor tell someone, "You're already meditating, you're just meditating on the wrong thing."
- That reframed meditation as a descriptive behavior occurring in many forms, not just formal practice.
