This one’s for any behavior nerds I haven’t scared off with creative writing, memoir, or variability of topics. It seems that, with highly verbal humans, when teaching concept formation, it helps to give a rule, with examples and non-examples, rather than allowing contingency-shaped responding to prevail. (This means, simply, you tell a person in advance what to expect before they respond, rather than letting them respond and find out. Seems kinda duh, but there are benefits to both.)

I wonder if rules might help to navigate complex concepts in practice with adult clients (and in our personal lives!), like personal/professional boundaries and different types of relationships. (Something I encounter.)

Also think rules are important because, when the person is a subordinate (to an experimenter, teacher, etc.), and reinforcement is not forthcoming, it can be incredibly anxiety-provoking to try to figure out what that person wants from you. And avoiding imagined (or real) outcomes creates lots of odd responding. Just tell people what to expect.