Francis Mechner (born 1931) is an Austrian-born American research psychologist best known for having developed and introduced (in 1959) a formal symbolic languageMechner, F. (1959). A notation system for the description of behavioral procedures. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2, 133-150.Mechner, F. (1961). Programming for Automated Instruction. New York: Basic Systems.Weingarten, K. & Mechner, F. (1966). A notation system for the analysis of social interaction. In T. Verhave (Ed.), Readings in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (pp. 447-459). New York: Appleton Century Crofts. for the codification and notation of behavioral contingencies. He has published articles about the language's applications in economics, finance, education, environment, business management, biology, clinical practice, and law.Mechner, F. (2008). Behavioral contingency analysis. Behavioural Processes, 78, 124-144.Mechner, F. (2009). Analyzing variable behavioral contingencies: Are certain complex skills homologous with locomotion? Behavioural Processes, 81, 316-321.Mechner, F. (2010). Anatomy of deception: a behavioral contingency analysis. Behavioural Processes, 84, 516-520.Mechner, F. (2011). Why behavior analysis needs a formal symbolic language for codifying behavioral contingencies. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 12, 93-104. Mechner is also known for a variety of contributions to instructional technology and basic research in the field of learning.Margulies, S. (1964). Some general rules of frame construction. In S. Margulies & L. D. Eigen (Eds.), Applied Programed Instruction. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.Mehta, J., Schwartz, R. B., & Hess, F. M. (2012). The Futures of School Reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education PressSummit, L. (1966b). Excerpts from Spectrum Editorial: Mechner papers, Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, The University of Akron.
Early life and personal life Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1931, Mechner came to the United States as a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 after having spent three years in France and over two years in Cuba. By age 19 he was an accomplished classical concert pianist, portrait painter, and USCF-rated chess master.New York TimesMechner, F. (2008b). An invitation to behavior analysts: Review of In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R. Kandel. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 90: 235-48.Mechner, F. (2010b). Chess as a behavioral model for cognitive skill research: Review of Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 94, 373-386.
In the late 1980s he composed the soundtracks for the video games Karateka and Prince of Persia, both developed by his oldest son Jordan Mechner. Mechner has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies since 1985.
Relationship with Columbia University Mechner received his PhD in 1957 from Columbia University's Department of Psychology under Professors F. S. Keller and William N. Schoenfeld.Mechner, F. (1958). Probability relations within response sequences under ratio reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 1: 109-21.Mechner, F. (1958). Sequential dependencies of the lengths of consecutive response runs. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 1: 229-33.Keller, F. S., & Schoenfeld, W. N. (1950). Principles of Psychology: A Systematic Text in the Science of Behavior. New York: Appleton-Century- Crofts. As lecturer on the department's teaching faculty from 1955 to 1960, he developed and taught a novel type of laboratory course in experimental psychology in which students learned to design and conduct experiments on learning, perception, and concept formation, and to analyze and interpret data. He taught two sections of that course—one for Columbia's Teachers College graduate students and one for Columbia graduate and undergraduate students.
Research and applied work Throughout his career Mechner continued to conduct basic and applied research in the fields of learning and educational technology.Mechner, F. & Ray, R. (1959). Avoidance of time out from fixed-interval reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 2: 261.Mechner, F. (1962). Effects of deprivation upon counting and timing in rats. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 5: 463-66.Mechner, F. (1994). The revealed operant: A way to study the characteristics of individual occurrences of operant responses. In S.S. Glenn (Ed.), Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies Monograph Series: Progress in Behavioral Studies, Monograph #3. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.Mechner, F., Guevrekian, L., & Mechner, V. (1963). A fixed-interval schedule in which the interval is initiated by a response. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 6: 323-30.Mechner, F. (1966). Behavioral technology and social change. In Proceedings of the American Management Association. New York: American Management Association.Mechner, F., Hyten, C., Field, D. P., Madden, G. (1997). Using revealed operants to study the structure and properties of human operant behavior, Psychological Record, 47: 45-68. In 1957, as Director of the Schering Corporation (eventually Schering-Plough Corp.) psychopharmacology laboratory, he built the first computerized behavior research laboratory in which he conducted research on behavioral effect of drugs, and basic behavior research using rats, pigeons, monkeys, and humans.Mechner, F., Snapper, A. G., & Ray, R. (1961). Behavioral effects of methamphetamine and methylphenidate in rat and man. In E. Rothlin (Ed.), Neuro-Psychopharmacology Vol. 2 (pp. 167-71). Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company.Mechner, F. (1963). Science education and behavioral technology. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Teaching Machines and Programmed Learning II (pp. 441-508). 1965. Washington, DC: National Education Association.Mechner, F. & Latranyi, M. (1963). Behavioral effects of caffeine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate in the rat. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 6: 331-42. In 1960 he introduced a new instructional technologyMechner, F. (1961). Behavioral contingencies. In J. G. Holland, Solomon, C., Doran, J., & Frezza, D. A. (Eds.). The Analysis of Behavior in Planning Instruction (pp. 50-62). New York: Addison-Wesley, 1976.Cook, D. A. & Mechner, F. (1962). Fundamentals of programmed instruction. Columbia Engineering Quarterly [New York] 15(3): 18-21. in conjunction with his founding of Basic Systems, Inc. with business partner David Padwa, a company they sold to Xerox Corporation in 1965.Xerox Corporation. (1965b). Xerox Corporation 1965 Annual Report. New York, NY. Also available at Mechner papers, Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, The University of Akron.A report to management on the education and training market. (August, 1970). Edubusiness, 2(6),1Vargas, J. S. (1972). Writing Worthwhile Behavioral Objectives. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Key aspects of this technology are the specification of learning objectives at the outset of the development process, analysis of the subject matter in terms of its component skills and concepts, the systematic sequencing of these, active response by the learner, and cycles of testing and revision of the material on the intended target population.Mechner, F. (1963). Science education and behavioral technology. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Teaching Machines and Programmed Learning II (pp. 441-508). Washington, DC: National Education Association, 1965.Mechner, F. (1965). Some recent advances in behavioral technology. Presented at the March 1965 American Hospital Association Conference on Programmed Instruction. New York: Basic Systems, Inc.Mechner, F. (1965). Learning by doing through programmed instruction. American Journal of Nursing 65(5): 18-29.Mechner, F. (1965). Behavioral technology and the development of medical education programs. In J. P. Lysaught (Ed.) Programmed instruction in medical education, 67-76. Rochester Clearing House. Rochester NY: University of Rochester.Mechner, F. (1967). Behavioral analysis and instructional sequencing. In P. C. Lange (Ed.), Programmed Instruction: The sixty-Sixth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education (pp. 81-103). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Dills, C. R. & Romiszowski, A. J. (1997). Instructional development paradigms, Educational Technology Publications, Inc., p. 233. Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632.Keller, F. S., & Schoenfeld, W. N. (1950). Principles of Psychology: A Systematic Text in the Science of Behavior. New York: Appleton-Century- Crofts.Summit, L. (1966b). Excerpts from Spectrum Editorial: Mechner papers, Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, The University of Akron.Markle, S. M. (1967). Programming for Automated Instruction, Introduction to Programming, Documents used for training Basic Systems' programmers. New York, NY: Basic Systems, Inc. Mechner papers, Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, The University of Akron. Also available at: https://mechnerfoundation.org/category/downloads
Mechner applied this technology to elementary school and high school courses in science and mathematics, nursing and medical education,Mechner, F. (1965). Behavioral technology and the development of medical education programs. In J. P. Lysaught (Ed.) Programmed instruction in medical education, 67-76. Rochester Clearing House. Rochester NY: University of Rochester. for the training of industry personnel,Hain, C. H., & Holder, E. J. (1962). A case study in programed instruction. In S. Margulies & L. D. Eigen (Eds.), Applied Programed Instruction. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. and in 1962 for interpersonal skill training via the audio-lingual programs in "Effective Listening" and "Professional Selling Skills." The latter, when marketed by Xerox Learning Systems (the renamed Basic Systems, Inc.) and later by Learning International, Inc., was claimed to be the most widely used training system of all time.Hain, C. H., & Holder, E. J. (1962). A case study in programed instruction. In S. Margulies & L. D. Eigen (Eds.), Applied Programed Instruction. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Another Basic Systems-Xerox program that applies this technology and is still being sold today is "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess."Fischer, B., Margulies, S., & Mosenfelder, D. (2010). Bobby Fischer teaches chess. Bronx, NY: Ishi Press International.
In 1963, under a contract with the office of Governor Peabody of Massachusetts, Dr. Mechner developed the design for a residential training center for disadvantaged youths, and in 1965 the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity awarded his company Basic Systems, Inc. a contract for establishing and operating such a Job Corps Training Center in Huntington, West VirginiaXerox Corporation. (1965b). Xerox Corporation 1965 Annual Report. New York, NY. Also available at Mechner papers, Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology, The University of Akron. The Job Corps Training Centers that were subsequently established throughout the United States under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 were based in part on that design.Mechner, F. (2016). Some Historic Roots of School Reform. In Behavioral Science: Tales of Inspiration, Discovery, and Service (pp. 231-254). Beverly, MA: The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.