J. E. R. Staddon

Who is J. E. R. Staddon?

John Eric Rayner Staddon is a British-born American behavioral psychologist known for experimental and theoretical research on interval timing, "superstition," and behavioral economics in rats, pigeons, and fish—and people. He is also known for his critiques of Skinnerian behaviorism and the proposal of a theoretically based "New Behaviorism." Staddon has also written on social issues arguing against affirmative action in college admissions and that profiling can be both fair and efficient. Other social topics are legal responsibility and traffic control claiming that US accident rates are much higher than rates in some European countries because of erratic speed limits. enforced attention to signs that conflict with sensible driving habits. The uniquely American "four-way stop" is the most blatant example. Since 2007 he has written on the application of behavioral psychology to the function and malfunction of financial markets in a book The Malign Hand of the Markets. His conclusion is that current regulations are too complex and indirect to be effective.