Carsta Simon

Professor

Department of Psychosocial Health

Email: carsta.simon@uia.no
Phone: +47 37233294

Office C5028 (Jon Lilletuns vei 9, 4879 Grimstad, Norway)

Research groups

Claimed pasts: Critical knowledge and heritage production

Areas of responsibility

Dr. Simon holds a Ph.D. degree in Behavior Analysis from Oslo Metropolitan University (Norway) and a master's degree with distinction in Psychology from studies at Stockholm's University (Sweden), University of California, Davis (USA), and TU Braunschweig (Germany). She is alumna av the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (studienstiftung.de/en/leitbild/) and speaks English, Norwegian, Swedish and German.

Dr. Simon's empirical research explores procedures for answering queries such as what environmental events (primarily a conversational partner’s verbal behavior) affect how long we speak, who we speak to, what we talk about, how often we change the topic and so on. In previous studies, she controlled for a conversational partner’s frequency of agreement utterances or utterances of “uhu” and “mhm”. Her concepual research is concerned with the relation between learning and Darwinian evolution.

Research

My research interest lies in the empirical examination of feedback relations between the behavior of organisms and their environment, as well as in the theoretical, philosophical and conceptual basis of the natural science of behavior.

Both my basic experimental and my conceptual studies center around the question what constitutes meaningful behavioral and environmental units of analysis. My empirical work explores the question how we ought to divide the continuous stream of verbal behavior into units of analysis. I develop research procedures aiming at an effective examination of adults’ interactions in conversations. I analyze verbal behavior at different degrees of complexity from a natural scientific perspective. My conceptual inquiries explore the relation of Darwinian selection and selection of behavior during ontogeny. My work is situated in a molar-multiscale framework treating behavioral events as natural events with differing temporal extensions. I am arguing for a choice of analytical units in line with ontological and epistemological reasoning.

Other research interest: Relationship between ontogenetic and phylogenetic selection, evolution of cooperation, the Nordic Model, other aspects of behavior analytic basic scientific research

Selected publications

https://app.cristin.no/search.jsf?t=Carsta%20Simon&type=result

General outreach

Publications, non-peer reviewed/ research dissemination (oral and written)

Simon, C., Mobekk, H. Wilson, D. S. (2020). Podcast This View of Life: Dugnad as part of Norway's Culture of Cooperation. https://podlink.to/thisviewoflife

Simon, Carsta (2019). Taking Darwinism seriously. Animal Sentience. ISSN: 2377-7478. 23 (47).

Simon, C. (2018). Podcast Atferdsvitenskap og hva «mmmm» gjør med samtalen vår. https://blogg.hioa.no/vitenogsnakkis/2018/02/23/atferdsvitenskap-mmmm-gjor-samtalen/

Simon, C. (2017). Snakker vi virkelig mest med dem som er enige med oss? Forskning.no: nettavis med nyheter fra norsk og internasjonal forskning. http://forskning.no/psykologi/2017 /07/snakker-vi-virkelig-mest-med-dem-som-er-enige-med-oss (popular scientific research magazine)

Simon, C. (2017). Atferdsevolusjon under livstiden vår. http://www.fgposlo.no/deltagere-2017-2/carsta-simon-hioa/ (web article)

Simon, C. (2017). UngForsk Workshop: Hva påvirker oss når vi snakker? https://ungforsk.com/arrangement/workshops/ (workshop on my research for high school students)

Simon, C. (2017). Stand på Forskningstorget 2017 - Samtaler. Forskningstorget på Karl Johan. http://www.forskningstorget.net/utstillere-2017/endrer-du-verdiene-dine-under-samtalens-gang. (Science fair stand)

Simon, C. (2017). Hvorfor sier vi det vi sier?. Aftenposten Viten. 2 http://www.aftenposten.no/viten/- Hvorfor-sier-vi-det-vi-sier-619060b.html (2-page popular scientific article in Norway’s largest newspaper)

Simon, C. (2017). Hva skjer når vi snakker sammen? viten + praksis.

https:www.hioa.no/vitenogpraksis/Helse/Hva-skjer-naar-vi-snakker-sammen (article in popular scientific research magazine)

Simon, C. (2017). Hvorfor gjør vi det vi gjør?. Forsker Grand Prix 2017 (participation in NRK TV- show similar to TED-talks)

Simon, C. (2016). Hva påvirker deg når du snakker? Stand på forskningstorget på Karl-Johan 2016. (Science fair stand)

Simon, C. (2013). Was ist ein Weltbürger? Deutscher Akademischer, Austauschdienst (DAAD) (Red.), go out! Studieren weltweit. Was ist ein Weltbürger? 92 (Short chapter discussing typical behavior of a “Weltbürger”)

Simon, C. (2013). “You can be a behaviorist and still talk about the mind - as long as you don’t put it in the head” An interview with Howard Rachlin. Norsk tidskrift for Atferdsanalyse (Interview with researcher for a scientific journal)

Tuition

Philosophy of Science and Behavior Analysis

Borgstede, Matthias & Simon, Carsta (2024). Lernen und Evolution: Die Selektion von Verhalten auf Individual- und Populationsebene. In Hammerl, Manfred & Schwarz, S. (Ed.), Evolutionäre Sozialwissenschaften. Springer. ISSN 978-3-658-43623-0. p. 175–189. doi: https:/doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-43624-7_10.
Simon, Carsta (2024). Selection of Words in Ontogeny. The Psychological Record. ISSN 0033-2933. doi: 10.1007/s40732-024-00592-2.
Simon, Carsta (2024). A Multiscale View of Verbal Behavior. The Psychological Record. ISSN 0033-2933. doi: 10.1007/s40732-023-00577-7.
Wood, Aleksandra & Simon, Carsta (2023). Control of Transition Time by the Likely Future as Signalled from the Past in Children with ASD. The Psychological Record. ISSN 0033-2933. doi: 10.1007/s40732-023-00553-1. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
The signaling perspective offers an alternative to the Skinnerian view of understanding behavior. The signaling effects of reinforcers have predominantly been explored in the laboratory with nonhuman subjects. To test the implications of this view for applied behavior analysis, we contrasted the effect of discriminative stimulus versus reinforcer control in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We aimed to determine whether the duration of their transitions from one reinforcer context to another is controlled by their most recent past or the likely future based on more extended past experience. Reinforcer context (rich, moderate, or lean) was signaled in the first condition. We observed that transition times to the leaner reinforcer were longer than those to the richer. The reinforcer context was unsignaled in the second condition. The differences between transition times disappeared in the second condition. The difference in durations of transitions to signaled and unsignaled reinforcer densities suggests that behavior is primarily controlled by signals of likely future reinforcers as extrapolated from extended past experience rather than strengthened by the most recent event.
Wood, Aleksandra & Simon, Carsta (2021). Stimulus Control in Applied Work with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder from the Signalling and the Strengthening Perspective . Norsk Tidsskrift for Atferdsanalyse (NTA). ISSN 0809-781X. 48(2), p. 279–293. Full text in Research Archive
Simon, Carsta; Bernardy, João Lucas & Cowie, Sarah (2020). On the "strength" of behavior. Perspectives on Behavior Science. ISSN 2520-8969. 43, p. 677–696. doi: 10.1007/s40614-020-00269-5. Full text in Research Archive
Simon, Carsta (2020). The ontogenetic evolution of verbal behavior. European Journal of Behavior Analysis (EJOBA). ISSN 1502-1149. 21(2), p. 364–381. doi: 10.1080/15021149.2019.1710034. Full text in Research Archive
Simon, Carsta & Mobekk, Hilde (2019). Dugnad – A Fact and a Narrative of Norwegian Prosocial Behavior. Perspectives on Behavior Science. ISSN 2520-8969. 42(4), p. 815–834. doi: 10.1007/s40614-019-00227-w. Full text in Research Archive
Simon, Carsta & Hessen, Dag Olav (2019). Selection as a domain-general evolutionary process. Behavioural Processes. ISSN 0376-6357. p. 1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.12.020. Full text in Research Archive
Simon, Carsta (2018). The Functions of Active Listening Responses. Behavioural Processes. ISSN 0376-6357. 157, p. 47–53. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.08.013.
Simon, Carsta & Tagliabue, Marco (2018). Feeding the behavioral revolution: Contributions of behavior analysis to nudging and vice versa. Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy (JBEP). ISSN 2572-8997.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Why Norwegians Don’t Have Their Pigs in the Forest: Illuminating Nordic ‘Co-operation’. Behavior and Social Issues (BSI). ISSN 1064-9506. 26. doi: 10.5210/bsi.v26i0.7317.
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2017). Allocation of Time in Conversation. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior. ISSN 0022-5002. 107(2), p. 258–278. doi: 10.1002/jeab.249. Show summary
In a replication and extension of Conger and Killeen's (1974) widely cited demonstration of matching in conversations, we evaluated nine participants’ allocation of speech and gaze to two conversational partners. German speakers participated in two 90-min sessions in which confederates uttered approval on independent variable-interval schedules. In one of the sessions, confederates uttered approval contingent upon and contiguous with eye contact whereas in the other session approval was uttered independent of the participant's gaze. Several measures of participants’ verbal behavior were taken, including relative duration and rate of speech and gaze. These were compared to confederates’ relative rate of approval and relative duration and rate of talk. The generalized matching equation was fitted to the various relations between participants’ behavior and confederates’ behavior. Conger and Killeen's results were not replicated; participants’ response allocation did not show a systematic relation to the confederates’ relative rate of approval. The strongest relations were to overall talk, rather than approval. In both conditions, the participant talked more to the confederate who talked less—inverse or antimatching. Participants’ gaze showed the same inverse relation to the confederates’ talk. Requiring gaze to be directed toward a confederate for delivery of approval made no difference in the results. The absence of a difference combined with prior research suggests that matching or antimatching in conversations is more likely due to induction than to reinforcement.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Towards a Fully Rounded Selectionist Approach. Norsk Tidsskrift for Atferdsanalyse (NTA). ISSN 0809-781X. 43(1), p. 71–76.
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2012). EXPELLING THE MEME-GHOST FROM THE MACHINE: AN EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION FOR THE SPREAD OF CULTURAL PRACTICES. Behavior and Philosophy. ISSN 1053-8348. p. 127–144. Full text in Research Archive

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Simon, Carsta (2022). Billy Baum: Contributions to the Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2022). Wer holt mich ab? Signe Fjord.
Simon, Carsta (2022). (Verbal) Behavior from a Selectionist’s Point of View.
Simon, Carsta (2022). «Bare behaviorister kan virkelig forklare The Mind»: en nekrolog for Howard Rachlins arbeid.
Simon, Carsta (2022). “You can be a behaviorist and still talk about the mind–as long as you don’t put it into a person’s head”: An interview with Howard Rachlin. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior. ISSN 0022-5002. 1(22).
Borgstede, Matthias & Simon, Carsta (2021). A conceptual synthesis of learning and evolution.
Heilveil, Ira; Simon, Carsta & Mobekk, Hilde (2020). A behavior analytic view of the Norwegian cultural practice of Dugnad - an interview and teaching resource.
Simon, Carsta (2020). Hva skal man tro på? Klassekampen. ISSN 0805-3839.
Wilson, David Sloan; Simon, Carsta & Mobekk, Hilde (2020). Podcast on This View of Life: Dugnad as part of Norway's Culture of Cooperation. [Internet]. https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/this-view-of-life/e/6693419. Show summary
Podcast
Simon, Carsta (2020). Atferdsanalyse for vernepleier.
Simon, Carsta (2019). On Operant Selection of Verbal Behavior and Its Relation to Natural Selection.
Grov, Miriam & Simon, Carsta (2019). Utlenninger forstår ikke tekst på Sjøkrigsmonmumentet. [Radio]. NRK.
Grov, Miriam & Simon, Carsta (2019). Sjøkrigsmonumentet bør oversettes. [Radio]. NRK.
Simon, Carsta (2019). Chair of the session with invited presenter W. Baum on "What Evolutionary Theory Tells Us About Behavior".
Simon, Carsta (2019). Explaining Verbal Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach.
Simon, Carsta (2019). Taking Darwinism seriously. Animal Sentience. ISSN 2377-7478. 23(47).
Simon, Carsta (2019). Workshop: Innføring i funksjonelle analyser av problematferd.
Simon, Carsta (2018). Ontogenetic Selection of Verbal Behavior.
Tagliabue, Marco & Simon, Carsta (2018). Feeding the Behavioral Revolution: Contributions of Behavior Analysis to Nudging Individuals and Groups.
Simon, Carsta (2018). Chair of Symposium: Merits and Challenges of Temporally Extended Activities as Functional Units in Behavior Analytic Research.
Simon, Carsta (2018). On Relating Darwinian Selection To Selection Of Verbal Behavior During Our Lifetime.
Simon, Carsta (2018). Stimulus Control Revisited.
Simon, Carsta (2018). The Link between Selection of Verbal Behavior during our Lifetime and Natural Selection.
Simon, Carsta & Lavoll, Hallvard (2018). Atferdsvitenskap og hva «mmmm» gjør med samtalen vår.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Hvorfor gjør vi det vi gjør?
Simon, Carsta (2017). HVA SKJER NÅR VI SNAKKER SAMMEN? viten + praksis.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Organisation and Chair of Symposium "Behavior Through an Evolutionary Lens".
Simon, Carsta (2017). Organisasjon av Symposium: Reflections upon the Foundations of Behavior Analysis.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Organisasjon og Ledelse av Paneldebatten: Behavior Analytic Research Practices and Their Implications.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Paneldebattdeltakelse: Evolusjon og atferd.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Stand på Forskningstorget 2017 - Samtaler.
Simon, Carsta (2017). UngForsk. [Internet]. https://ungforsk.com/arrangement/workshops/.
Simon, Carsta (2017). UngForsk Workshop: Hva påvirker oss når vi snakker? [Internet]. https://ungforsk.com/arrangement/workshops/.
Simon, Carsta (2017). The Nordic Model from a Behavior Analytic Point of View.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Selection of speech during our lifetime.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Atferdsevolusjon under livstiden vår.
Schulz, Maike & Simon, Carsta (2017). Von Braunschweig in die Welt - Sprache. Braunschweiger Zeitung.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Snakker vi virkelig mest med dem som er enige med oss? Forskning.no. ISSN 1891-635X.
Simon, Carsta (2017). A Selectionist View of Verbal Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2017). The Evolution of Verbal Behavior - From a Behavior Analytic Perspective.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Verbal Behavior Beyond Skinner.
Simon, Carsta (2017). Hvorfor sier vi det vi sier? Aftenposten Viten. ISSN 2464-3033.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Commentary on Palmer's View on Response Strength and Repertoire.
Simon, Carsta (2016). A Commentary on David Palmer's Essentialism and Selectionism in Behavior Analysis.
Simon, Carsta (2016). The Interrelationship of Selection Modes.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Effekten av "mhm" i samtaler.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Atferd Gjennom en Evolusjonær Linse.
Simon, Carsta (2016). “Hhmm", "ja", "jasså" - Funksjonen til aktiv lytting.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Evolution as a General Theoretical Framework for an Explanation of Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Multi-Scale Selection - Towards a Fully Rounded Evolutionary Approach to Explaining Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2016). Cultural group selection in the light of the selection of extended behavioral patterns. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. ISSN 0140-525X. 39:e51. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X15000230.
Simon, Carsta (2015). The Multiscale Analysis of Behavior in Basic Research & in Application on Challenges in our Societies.
Simon, Carsta (2015). Using Behavioral Science Insights To Better Serve the American People.
Simon, Carsta (2015). The Functions of "mmm-hmm"-Utterances and Nodding in Conversations.
Simon, Carsta (2015). The Functions of Active Listening.
Simon, Carsta (2015). Different perspectives on causal explanations within behavior analysis.
Simon, Carsta (2015). The Multiscale Molar View of Verbal Behavior.
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2014). Speech and Gaze Allocation in Conversations.
Simon, Carsta (2014). Beyond the matter of size - Aspects of molar behaviorism.
Simon, Carsta (2014). Failure to Replicate Matching in Conversations.
Simon, Carsta (2013). Was ist ein Weltbürger? In Deutscher Akademischer, Austauschdienst (DAAD) (Eds.), go out! Studieren weltweit. Was ist ein Weltbürger?. Bundesministerium für Bildung & Forschung. ISSN 3871929093.
Simon, Carsta (2013). Taking a Molar View on Verbal Behavior.
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2013). Designing a Molar View of Verbal Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2013). Introduction to the Molar Paradigm.
Simon, Carsta (2013). "You can be a behaviorist and still talk about the mind – as long as you don’t put it into a person´s head” An interview with Howard Rachlin, Ph.D. Norsk Tidsskrift for Atferdsanalyse (NTA). ISSN 0809-781X.
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2012). To What Extent does the Concept of Memes Contribute to Scientific Explanations of Human Behavior?
Simon, Carsta (2012). The Role of Memes in Cultural Evolution.
Simon, Carsta (2012). A Molar View of Verbal Behavior.
Simon, Carsta (2012). En introduktion till det molära paradigmet – ett nytt sätt att uppfatta beteende?
Simon, Carsta (2011). Evolution and behavior, philosophy of science and psychology .
Simon, Carsta & Baum, William M. (2011). Memes –The New Ghosts in the Machine?

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Published Apr. 16, 2024 10:54 AM