Michael Perone, Ph.D.

Dr. Perone received his Ph.D. degree in psychology in 1981 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, after which he held a faculty position at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (1982-1984). He joined the faculty at West Virginia University as a tenure-track assistant professor in August 1984 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1987 and to professor in 1993.

Dr. Perone has been actively involved in the experimental analysis of operant behavior for over 30 years. An area of ongoing concern is how to translate the concepts and procedures of the animal laboratory to the analysis of human behavior. This is not a simple matter and the literature is full of confusions and contradictions, as he and his colleagues have documented in theoretical reviews and methodological papers. He has enjoyed some success, however, in making these translations in a variety of topical areas including conditioned reinforcement, older adults’ difficulty with learning under time pressure, verbal reports and self‐awareness, quantitative models of choice, and disruptive effects of incentive shifts. Dr. Perone’s other interests include laboratory applications of computer technology and research methodology.

Dr. Perone has taught courses in learning and conditioning, behavior principles, human behavior, and single subject research methods.