Author to talk on 'The Science of Consequences'

LAWRENCE — Behaviors have consequences — we know that. But learning from those consequences has enormous consequences, activating our genes, restructuring our brains and shaping our world, according to University of Kansas alumna Susan M. Schneider, author of “The Science of Consequences.”

She will give a talk on her book, the first written for the general public, at 4:30 p.m. today at the Jayhawk Ink Lounge in the Kansas Union.

In “The Science of Consequences,” Schneider explains how very different consequences appear to follow a common set of scientific principles and share similar effects in the brain, think – the “pleasure center.” Based on these principles, she recounts how scientists have been able to create mathematical models of certain behaviors.

This expanding science of consequences has applications for us, our pets and zoo animals, according to Schneider, and has helped fight prejudice, free addicts of their destructive habits and treat depression. She also contends that it may provide a key to understanding the contributions of nature and nurture to behavior.

“Consequences provide the motivation that sends butterflies to flowers and people to the moon,” Schneider writes. “The pursuit of happiness means the pursuit of consequences, large and small, sunsets included.”

Schneider received her doctorate in developmental and child psychology in 1989 from the Department of Human Development and Family Life (now the Department of Applied Behavioral Psychology. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of the Pacific.