On Taking Yoda’s Advice

Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back famously said “Do or do not. There is no try.”

I have found many in the behavior analysis and education communities are taken with this advice. There are even motivational posters you can buy. In my view, it is good advice – but only some of the time.

Yoda’s advice is exactly right when talking about a behavior. It makes no sense to say that you’re going to try to eat healthy, go for a walk, write that report, or clean the garage. No one is forcing you to eat that slice of pizza or browse Netflix instead of doing what you need to do – “Do or do not. There is no try.”

Yoda’s advice is terrible when talking about a result that you don’t completely control. If we are talking about learning a skill that we don’t know yet, auditioning for the school play, or asking someone on a date, trying is the right behavior. You do your best, and if it isn’t successful you can Poogi on your next opportunity. Trying is often the critical behavior.

Although I admit it’s hard to prove experimentally, in my view a lot of escape-motivated problem behavior develops because of our tendency to follow Yoda’s advice. That’s great, you got 100%! You are so smart! You didn’t make any mistakes!

The key problem is the student will discriminate that there are situations where they are unlikely to be successful. The student is aware that they cannot do the behavior and reinforcement is not likely to occur for trying. Under those conditions, the student will often work to escape and avoid those situations. Not trying is the enemy of the POOGI. Granted, behavior analysis has developed effective procedures for handling that type of behavior, but that’s not what I’m writing about here.

What interests me is if we can prevent escape behaviors before they occur by reinforcing when students are trying hard – even when they aren’t “doing” initially – just “trying.” If the student already has escape motivated problem behavior, can we treat it by reinforcing trying? Maybe…

For a non-behavioral account of this phenomenon, see this book.

Behavior analytic services should only be delivered in the context of a professional relationship. Nothing written in this blog should be considered advice for any specific individual. The purpose of the blog is to share my experience, not to provide treatment. Please get advice from a professional before making changes to behavior analytic services being delivered. Nothing in this blog including comments or correspondence should be considered an agreement for Dr. Barry D. Morgenstern to provide services or establish a professional relationship outside of a formal agreement to do so. I attempt to write this blog in “plain English” and avoid technical jargon whenever possible. But all statements are meant to be consistent with behavior analytic literature, practice, and the professional code of ethics. If, for whatever reason, you think I’ve failed in the endeavor, let me know and I’ll consider your comments and make revisions, if appropriate. Feedback is always appreciated as I’m always trying to POOGI.