ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Murray Sidman

Alright kiddo, we're going to learn about Murray Sidman.

Murray Sidman was a smart guy who studied the way people learn things. He was really interested in something called behavior.

Have you ever learned something new before? Like riding a bike or tying your shoes? Well, when you learn something new, your behavior changes. That's kind of what Murray Sidman was interested in - how people's behavior changes when they learn something new.

One of the things Murray Sidman is most famous for is something called "shaping." Shaping is when you want someone to learn how to do something, but you can't teach them all at once. Instead, you teach them little bits at a time until they get better and better. It's kind of like building something with Legos - you start with a few blocks and keep adding more until you make something really cool.

Murray Sidman also studied something called "avoidance behavior." That's when someone does something to avoid something bad happening. For example, maybe you don't like to eat spinach, so you avoid it by not eating it. Or, maybe you don't like the sound of thunder, so you cover your ears to avoid hearing it.

Overall, Murray Sidman was a really smart guy who helped us understand how people learn things and how their behavior can change.