The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of "writer's block"

The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of "writer's block" is a humorous academic article by psychologist Dennis Upper about writer's block. It contains no content outside title and journal formatting elements, including a humorous footnote. Published in 1974 in a peer reviewed journal, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, it is recognized as the shortest academic article ever^[1] and a classic example of humour in science,^[2] or at the very least among behavioral psychologists.^[3] It has been cited at least 60 times.^[4]

The article received a humorous positive review which was published alongside the article.^[1]

“

I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen-yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr. Upper's failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal-perhaps on the edge of a blank page.

”

The article has led to at least three similarly humorous and peer-reviewed, published replication studies,^[5]^[6]^[7] and several similar papers.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

More seriously, the paper is said to be a case reinforcing the image of a writer's block as a "blank page",^[12] and encouraging brevity in writing.^[13] It has been also used as an example that humor can indeed be found in academic publishing.^[14]

References

1 2 "The Shortest Science Paper Ever Published Had No Words, and Was Utterly Brilliant - RealClearScience". Retrieved 6 October 2014.
↑ "Humor in Science (Episode 1: Writer's Block) - arno simons". arno simons. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
↑ Bassett, John E. (2010). "Perspectives in Behavior Therapy (Book)". Journal of Personality Assessment. 43 (1): 105–105. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4301_20.
↑ "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com.
↑ Molloy, Geoffery N. (1983). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF A CASE OF "WRITER'S BLOCK": A REPLICATION". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 57 (2): 566–566. doi:10.2466/pms.1983.57.2.566.
↑ Didden, Robert; Sigafoos, Jeff; O'Reilly, Mark F; Lancioni, Giulio E; Sturmey, Peter; LeBlanc, Linda (2007). "A Multisite Cross-Cultural Replication of Upper's (1974) Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of Writer's Block". Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 40 (4): 773–773. doi:10.1901/jaba.2007.773. PMC 2078566.
↑ HERMANN, BRUCE P. (2016). "UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF A CASE OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A PARTIAL FAILURE TO REPLICATE". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 58 (2): 350–350. doi:10.2466/pms.1984.58.2.350.
↑ Mclean, Derrick C.; Thomas, Benjamin R. (2014). "UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENTS OF "WRITER'S BLOCK": A META-ANALYSIS". Psychological Reports. 115 (1): 276–278. doi:10.2466/28.PR0.115c12z0.
↑ SKINNER, NICHOLAS F.; PERLINI, ARTHUR H. (2016). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL GROUP TREATMENT OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A TEN-YEAR FOLLOW-UP". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 82 (1): 138–138. doi:10.2466/pms.1996.82.1.138.
↑ SKINNER, NICHOLAS F.; PERLINI, ARTHUR H.; FRIC, LAWRENCE; WERSTINE, E. PAUL; CALLA, JAMES (2016). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL GROUP-TREATMENT OF "WRITER'S BLOCK"". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 61 (1): 298–298. doi:10.2466/pms.1985.61.1.298.
↑ OLSON, KENNETH R. (2016). "UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 59 (1): 158–158. doi:10.2466/pms.1984.59.1.158.
↑ Geoffrey Vincent Carter (2007). Rereading and Rewriting Bloc/ks: Teaching Multi-modal Literacies Through an Apprenticeship in Proper Names. ProQuest. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-549-30355-8.
↑ Stephen P. Glasser (2014). Essentials of Clinical Research. Springer. pp. 415–416. ISBN 978-3-319-05470-4.
↑ William F. Fry; Waleed A. Salameh (December 1987). Handbook of humor and psychotherapy: advances in the clinical use of humor. Professional Resource Exchange. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-943158-19-8.

External links

Upper, Dennis (Fall 1974), "The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of "writer's block"", Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 7 (3): 497, doi:10.1901/jaba.1974.7-497a, ISSN 0021-8855, PMC 1311997, PMID 16795475

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[realclearscience-1] 1 2 "The Shortest Science Paper Ever Published Had No Words, and Was Utterly Brilliant - RealClearScience". Retrieved 6 October 2014.

[2] "Humor in Science (Episode 1: Writer's Block) - arno simons". arno simons. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.

[3] Bassett, John E. (2010). "Perspectives in Behavior Therapy (Book)". Journal of Personality Assessment. 43 (1): 105–105. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4301_20.

[4] "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com.

[5] Molloy, Geoffery N. (1983). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF A CASE OF "WRITER'S BLOCK": A REPLICATION". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 57 (2): 566–566. doi:10.2466/pms.1983.57.2.566.

[6] Didden, Robert; Sigafoos, Jeff; O'Reilly, Mark F; Lancioni, Giulio E; Sturmey, Peter; LeBlanc, Linda (2007). "A Multisite Cross-Cultural Replication of Upper's (1974) Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of Writer's Block". Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 40 (4): 773–773. doi:10.1901/jaba.2007.773. PMC 2078566.

[7] HERMANN, BRUCE P. (2016). "UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF A CASE OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A PARTIAL FAILURE TO REPLICATE". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 58 (2): 350–350. doi:10.2466/pms.1984.58.2.350.

[8] Mclean, Derrick C.; Thomas, Benjamin R. (2014). "UNSUCCESSFUL TREATMENTS OF "WRITER'S BLOCK": A META-ANALYSIS". Psychological Reports. 115 (1): 276–278. doi:10.2466/28.PR0.115c12z0.

[9] SKINNER, NICHOLAS F.; PERLINI, ARTHUR H. (2016). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL GROUP TREATMENT OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A TEN-YEAR FOLLOW-UP". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 82 (1): 138–138. doi:10.2466/pms.1996.82.1.138.

[10] SKINNER, NICHOLAS F.; PERLINI, ARTHUR H.; FRIC, LAWRENCE; WERSTINE, E. PAUL; CALLA, JAMES (2016). "THE UNSUCCESSFUL GROUP-TREATMENT OF "WRITER'S BLOCK"". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 61 (1): 298–298. doi:10.2466/pms.1985.61.1.298.

[11] OLSON, KENNETH R. (2016). "UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF 'WRITER'S BLOCK': A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 59 (1): 158–158. doi:10.2466/pms.1984.59.1.158.

[Carter2007-12] Geoffrey Vincent Carter (2007). Rereading and Rewriting Bloc/ks: Teaching Multi-modal Literacies Through an Apprenticeship in Proper Names. ProQuest. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-549-30355-8.

[Glasser2014-13] Stephen P. Glasser (2014). Essentials of Clinical Research. Springer. pp. 415–416. ISBN 978-3-319-05470-4.

[FrySalameh1987-14] William F. Fry; Waleed A. Salameh (December 1987). Handbook of humor and psychotherapy: advances in the clinical use of humor. Professional Resource Exchange. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-943158-19-8.