I have always been attracted to simple memory jogs. In the far off days when I used to have to revise for exams, I was totally dependent on a whole string of mnemonics that I invented for myself and hurriedly jotted down in the margin of set papers - even before I had read the questions! Those particular mnemonics have faded (probably a good thing because some of them were rather rude!) but today I still find mnemonics very useful.

Take ABC for example. These three letters sum up just about everything behaviourists have to say about human behaviour. A is for antecedent, B for behaviour and C for consequence. Any piece of behaviour (yes, any) is triggered by a preceding event (the antecedent) and is followed by a consequence that is either nice or nasty. Thus an itch (A) triggers scratching (B) and the itch is alleviated (C).

As and Cs are the key to understanding behaviour. If, for example, you notice that people often interrupt you before you have finished what you want to say, you could use ABC to discover the pattern and solve the problem. You might find that they interrupt you (B) when you disagree with them (A) and that this causes you to capitulate (C). The solution, assuming that you want people to hear you out, is to change the way you disagree. Instead of explicitly disagreeing, you could ask a searching question (questions trigger answers) or suggest an alternative course of action without actually disagreeing with whatever they have said.

Of course, the actual antecedents and consequences differ from case to case, but, whatever they are, they will always be present. No behaviour ever happens in a vacuum. This is why it is worth thinking about human behaviour in the context of the circumstances that surround it. The circumstances (in other words, the As and Cs) throw light on why people behave as they do. Despite this, I find that the influence of external factors on human behaviour is underestimated and often completely ignored.

If you keep ABC in mind, especially with any behaviour you find puzzling, why people behave as they do will become clearer. You might even be able to predict the way people are likely to react to events and reduce unintended consequences.