Science and Society, Part IV: Psychologist Paul Eelen “Not a Single Football Player will Believe that he is Determined by the Ball”

Abstract

This manuscript is part of a special issue to commemorate professor Paul Eelen, who passed away on August 21, 2016. Paul was a clinically oriented scientist, for whom learning principles (Pavlovian or operant) were more than salivary responses and lever presses. His expertise in learning psychology and his enthusiasm to translate this knowledge to clinical practice inspired many inside and outside academia. Several of his original writings were in the Dutch language. Instead of editing a special issue with contributions of colleagues and friends, we decided to translate a selection of his manuscripts to English to allow wide access to his original insights and opinions. Even though the manuscripts were written more than two decades ago, their content is surprisingly contemporary. The present manuscript presents a translation of an interview with Paul Eelen by the University of Leuven student magazine Veto. First published as: 'Wetenschap en maatschappij deel vijf: de psycholoog Paul Eelen. “Geen enkele voetballer zal geloven dat hij gedetermineerd is door de bal”'. Interview in Veto Magazine, April 3 2000, 26, pp. 8–9. Interviewed by: Diederik Vandendriessche and Yves Dejaegere.1

Keywords

• interview