Dr. Iversen received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 1978. He has been a professor of experimental psychology at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, since 1986.
Dr. Iversen’s research has addressed basic mechanisms of operant behavior, primarily in non-human subjects. Examples are detailed analyses of effects of individual reinforcements in rats, intermittent reinforcement of stimulus control in rats, and visual guidance of drawing in chimpanzees. His research has also involved operant conditioning of brainwaves in humans to enable communication in completely paralyzed ALS patients.
Dr. Iversen has served on the board of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior for 5 3-year terms and currently serves on the boards of the European Journal of Behavior Analysis and Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis. Dr. Iversen believes that strong methodology is necessary to advance the science of behavior, and he has developed several automated methods to shape and control behavior as well as methods to analyze complex data from behavioral experiments.
Together with Professor K. A. Lattal from the University of West Virginia, Morgantown, Dr. Iversen edited a two-volume text on methodology in operant conditioning (1991). Together with Dr. Wendon Henton (now retired), Dr. Iversen published a text on experiments in Classical and Operant Conditioning (1978). In addition, he has published several papers that document development of behavior control techniques and methods of data analysis.