## TL;DR 😅
The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of 'Writer'...
Dennis Upper was an American clinical psychologist who became widel...
The paper is often cited as a case that reinforces the view of writ...
The article has inspired at least five humorous, peer-reviewed, pub...
The paper actually received a humorous positive review which was pu...
JOURNAL
OF
APPLIED
BEHAVIOR
ANALYSIS
1974,
7,
497
NUMBER
3
(FALL
1974)
THE
UNSUCCESSFUL
SELF-TREATMENT
OF
A
CASE
OF
"WRITER'S
BLOCK"'
DENNIS
UPPER
VETERANS
ADMINISTRATION
HOSPITAL,
BROCKTON,
MASSACHUSETTS
REFERENCES
'Portions
of
this
paper
were
not
presented
at
the
81st
Annual
American
Psychological
Association
Convention,
Montreal,
Canada,
August
30,
1973.
Re-
prints
may
be
obtained
from
Dennis
Upper,
Behavior
Therapy
Unit,
Veterans
Administration
Hospital,
Brockton,
Massachusetts
02401.
Received
25
October
1973.
(Published
without
revision.)
COMMENTS
BY
REVIEWER
A
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
repli-
cate
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.
497
## TL;DR 😅
The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of 'Writer's Block' is a humorous academic paper by psychologist Dennis Upper, addressing the subject of writer's block. The article is completely blank, containing only the title, standard journal formatting, and a witty footnote.
Published in 1974 in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, it is regarded as the shortest academic paper ever and a classic example of humor in science, particularly within the field of behavioral psychology. The article has been cited over 100 times.
The paper actually received a humorous positive review which was published alongside the article!
The paper is often cited as a case that reinforces the view of writer's block as a "blank page" and promotes the value of brevity in writing.
It has also been used to illustrate that humor can indeed exist within academic publishing.
Dennis Upper was an American clinical psychologist who became widely known for his humorous and unique contribution to academic literature with this paper.
Upper worked primarily in the field of psychology and had a career focused on clinical practice, particularly in behavioral therapy and the treatment of psychological conditions like anxiety and depression.
The article has inspired at least five humorous, peer-reviewed, published replication studies:
- Molloy, Geoffery N. (1983): "The Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of 'writer's Block': a Replication". Perceptual and Motor Skills, 57(2), 566. doi:10.2466/pms.1983.57.2.566. S2CID 144342829.
- 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. 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. doi:10.2466/pms.1984.58.2.350. S2CID 147400784.
- Artino, Anthony R. (2016): "The Unsuccessful Treatment of a Case of 'Writer's Block': a Replication in Medical Education". Medical Education, 50(12), 1262–1263. doi:10.1111/medu.13003. PMID 27873416.