High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Francis Mechner is an American research psychologist best known for having developed and introduced (in 1959) a formal symbolic language for the codification and notation of behavioral contingencies that he has applied to various fields including economics, education, environmental impact, business management, biology, clinical applications, law, and the analysis of macroeconomic and financial phenomena. Mechner is also known for a variety of contributions in instructional technology and in basic research on learning.