Difference between revisions of "Behaviorism" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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{{psychology}}
 
{{psychology}}
  
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'''Behaviorism''' or '''behaviourism''' is an approach within [[psychology]] based on the proposition that behavior can be researched [[Scientific method|scientifically]] without recourse to inner mental states.  It is a form of materialism, denying any independent significance for the mind. A similar approach to [[political science]] may be found in Behavioralism.
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'''Behaviorism''' or '''behaviourism''' is an approach within [[psychology]] based on the proposition that behavior can be researched [[Scientific method|scientifically]] without recourse to inner mental states.  It is a form of materialism, denying any independent significance for the mind. A similar approach may be found in [[political science]] known as Behavioralism.
  
 
One of the assumptions of many behaviorists is that free will is an illusion. As a result, behaviorism dictates that all behaviour is determined by a combination of forces comprising of genetic factors and the environment, either through [[classical conditioning]] or [[Operant conditioning]].   
 
One of the assumptions of many behaviorists is that free will is an illusion. As a result, behaviorism dictates that all behaviour is determined by a combination of forces comprising of genetic factors and the environment, either through [[classical conditioning]] or [[Operant conditioning]].   
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The behaviorist school of thought ran concurrent with the [[psychoanalysis]] movement in psychology in the [[20th century]].  Its main influences were [[Ivan Pavlov]], who investigated [[classical conditioning]], [[John B. Watson]] who coined the term behaviorism and sought to restrict psychology to experimental methods, and [[B.F. Skinner]] who sought to give an grounding to behaviorism, relating it to [[pragmatism]], and conducted research on [[operant conditioning]].
 
The behaviorist school of thought ran concurrent with the [[psychoanalysis]] movement in psychology in the [[20th century]].  Its main influences were [[Ivan Pavlov]], who investigated [[classical conditioning]], [[John B. Watson]] who coined the term behaviorism and sought to restrict psychology to experimental methods, and [[B.F. Skinner]] who sought to give an grounding to behaviorism, relating it to [[pragmatism]], and conducted research on [[operant conditioning]].
  
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==Approaches==
 
  
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Within behaviorism there are three different emphases. Some behaviorists argue that the objective observation of behavior is the best way to investigate psychological and mental processes. Others behaviorists believe that objective observation of behavior is the only way of investigating such processes, such behaviorist discredit common psychological terms, such as belief and objectivesm because they contend that they only refer to behavior. Those taking the latter approach oftentimes refer to their field of study as ''behavior analysis'' or ''behavioral science'' rather than psychology.
 
  
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[[Albert Bandura]]'s [[Social cognitivism|social cognitive]] approach grew out of this movement as well. Bandura's approach stresses cognitive processes in addition to observable behavior, focusing on not only the impact of the environment but also "observation, imitation, and thought processes" (Plotnik 8) of the individual.
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==Versions of Behaviorism==
  
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==Versions==
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Disclaimer: There is no generally agreed upon classification. Some would add to or modify this list.   
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There is no generally agreed upon classification, and some would add to or modify this list.   
 
 
<!---Please create these links with "behaviorism" for the sake of consistency. Thanks!--->
 
<!---Please create these links with "behaviorism" for the sake of consistency. Thanks!--->
  
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===J. B. Watson===
 
===J. B. Watson===
  
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Early in the 20th century, Watson argued in his book ''Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist'' for the value of a psychology which concerned itself with behavior in and of itself. At the time, this was a substantial break from the structuralist psychology, which used the method of introspection and considered the study of behavior of little or no value.  
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Early in the 20th century, Watson argued in his book ''Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist'' for a psychology which concerned itself solely with objective observation of behavior. At the time, this was a substantial break from the predominant structuralist psychology, which used the method of introspection and considered the study of behavior of little or no value.  
  
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Watson, in contrast, studied the adjustment of organisms to their environments, more specifically the particular stimuli leading organisms to make their responses. Most of Watson's work was [[comparative psychology|comparative]], i.e., he studied the behavior of animals. Watson's approach was much influenced by the work of Russian physiologist [[Ivan Pavlov]], who had stumbled upon the phenomenon of classical conditioning (learned [[reflex]]es) in his study of the digestive system of the dog, and subsequently investigated the phenomena in detail.  Watson's approach emphasized physiology and the role of stimuli in producing conditioned responses - assimilating most or all function to reflex. For this reason, Watson may be described as an S-R (stimulus-response) psychologist.
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Watson, unlike many of his colleagues, studied the adjustment of organisms to their environments. More specifically, he was interested in determing the particular stimuli that led organisms to make their responses. Most of Watson's work was [[comparative psychology|comparative]], since he studied the behavior of animals. Watson's approach was much influenced by the work of Russian physiologist [[Ivan Pavlov]], who discovered the phenomenon of classical conditioning in his famous study of the digestive system of dogs.  Watson's approach emphasized physiological response and the role of stimuli in producing conditioned responses. For this reason, Watson may be described as an S-R (stimulus-response) psychologist.
  
 
===Methodological behaviorism===
 
===Methodological behaviorism===
  
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Watson's Behaviorist theory persuaded most academic researchers in experimental psychology of the importance of studying behavior.  In the field of comparative psychology in particular, it was consistent with the warning note that had been struck by [[Morgan's Canon|Lloyd Morgan's canon]], against some of the more [[anthropomorphic]] work such as that of [[George Romanes]], in which mental states had been freely attributed to animals. It was eagerly seized on by researchers such as [[Edward L. Thorndike]] (who had been studying cats' abilities to escape from puzzle boxes).  However, most psychologists took up a position that is now called [[methodological behaviorism]]: they acknowledged that behavior was either the only or the easiest method of observation in psychology, but held that it could be used to draw conclusions about mental states.  Among well-known twentieth-century behaviorists taking this kind of position were Clark L. Hull, who described his position as [[neo-behaviorism]], and Edward C. Tolman, who developed much of what would later become the [[Cognitivism (psychology)|cognitivist program]]. Tolman argued that rats constructed cognitive maps of the [[mazes]] they learned even in the absence of reward, and that the connection between stimulus and response (S->R) was mediated by a third term - the organism (S->O->R). His approach has been called, among other things, purposive behaviorism.
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Watson's Behaviorist theory persuaded most academic researchers of the importance of behavioral study.  In the field of comparative psychology in particular, it was consistent with the warning note that had been struck by [[Morgan's Canon|Lloyd Morgan's canon]], against some of the more anthropomorphic work such as that of George Romanes, in which mental states had been freely attributed to animals. It was eagerly seized on by researchers such as [[Edward L. Thorndike]] (who had been studying cats' abilities to escape from puzzle boxes).  However, most psychologists took up a position that is now called methodological behaviorism: they acknowledged that behavior was either the only or the easiest method of observation in psychology, but held that it could be used to draw conclusions about mental states.   
  
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Methodological behaviorism remains the position of most experimental psychologists today, including the vast majority of those who work in [[cognitive psychology]] &ndash; so long as behavior is defined as including speech, at least non-introspective speech. With the rise of interest in [[animal cognition]] since the 1980s, and the more unorthodox views of [[Donald Griffin]] among others, mentalistic language including discussion of consciousness is increasingly used even in discussion of animal psychology, in both comparative psychology and [[ethology]]; however this is in no way inconsistent with the position of methodological behaviorism...
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Among well-known twentieth-century behaviorists taking this kind of position were Clark L. Hull, who described his position as neo-behaviorism, and Edward C. Tolman, who developed much of what would later become the cognitivist program. Tolman argued that rats constructed cognitive maps of the mazes they learned even in the absence of reward, and that the connection between stimulus and response (S->R) was mediated by a third term - the organism (S->O->R).  
  
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==B.F. Skinner and radical behaviorism==
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Methodological behaviorism remains the position of most experimental psychologists today. With the rise of interest in animal cognition since the 1980s, and the more unorthodox views of Donald Griffin among others, mentalistic language including discussion of consciousness is increasingly used even in discussion of animal psychology, in both comparative psychology and ethology; however, this is in no way inconsistent with the position of methodological behaviorism.
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Skinner, who carried out experimental work mainly in comparative psychology from the [[1930s]] to the [[1950s]], but remained behaviorism's best known theorist and exponent virtually until his death in [[1990]], developed a distinct kind of behaviorist philosophy, which came to be called [[radical behaviorism]]. He is credited with having founded a new version of psychological science, which has come to be called behavior analysis or the [[experimental analysis of behavior]] after variations on the subtitle to his [[1938]] work ''The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis Of Behavior''.  
 
  
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===Definition===
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==B.F. Skinner==
  
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Skinner was influential in defining radical behaviorism, a philosophy codifying the basis of his school of research (named the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, or EAB.) While EAB differs from other approaches to behavioral research on numerous methodological and theoretical points, radical behaviorism departs from methodological behaviorism most notably in accepting treatment of feelings, states of mind and introspection as existent and scientifically treatable. This is done by identifying them as something non-[[dualistic]], and here Skinner takes a divide-and-conquer approach, with some instances being identified with bodily conditions or behavior, and others getting a more extended 'analysis' in terms of behavior. However, radical behaviorism stops short of identifying feelings as causes of behavior. Among other points of difference were a rejection of the reflex as a model of all behavior and a defense of a science of behavior complementary to but independent of physiology.
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Skinner, who carried out experimental work in the field comparative psychology from the [[1930s]] to the [[1950s]], but he still Behaviorism's best known theorist and exponent until his death in [[1990]]. Skinner developed a distinct kind of behaviorist philosophy, which came to be called radical behaviorism. He is credited with having founded a new version of psychological science, called behavioral analysis or the Experimental Analysis of Behavior after variations on the subtitle to his [[1938]] work ''The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis Of Behavior''.  
  
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===Experimental and conceptual innovations===
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===Skinner's Radical Behaviorism===
  
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This essentially philosophical position gained strength from the success of Skinner's early experimental work with rats and pigeons, summarised in his books ''The Behavior of Organisms'' (1938) and ''Schedules of Reinforcement'' ([[1957]], with C. B. Ferster) and others. Of particular importance was his concept of the operant response, of which the canonical example was the rat's lever-press. In contrast with the idea of a physiological or reflex response, an operant is a class of structurally distinct but functionally equivalent responses. For example, while a rat might press a lever with its left paw or its right paw or its tail, all of these responses operate on the world in the same way and have a common consequence. Operants are often thought of as species of responses, where the individuals differ but the class coheres in its function—shared consequences with operants and reproductive success with species. This is a clear distinction between Skinner's theory and S-R theory.
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While EAB differs from other approaches of behavioral research on numerous methodological and theoretical points, radical behaviorism departs from methodological behaviorism most notably in its acceptance of the treatment of feelings, states of mind and introspection as existent and scientifically treatable. However, radical behaviorism stops short of identifying feelings as causes of behavior. Among other points of difference were a rejection of the reflex as a model of all behavior and a defense of a science of behavior complementary to but independent of physiology.
  
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Skinner's empirical work expanded on earlier research on [[trial-and-error]] learning by researchers such as Thorndike and Guthrie with both conceptual reformulations &ndash; Thorndike's notion of a stimulus-response 'association' or 'connection' was abandoned &ndash; and methodological ones &ndash; the use of the 'free operant', so called because the animal was now permitted to respond at its own rate rather than in a series of trials determined by the experimenter procedures. With this method, Skinner carried out substantial experimental work on the effects of different schedules and rates of reinforcement on the rates of operant responses made by rats and pigeons. He achieved remarkable success in training animals to perform unexpected responses, and to emit large numbers of responses, and to demonstrate many empirical regularities at the purely behavioral level. This lent some credibility to his conceptual analysis. It is largely his conceptual analysis that made his work much more rigorous than his peers, a point which can be seen clearly in his seminal work ''Are Theories of Learning Necessary?'' in which he criticizes what he viewed to be theoretical weaknesses then common in the study of psychology.
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===Experimental and Conceptual Innovations===
  
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===Relation to language===
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This philosophical position gained strength from the success of Skinner's early experimental work with rats and pigeons, surmised in his books ''The Behavior of Organisms'' (1938) and ''Schedules of Reinforcement'' ([[1957]], with C. B. Ferster). Of particular importance was his discovery the operant response, of which is famously remembered through his 'Skinner Box'. An operant response contrasts with a reflex response as it is a class of structurally distinct but functionally equivalent responses. For example, while a rat might press a lever with its left paw or its right paw or its tail, all of these responses operate on the world in the same way and have a common consequence. Operants are often thought of as series of responses, where the individuals differ but as a whole, the class achieves similar ends.
  
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As Skinner turned from experimental work to concentrate on the philosophical underpinnings of a science of behavior, his attention naturally turned to human language. His book ''[[Verbal Behavior]]'' (1957) laid out a vocabulary and theory for functional analysis of verbal behavior. The book was strongly criticized in a review by the linguist [[Noam Chomsky]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior|journal=Language|issue=35|number=1|year=1959|pages=26-58|author=Chomsky, Noam}}</ref> Skinner did not himself respond in detail; he claimed that "[Chomsky] doesn’t
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Skinner's empirical work expanded on earlier research of trial-and-error learning by researchers such as Thorndike and Guthrie, so called because the animal was now permitted to respond on its own in contrast to earlier studies in which a series of trials that were systematically presented and executed by experimential procedures. Using this method, Skinner carried out substantial empirical work on the effects of different schedules and rates of reinforcement on the rates of operant responses made by animals.  
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know what I am talking about and for some reason is unable to understand it".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Skinner, B. F.|title=I Have Been Misunderstood...|journal=Center Magazine|year=1972|issue=March-April|pages=63}}</ref>
 
  
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What was important for a behaviorist analysis of human behavior was not [[language acquisition]] so much as the interaction between language and overt behavior. In an essay republished in his [[1969]] book ''Contingencies of Reinforcement'', Skinner took the view that humans could construct linguistic stimuli that would then acquire control over their behavior in the same way that external stimuli could. The possibility of such "instructional control" over behavior meant that contingencies of reinforcement would not always produce the same effects on human behavior as they reliably do in other animals. The focus of a radical behaviorist analysis of human behavior therefore shifted to an attempt to understand the interaction between instructional control and contingency control, and also to understand the behavioral processes that determine what instructions are constructed and what control they acquire over behavior. Important figures in this effort have been Murray Sidman, A. Charles Catania, C. Fergus Lowe and Steven C. Hayes.
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He achieved remarkable success in training animals to perform unexpected responses, to emit large numbers of responses, and to demonstrate many empirical regularities within behavior. These findings lent some credibility to his radical conceptual analysis.
  
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==Molar versus molecular behaviorism==
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===Relation to language===
  
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Skinner's view of behavior is most often characterized as a "molecular" view of behavior, that is each behavior can be decomposed into atomistic parts or molecules. This view is inaccurate when one considers his complete description of behavior as delineated in the [[1981]] article, ''Selection by Consequences'' and many other works. Skinner claims that a complete account of behavior involves an understanding of selection history at three levels: [[biology]] (the [[natural selection]] or [[phylogeny]] of the animal); behavior (the reinforcement history or ontogeny of the behavioral repertoire of the animal); and for some species, [[culture]] (the cultural practices of the social group to which the animal belongs). This whole organism, with all those histories, then interacts with its environment. He often described even his own behavior as a product of his phylogenetic history, his reinforcement history (which includes the learning of cultural practices) interacting with the environment at the moment. Molar behaviorists, such as [[Howard Rachlin]] argue that behavior can not be understood by focusing on events in the moment. That is, they argue that a behavior can be understood best in terms of the ultimate cause of history and that molecular behaviorist are committing a fallacy by inventing a fictitious proximal cause for behavior. Molar behaviorists argue that standard molecular constructs such as "associative strength" are such fictitious proximal causes that simply take the place of molar variables such as rate of reinforcement. Thus, a molar behaviorist would define a behavior such as loving someone as exhibiting a pattern of [[love|loving behavior]] over time, there is no known proximal cause of loving behavior, only a history of behaviors (of which the current behavior might be an example of) that can be summarized as love.
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As Skinner turned from experimental work to concentrate on the philosophical underpinnings of a science of behavior, his attention turned to human language. His book ''[[Verbal Behavior]]'' (1957) laid out a theory for functional analysis of verbal behavior. The book was strongly criticized in a review by the linguist [[Noam Chomsky]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior|journal=Language|issue=35|number=1|year=1959|pages=26-58|author=Chomsky, Noam}}</ref> Skinner did not himself respond in detail; but he claimed that "[Chomsky] doesn’t know what I am talking about and for some reason is unable to understand it".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Skinner, B. F.|title=I Have Been Misunderstood...|journal=Center Magazine|year=1972|issue=March-April|pages=63}}</ref>
  
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Recent experimental work (see ''The Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior'' and ''Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes''— 2004 and later) shows quite clearly that behavior is affected both by molar variables (i.e., average rates of reinforcement) and molecular ones (e.g. time, preceding responses).  What is needed is an understanding of the real-time dynamics of operant behavior, which will involve processes at both short and long time scales.
+
What was important for a behaviorist analysis of human behavior was not language acquisition so much as the interaction between language and overt behavior. In an essay republished in his [[1969]] book ''Contingencies of Reinforcement'', Skinner took the view that humans could construct linguistic stimuli that would then acquire control over their behavior in the same way that external stimuli could. The possibility of such 'instructional control' over behavior meant that contingencies of reinforcement would not always produce the same effects on human behavior as they reliably do in other animals.
  
 
==Behaviorism in philosophy==
 
==Behaviorism in philosophy==
  
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Behaviorism is both  a psychological movement and a [[philosophy of mind]].  The basic premise of ''radical behaviorism'' is that the study of behavior should be a [[natural science]], such as [[chemistry]] or [[physics]], without any reference to hypothetical inner states of organisms.  Other varieties,  such as ''theoretical behaviorism'', permit internal states, but do not require them to be mental or have any relation to subjective experience.  Behaviorism takes a functional view of behavior.   
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Behaviorism is both  a psychological and philosophical movement.  The basic premise of ''radical behaviorism'' is that the study of behavior should be an empirical science, such as [[chemistry]] or [[physics]], without any reference to hypothetical and arguably subjective inner states of organisms.   
 
    
 
    
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There are points of view within [[analytic philosophy]] that have called themselves, or have been called by others, behaviorist. In ''logical behaviorism'' (as held, e.g., by [[Rudolf Carnap]] and [[Carl Hempel]]), the meaning of psychological statements are their verification conditions, which consist of performed overt behavior. [[W. V. Quine]] made use of a type of behaviorism, influenced by some of Skinner's ideas, in his own work on language. [[Gilbert Ryle]] defended a distinct strain of philosophical behaviorism, sketched in his book ''The Concept of Mind.'' Ryle's central claim was that instances of dualism frequently represented 'category mistakes,' and hence that they were really misunderstandings of the use of ordinary language. [[Daniel Dennett]] likewise acknowledges himself to be a type of behaviorist. [http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/msgisno.htm]
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There are approaches within analytic philosophy that have named themselves or have been coined by other as behaviorist. In ''logical behaviorism'' (as held, e.g., by Rudolf Carnap and Carl Hempel), the meaning of psychological statements are their verification conditions, which consist of performed overt behavior. W. V. Quine made use of a type of behaviorism, influenced by some of Skinner's ideas, in his own work on language. Gilbert Ryle defended a distinct strain of philosophical behaviorism, sketched in his book ''The Concept of Mind.'' Ryle's central claim was that instances of dualism frequently represented 'category mistakes,' and hence that they were really misunderstandings of the use of ordinary language. Daniel Dennett likewise acknowledges himself to be a type of behaviorist. [http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/papers/msgisno.htm]
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It is sometimes argued that [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] defended a behaviorist position, and there are important areas of overlap between his philosophy, logical behaviorism, and radical behaviorism (e.g., the ''beetle in a box'' argument). However, Wittgenstein was not a behaviorist, and his style of writing is sufficiently elliptical  to admit of a range of interpretations. Mathematician [[Alan Turing]] is also sometimes considered a behaviorist, but he himself did not make this identification.
 
  
 +
It is sometimes argued that Ludwig Wittgenstein defended a behaviorist position, and there are important areas of overlap between his philosophy, logical behaviorism, and radical behaviorism (e.g., the ''beetle in a box'' argument). However, Wittgenstein was not a behaviorist, and his style of writing is sufficiently elliptical  to admit of a range of interpretations. Mathematician Alan Turing is also sometimes considered a behaviorist, but he himself did not make this identification.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 21:50, 10 July 2006


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Behaviorism or behaviourism is an approach within psychology based on the proposition that behavior can be researched scientifically without recourse to inner mental states. It is a form of materialism, denying any independent significance for the mind. A similar approach may be found in political science known as Behavioralism.

One of the assumptions of many behaviorists is that free will is an illusion. As a result, behaviorism dictates that all behaviour is determined by a combination of forces comprising of genetic factors and the environment, either through classical conditioning or Operant conditioning.

The behaviorist school of thought ran concurrent with the psychoanalysis movement in psychology in the 20th century. Its main influences were Ivan Pavlov, who investigated classical conditioning, John B. Watson who coined the term behaviorism and sought to restrict psychology to experimental methods, and B.F. Skinner who sought to give an grounding to behaviorism, relating it to pragmatism, and conducted research on operant conditioning.


Versions of Behaviorism

Disclaimer: There is no generally agreed upon classification. Some would add to or modify this list.

  • Classical behaviorism: The behaviorism of Watson; the objective study of behavior; no mental life, no internal states; thought is covert speech.
  • Methodological behaviorism: The objective study of third-person behavior; the data of psychology must be inter-subjectively verifiable; no theoretical prescriptions. It has been absorbed into general experimental and cognitive psychology.
  • Radical behaviorism|Radical: Skinnerian behaviorism; is considered radical since it expands behavioral principles to processes within the organism; in contrast to methodological behaviorism, does not require inter-observer agreement; not mechanistic or reductionist; hypothetical (mentalistic) internal states are not considered causes of behavior, phenomena must be observable at least to the individual experiencing them.
  • Logical behaviorism: Established by Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle in his book The Concept of Mind (1949).
  • Teleological behaviorism: Post-Skinnerian, purposive, close to microeconomics.
  • Theoretical behaviorism: Post-Skinnerian, accepts observable internal states ("within the skin" once meant "unobservable", but with modern technology we are not so constrained); dynamic, but eclectic in choice of theoretical structures, emphasizes parsimony.
  • Biological behaviorism: Post-Skinnerian, centered on perceptual and motor modules of behavior, theory of behavior systems.
  • Interbehaviorism: Founded by J. R. Kantor before Skinner´s writings and currently worked by L. Hayes; E, Ribes; and S. Bijou. Centered in the interbehavior of organisms, field theory of behavior; emphasis on human behavior.

Two popular subtypes are Neo-: Clark L. Hull, Hullian, and post-Hullian, theoretical, group data, not dynamic, physiological, and Purposive: Edward C. Tolman'ss behavioristic anticipation of cognitive psychology.

J. B. Watson

Early in the 20th century, Watson argued in his book Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist for a psychology which concerned itself solely with objective observation of behavior. At the time, this was a substantial break from the predominant structuralist psychology, which used the method of introspection and considered the study of behavior of little or no value.

Watson, unlike many of his colleagues, studied the adjustment of organisms to their environments. More specifically, he was interested in determing the particular stimuli that led organisms to make their responses. Most of Watson's work was comparative, since he studied the behavior of animals. Watson's approach was much influenced by the work of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, who discovered the phenomenon of classical conditioning in his famous study of the digestive system of dogs. Watson's approach emphasized physiological response and the role of stimuli in producing conditioned responses. For this reason, Watson may be described as an S-R (stimulus-response) psychologist.

Methodological behaviorism

Watson's Behaviorist theory persuaded most academic researchers of the importance of behavioral study. In the field of comparative psychology in particular, it was consistent with the warning note that had been struck by Lloyd Morgan's canon, against some of the more anthropomorphic work such as that of George Romanes, in which mental states had been freely attributed to animals. It was eagerly seized on by researchers such as Edward L. Thorndike (who had been studying cats' abilities to escape from puzzle boxes). However, most psychologists took up a position that is now called methodological behaviorism: they acknowledged that behavior was either the only or the easiest method of observation in psychology, but held that it could be used to draw conclusions about mental states.

Among well-known twentieth-century behaviorists taking this kind of position were Clark L. Hull, who described his position as neo-behaviorism, and Edward C. Tolman, who developed much of what would later become the cognitivist program. Tolman argued that rats constructed cognitive maps of the mazes they learned even in the absence of reward, and that the connection between stimulus and response (S->R) was mediated by a third term - the organism (S->O->R).

Methodological behaviorism remains the position of most experimental psychologists today. With the rise of interest in animal cognition since the 1980s, and the more unorthodox views of Donald Griffin among others, mentalistic language including discussion of consciousness is increasingly used even in discussion of animal psychology, in both comparative psychology and ethology; however, this is in no way inconsistent with the position of methodological behaviorism.

B.F. Skinner

Skinner, who carried out experimental work in the field comparative psychology from the 1930s to the 1950s, but he still Behaviorism's best known theorist and exponent until his death in 1990. Skinner developed a distinct kind of behaviorist philosophy, which came to be called radical behaviorism. He is credited with having founded a new version of psychological science, called behavioral analysis or the Experimental Analysis of Behavior after variations on the subtitle to his 1938 work The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis Of Behavior.

Skinner's Radical Behaviorism

While EAB differs from other approaches of behavioral research on numerous methodological and theoretical points, radical behaviorism departs from methodological behaviorism most notably in its acceptance of the treatment of feelings, states of mind and introspection as existent and scientifically treatable. However, radical behaviorism stops short of identifying feelings as causes of behavior. Among other points of difference were a rejection of the reflex as a model of all behavior and a defense of a science of behavior complementary to but independent of physiology.

Experimental and Conceptual Innovations

This philosophical position gained strength from the success of Skinner's early experimental work with rats and pigeons, surmised in his books The Behavior of Organisms (1938) and Schedules of Reinforcement (1957, with C. B. Ferster). Of particular importance was his discovery the operant response, of which is famously remembered through his 'Skinner Box'. An operant response contrasts with a reflex response as it is a class of structurally distinct but functionally equivalent responses. For example, while a rat might press a lever with its left paw or its right paw or its tail, all of these responses operate on the world in the same way and have a common consequence. Operants are often thought of as series of responses, where the individuals differ but as a whole, the class achieves similar ends.

Skinner's empirical work expanded on earlier research of trial-and-error learning by researchers such as Thorndike and Guthrie, so called because the animal was now permitted to respond on its own in contrast to earlier studies in which a series of trials that were systematically presented and executed by experimential procedures. Using this method, Skinner carried out substantial empirical work on the effects of different schedules and rates of reinforcement on the rates of operant responses made by animals.

He achieved remarkable success in training animals to perform unexpected responses, to emit large numbers of responses, and to demonstrate many empirical regularities within behavior. These findings lent some credibility to his radical conceptual analysis.

Relation to language

As Skinner turned from experimental work to concentrate on the philosophical underpinnings of a science of behavior, his attention turned to human language. His book Verbal Behavior (1957) laid out a theory for functional analysis of verbal behavior. The book was strongly criticized in a review by the linguist Noam Chomsky.[1] Skinner did not himself respond in detail; but he claimed that "[Chomsky] doesn’t know what I am talking about and for some reason is unable to understand it".[2]

What was important for a behaviorist analysis of human behavior was not language acquisition so much as the interaction between language and overt behavior. In an essay republished in his 1969 book Contingencies of Reinforcement, Skinner took the view that humans could construct linguistic stimuli that would then acquire control over their behavior in the same way that external stimuli could. The possibility of such 'instructional control' over behavior meant that contingencies of reinforcement would not always produce the same effects on human behavior as they reliably do in other animals.

Behaviorism in philosophy

Behaviorism is both a psychological and philosophical movement. The basic premise of radical behaviorism is that the study of behavior should be an empirical science, such as chemistry or physics, without any reference to hypothetical and arguably subjective inner states of organisms.

There are approaches within analytic philosophy that have named themselves or have been coined by other as behaviorist. In logical behaviorism (as held, e.g., by Rudolf Carnap and Carl Hempel), the meaning of psychological statements are their verification conditions, which consist of performed overt behavior. W. V. Quine made use of a type of behaviorism, influenced by some of Skinner's ideas, in his own work on language. Gilbert Ryle defended a distinct strain of philosophical behaviorism, sketched in his book The Concept of Mind. Ryle's central claim was that instances of dualism frequently represented 'category mistakes,' and hence that they were really misunderstandings of the use of ordinary language. Daniel Dennett likewise acknowledges himself to be a type of behaviorist. [1]

It is sometimes argued that Ludwig Wittgenstein defended a behaviorist position, and there are important areas of overlap between his philosophy, logical behaviorism, and radical behaviorism (e.g., the beetle in a box argument). However, Wittgenstein was not a behaviorist, and his style of writing is sufficiently elliptical to admit of a range of interpretations. Mathematician Alan Turing is also sometimes considered a behaviorist, but he himself did not make this identification.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Baum, W. M. (2005) Understanding behaviorism: Behavior, Culture and Evolution. Blackwell.
  • Ferster, C. B., and Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  • Mills, John A., Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology, Paperback Edition, New York University Press 2000
  • Lattal, K.A and Chase, P.N. (2003) "Behavior Theory and Philosophy". Plenum
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  1. ↑ Chomsky, Noam (1959). A Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Language (35): 26-58.
  2. ↑ Skinner, B. F. (1972). I Have Been Misunderstood.... Center Magazine (March-April): 63.
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