About Behaviorism Ch 1 (Causes of Bx)

Causes of Behavior (faulty) What does "post hoc, ergo propter hoc " mean?

"After this, therefore because of this". If one thing follows another, it was probably caused by it. (faulty assumption) This notion arises because of the familiarity with ourself. We observe our own bodies and assume the behavior that follows is the cause of that behavior.

Mind & Feelings, traditionally Explain the philosophical problem that arises from the notion that feelings and states of mind are the causes of behavior.

Philosophically, this notion does not allow us to address the question of cause. The notion that a mental event caused a physical event ignores the potential physical cause of said mental event.

Behaviorism "Behaviorism is not the science of human behavior; it is the _________________ of that science" (Skinner, 1974. p.3).

Philosophy

Feelings and Behavior Why have people been inclined to believe that feelings and states of mind are the causes of behavior?

Because often times behavior follows feelings or states of mind, and that temporal order is often associated with cause. In Skinner's words, feelings occur at just the right time to serve as causes of behavior. (faulty assumption)

Structuralism Structuralism relied on _________________ , which looked inward to describe sensations, images, and feelings.

Introspection Structuralism: an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

Radical Behaviorism and Self-observation Distinguish between objective and subjective data. Explain the position of Radical Behaviorism in regards to self-observation or self-knowledge.

Objective data is data that can be readily observed and quantified. Subjective data is data that cannot be observed directly, and is generally "given" a value based on one's language around that behavior. Radical Behaviorism assumes that these are aspects of the observers own body, not events taking place in an unobservable metaphysical entity such as the mind. It does however question how much of one's own body one can observe.

Causes and Physiology Skinner says that one way to solve the "problem of causes" has been to turn to physiology. How is this supposed to solve the problem, and what problems does Skinner see with this solution?

Physiology asserts that when we are introspective or have feelings we are looking at states of activities in our brain, thus giving our minds and thoughts a physical basis. The issue Skinner sees with this is a practical one in that we cannot observe someone's thoughts or feelings and use physiology to predict their behavior.

Methodological Behaviorists What objection does Skinner have to solution of the problem of causes proposed by Methodological Behaviorists?

Skinner finds fault in the Methodological Behaviorists' solution to the problem of causes because they acknowledged mental events but ruled them out of consideration. He did not believe that simply because two people could not agree on their existence, we should rule these out.

Structuralism Explain the solution to the "problem of causes" proposed by structuralists and developmentalists. What practical issue does this solution not solve?

Structuralists abandon the search for causes altogether. They simply report on what they observe, without being concerned with why it occurs. They predict that what people have often done, is what they are likely to do again. - how people behave and not the why people behave as they do Developmentalists believe that time or age is the factor that causes behaviors to occur, and they describe these observations. The issue with these solutions is that they may allow for prediction, but they do not allow for control. Structuralists do not attempt to control behavior, and developmentalists cannot control it because they cannot manipulate time or age.

Mind & Feelings, traditionally From a traditional perspective, what are feelings and states of mind?

The traditional perspective ascribes feelings and states of mind to a metaphysical world. These thoughts are believed to occur in a place referred to as the mind, which has no physical presence.

Methodological Behaviorists Explain the solution to the "problem of causes" proposed by Methodological Behaviorists.

They solve the problem of causes by considering only the prior physical causes of behavior, while bypassing behavior that is unobservable . Max Meyer said consider only those facts that can be objectively observed in the behavior of a person in relation to his prior environmental history. Methodological Behaviorists believe that if the link between physical and mental events exist, then nothing is lost by ignoring the mental link.

Truth by Agreement Explain what "truth by agreement" means in science. Explain the position of Radical Behaviorism with respect to the matter of "truth by agreement".

Truth by agreement appears to refer to the idea that something cannot be true unless another unbiased observer can verify that it is so. IOA is expected to be reported in many behavior analytic journals, therefore introspective behaviors are often ignored by the field. In regards to self-observation or self-knowledge, Private Events Radical Behaviorism does not insist on truth by agreement and can therefore consider private events. It does not dismiss these behaviors as subjective, rather it questions the nature of the object observed and the reliability of the observations.