Some reciprocal roles between behavior analysis and institutional economics in post-darwinian science

Behavior analysis and institutional economics are viewed as having common origins in the early 20th century effort to benefit from the conceptual revolution spurred by Darwin's synthesis. Institutional economics, initiated by Thorstein Veblen, appears to have failed to develop a progressive scientific technology, while behavior analysis has done so. It is suggested that institutional economics has been held back by lack of a synthesizing scientific mechanism that elucidates the relation between technological and ceremonial processes, the two cultural forces described by Veblen. The theory of institutional economist C. E. Ayres, built on Veblen's distinction, is used to clarify the concepts of technological and ceremonial processes for the reader. An analysis of the behavioral processes that might underlie the cultural processes described by Veblen/Ayres suggests that the experimental analysis of behavior has provided concepts that might function as a synthesizing mechanism for the social sciences and, in particular, institutional economics. The Veblen/Ayres dichotomy, now seen in terms of underlying behavioral processes, is used to examine the field of behavior analysis in terms of its origins, its relation to psychology and its current state. The paper concludes with a few practical suggestions as to how behavior analysts might work to enhance survival.     

Conceptual approaches and issues

The experimental analysis of behavior has lagged far behind mainstream psychology, particularly cognitive psychology, in the study of complex behavior—remembering, thinking, imaging, problem solving, and the like. Yet it is the study of these kinds of behavior that will provide the greatest justification of our continued existence in the community of behavioral scientists. Focusing primarily on remembering as a complex performance, aspects of (1) radical behaviorism, (2) the methodology of the experimental analysis of behavior, and (3) the special contributions of B. F. Skinner are assessed as explicitly or implicitly discouraging the experimental treatment of such complex behavior. Although there are encouraging signs of advancement into the present domains of cognitive psychology, future success of the experimental analysis of behavior in this endeavor will require aggressive pursuit by investigators and more effective training of their students.     

From Intentions to Neurons: Social and Neural Consequences of Disbelieving in Free Will

The problem of free will is among the most fascinating and disputed questions throughout the history of philosophy and psychology. Traditionally limited to philosophical and theological debate, in the last decades it has become a matter of scientific investigation. The theoretical and methodological advances in neuroscience allowed very complex psychological functions related to free will (conscious intentions, decision-making, and agency) to be investigated. In parallel, neuroscience is gaining momentum in the media, and various scientific findings are claimed to provide evidence that free will is nothing more than an illusion. Why do neuroscientific findings have such a strong impact on our notion of free will? Does it really matter what neuroscience tells us about free will? Here we critically examine studies in experimental philosophy, social psychology and cognitive neuroscience that attempt to provide an empirical answer to these questions. This overview of the literature demonstrates that inducing disbelief in free will has an impact on folk psychology, social behavior and intentional action.     

The nature of psychology: the great dilemmas

Research about the nature of psychology, its subject matter, its level of analysis, its scientific laws, its relationship with other disciplines, and its social relevance has been a matter of great concern and interest during the development of psychology. This problem can be analyzed in terms of the dilemmas of the psychological discipline, which have been choice points, crossroads, alternative decisions that bring psychologists face to face with the following issues: (a) the subject matter of psychology: psyche, mind, or behavior?; (b) the role of scientific methodology: is psychology a natural science, a social/behavioral/human science, or a part of the humanities?; (c) the universality or particularity of scientific laws in psychology: are laws universal or culture-bound and contextual?; and (d) the balance between science and profession: is psychology a basic science, a socially relevant profession, or both?     

A review of domestic dogs' (Canis familiaris) human-like behaviors: or why behavior analysts should stop worrying and love their dogs

Dogs likely were the first animals to be domesticated and as such have shared a common environment with humans for over ten thousand years. Only recently, however, has this species' behavior been subject to scientific scrutiny. Most of this work has been inspired by research in human cognitive psychology and suggests that in many ways dogs are more human-like than any other species, including nonhuman primates. Behavior analysts should add their expertise to the study of dog behavior, both to add objective behavioral analyses of experimental data and to effectively integrate this new knowledge into applied work with dogs.     

Applying the Psychology of Science to the Science of Psychology: Can Psychologists Use Psychological Science to Enhance Psychology as a Science?

ABSTRACT— Added to the already tremendous diversity of subdisciplines of psychological science is the psychology of science. Although research on the psychology of science began in 1874, the field has seen a substantial expansion of activity in recent years. One particular subset of this research literature has special importance: namely, inquiries into the psychology of doing great science. These investigations may be assigned into four groups: cognitive, differential, developmental, and social. Each of these deal with critical questions that can, if answered, contribute directly to the improvement of psychology as a science. Potential applications include (a) the identification of scientific talent in psychology, (b) the education of future investigators in psychological science, and (c) the evaluation of psychology's progress as a scientific endeavor.     

西方心理学中的现代主义、后现代主义及其超越

当代西方心理学中存在着现代主义取向和后现代主义取向的对立和冲突。冯特以来的西方心理学流派大多属于现代主义的范畴。现代主义的特征是：(1)重视科学的价值,强调科学的方法;(2)信奉经验主义;(3)个体的中心地位。后现代主义取向的核心是社会建构主义,其主要特征为：(1)批判的倾向,对现代心理学的理论基础进行解构;(2)把社会建构论作为认识论的基础;(3)促进心理学实践的四个转变。尽管两种倾向形成鲜明的对照,但两者也存在着一些共同的方面,从而构成了超越两者的基础。两种取向的超越需要以科学实在论作为元理论的基础,并需要双方互补、合作和开放的态度。     

Radical behaviorism and scientific frameworks. From mechanistic to relational accounts.

A substantial portion of B. F. Skinner's scholarship was devoted to developing methods and terms for a scientific study of behavior. Three concepts central to scientific accounts--cause, explanation, and theory--are examined to illustrate the distinction between mechanistic and relational frameworks and radical behaviorism's relationship to those frameworks. Informed by a scientific tradition that explicitly rejects mechanistic interpretations, radical behaviorism provides a distinctive stance in contemporary psychology. The present analysis suggests that radical behaviorism makes closer contact with the "new world view" advocated by physicists and philosophers of science than does much of contemporary psychology.     

心理学研究中的还原主义问题考察

还原主义是主导心理学研究的非常重要的理论原则。其核心思想是认为,世界是分层的梯级系统,可以通过已知的、低层级的事物或理论来解释与说明未知的、高层级的事物或理论。实证的科学心理学在自己的起步的阶段,曾经把物理学当成了自己的榜样,当成了自己的标准。心理学在解说人的心理行为的过程中,就把心理行为的规律归结为物理主义的规律。生物决定论观点认为人的心理或行为主要受人的生物因素所决定,人类的社会行为、人格乃至社会生活的基本方面都决定于这些个体、群体、种族或人种的生物因素。还原论与还原方法既有联系又存在着质的差别。还原论在心理学的研究中有其合理的地方。这也就可以区分出所谓的物理主义的还原,化学分析的还原、生物决定的还原、生理机制的还原、社会决定的还原、文化制约的还原,等等。在表面上看,心理学研究中的还原主义是一种简单化的或简约化的研究处理。但是,在深层上看,心理学研究却借助于还原论而形成了自己的研究框架。并且,这也是将各自不同学科的相关的探索转换成为了心理学的学术性资源。     

TRANSFERENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ITS IMPACT ON MEXICO

The impact of the transfer of the psychological knowledge from the developed countries to Mexico, is briefly described. It is clear that scientific psychological methodology and contents were introduced to Mexico at the end of the 19th Century. The impetus to the National Educational System was primarily derived from psychometric methods and secondarily from modern conceptions of education. The professional psychological practice in Mexico today is practically indistinguishable from its exercise in the developed nations as far as client services are concerned. On the other hand, there is relatively scarce and often inept use of professional or applied research techniques to the social problems of groups or to the evaluation of programs. The impact on pure and applied research, none the less, has been extensive and a relatively large number of people are doing research in several areas of psychology, particularly cross-cultural, neuro-psychological, the experimental analysis of behavior, action and interdisciplinary research in social and educational psychology. Priorities are: (1) Systematic teaching at the graduate level of the statistical and computational methodology of psychology in the context of research design and evaluation; (2) The operationalization or transferring to every day language of the concepts and techniques of psychology for use of the general public; (3) The better staffing of many, particularly the private schools of professional psychology.     

西方心理学的马克思主义研究取向评述

当今国外心理学研究的各流派中涌现出了马克思主义新取向。这显示了马克思主义思想要素的影响力及其对心理学科发展的积极贡献,体现出马克思主义新的生命活力和科学创新精神。但同时,心理学的马克思主义取向研究也遇到了巨大的阻抗力量,马克思主义也面临着严峻的考验。当前,如何认识心理学研究中马克思主义的理论资源,在辩证唯物主义精神的指引下推动心理学的研究,是中国心理学界需要进一步研究和解决的重大问题之一。     

Some neglected contributions of Wilhelm Wundt to the psychology of memory

Wilhelm Wundt, whose name is rarely associated with the scientific study of memory, conducted a number of memory experiments that appear to have escaped the awareness of modern cognitive psychologists. Aspects of Wundt's system are reviewed, particularly with respect to his experimental work on memory. Wundt investigated phenomena that would fall under the modern headings of iconic memory, short-term memory, and the enactment and generation effects, but this research has been neglected. Revisiting the Wundtian perspective may provide insight into some of the reasons behind the historical course of memory research and in general into the progress of science in psychology.     

国外关于进化心理学的研究

进化心理学是近年在西方心理学中出现的一种新的研究取向,目前仍没有一个明确的概念和系统的理论。其基本主张是：过去是理解心理机制的关键;功能分析是理解心理机制的主要途径;心理机制是在解决问题的过程中演化形成的模块性是心理机制整体组织的特性;人的行为是心理机制和环境互动作用的结果。进化心理学从诞生之日起,就引起了各种各样的争议,赞成者认为：①心理学会成为更多的达尔文主义的理论建构;②进化心理学将使心理学走向统一;③进化心理学向传统社会科学提出了挑战。反对者认为：①进化心理学是一种不成熟的科学;②进化心理学是一种貌似科学的研究取向。     

Steps and pips in the history of the cumulative recorder

From its inception in the 1930s until very recent times, the cumulative recorder was the most widely used measurement instrument in the experimental analysis of behavior. It was an essential instrument in the discovery and analysis of schedules of reinforcement, providing the first real-time analysis of operant response rates and patterns. This review traces the evolution of the cumulative recorder from Skinner's early modified kymographs through various models developed by Skinner and his colleagues to its perfection in the 1950s, and then into the 1960s when it proliferated as different scientific instrument companies began marketing their own models of the cumulative recorder. With the rise of digital computers, the demise of the cumulative recorder as a scientific instrument was inevitable; however, the value of the cumulative record as a monitoring device to assess schedule control of behavior continues. The cumulative recorder remains, along with the operant conditioning chamber, an icon of Skinner's approach to psychology.     

Psychopharmacology's debt to experimental psychology

The role of experimental psychology in the development of psychopharmacology has largely been ignored in recent historical accounts. In this article the authors attempt to redress that gap by outlining work in early experimental psychology that contributed significantly to the field. While psychiatrists focused on the therapeutic nature of drugs or their mimicry of psychopathology, experimental psychologists used psychoactive drugs as tools to study individual differences in normal behavior as well as to develop methodologies using behavior to study mechanisms of drug action. Experimental work by Kraepelin, Rivers, and Hollingworth was particularly important in establishing drug-screening protocols still used today. Research on nitrous oxide and on the effects of drug combinations is discussed to illustrate the importance of experimental psychology to psychopharmacology.     

Psychology and Health: Obstacles and Opportunities1

This paper begins with an overview of key achievements in health psychology. It describes major impediments to progress in the field, as well as opportunities for developing a strong scientific basis of efforts to modify health-damaging behavior. Strategies for capitalizing upon the opportunities are suggested. These include enhanced efforts at theory development, use of modern biomedical technology for in vivo research, experimentation with specific alternative research funding mechanisms, establishing procedures for training interdisciplinary researchers, and increased efforts by individual scientists to broaden their understanding of the relationship of their field to government. The importance of such initiatives to the continued growth of health psychology is emphasized.     

Behavior analysis and decision making

Behavior analysts have developed powerful methodologies to assess central phenomena in areas that have been dominated by cognitive psychologists. Advances in instructional control, stimulus equivalence, choice, rule-governed behavior, matching to sample, and verbal behavior are some of the tools that have been developed in the experimental analysis of behavior. Although the article focuses on the experimental analysis of reasoning, this is but one of the areas in which behavior analysts should have a greater impact on contemporary psychology.     

What happened to analysis in applied behavior analysis?

This paper addresses the current help-oriented focus of researchers in applied behavior analysis. Evidence from a recent volume of JABA suggests that analytic behavior is at low levels in applied analysis while cure-help behavior is at high strength. This low proportion of scientific behavior is apparantly related to cure-help contingencies set by institutions and agencies of help and the editorial policies of JABA itself. These contingencies have favored the flight to real people and a concern with client gains, evaluation and outcome strategies rather than the analysis of contingencies of reinforcement controlling human behavior. In this regard, the paper documents the current separation of applied behavior analysis from the experimental analysis of behavior. There is limited use of basic principles in applied analysis today and almost no reference to the current research in the experimental analysis of behavior involving concurrent operants and adjunctive behavior. This divorce of applied behavior research and the experimental analysis of behavior will mitigate against progress toward a powerful technology of behavior. In order to encourage a return to analysis in applied research, there is a need to consider the objectives of applied behavior analysis. The original purpose of behavioral technology is examined and a re-definition of the concept of "social importance" is presented which can direct applied researchers toward an analytic focus. At the same time a change in the publication policies of applied journals such as JABA toward analytic research and the design of new educational contingencies for students will insure the survival of analysis in applied behavior analysis.