The Truth Will Set You Free: Towards the Religious Study of Science

This article explores the notion that science can be viewed as a religion and that our understanding of science will be enhanced, if we study it in the same manner that we use to study any other religion. More specifically, it builds on concepts developed by Max Weber in his analysis of salvation religions to describe some ways in which science promises liberation and the institutional conditions under which that liberation will take place. While to a certain extent this exploration might be viewed as an effort to demythologize science, it is not an attack on science, as much as it is an attempt to demonstrate the potential benefits of opening up the scientific enterprise to more thorough and creative external examination.     

What is behavior? And so what?

This article addresses a longstanding problem in the field of psychology, that of lacking an adequate explication of what is arguably our central concept as a “science of behavior,” the concept of “behavior” itself. The three sections comprising the paper are devoted, respectively, to (a) presenting a conceptual formulation of behavior; (b) discussing this formulation by, among other things, addressing objections to it and noting its advantages over psychology’s currently preferred definition of behavior as observable activity; and (c) relating why having such a formulation is important. The final section includes several uses to which the present formulation has already been and can in future be put, including a sketch of how it may be used to integrate the various subfields of our currently fragmented science of behavior.     

B. F. Skinner's Science and Human Behavior: its antecedents and its consequences

Skinner's Science and Human Behavior marked a transition from a treatment of behavior that took physics as its reference science to one that emphasized behavior as a fundamental part of the subject matter of biology. The book includes what may be Skinner's earliest statement about the similarity of operant selection to Darwinian natural selection in phylogeny. Other major topics discussed in the book included multiple causation, private events, the self, and social contingencies. Among the important antecedents were Skinner's own Behavior of Organisms and Keller & Schoenfeld's Pincinples of Psychology. Current developments in education, behavioral economics, and some behavior therapies can be attributed at least in part to Skinner's seminal work. The effective behavioral analysis of governmental and religious systems will probably depend on elaborations of our understanding of verbal behavior.     

The Munroe-Meyer Approach: Continuous Integration of Didactic Instruction,Research, and Clinical Practice

Increased demand for applied behavior analysis (ABA) services has increased the need for additional masters-level practitioners and doctoral-level academicians and clinical directors. Based on these needs, the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s (UNMC) Munroe-Meyer Institute has developed a PhD program. The academic structure at UNMC allowed us to create our PhD program in a relatively quick and efficient manner. Our PhD program has many unique features, including (a) close integration of didactic instruction with clinical and research training provided by leading experts in ABA in which students immediately apply concepts introduced in the classroom during coordinated clinical and research practica; (b) structured grant writing training in which students learn to write and submit an NIH-level grant; (c) financial support in the form of a stipend of $23,400 per year, free health benefits, and a full-tuition waiver for up to 12 credits per semester for UNMC courses (a benefits package worth approximately $50,000 per year for an out-of-state student); and (d) encouragement and financial support to present papers at local, regional, and national behavior analysis conferences.     

Toward a functional analysis of delusional speech and hallucinatory behavior

An approach to a functional analysis of delusional speech and hallucinatory behavior is described and discussed using concepts found in Goldiamond's (1975a and 1984) nonlinear contingency analysis and Skinner's Verbal Behavior (1957). This synthesis draws upon and concords with research from the animal laboratory, with the extensive experimental literatures on stimulus control and signal detection theory, and with our own clinical experiences.In this formulation, delusional speech and hallucinatory behavior are viewed as successful operants. Accordingly, we argue that such behaviors can be considered adaptive and rational, rather than maladaptive and irrational, when analyzed within a model of consequential governance that includes alternative sets of contingencies. Several clinical examples are offered to illustrate both analytic procedures and the design of systemic treatment programs based upon a behavioral contingency analysis derived from a natural science of behavior. Throughout, we emphasize the consequential governance of these clinically important classes of behavior, in contrast to other approaches which suggest formal similarities to operant verbal behavior but largely ignore the role of consequential contingencies.     

THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY,CLASSICAL THEISM,AND “LIVED TIME” IN ANTJE JACKELÉN'S TIME AND ETERNITY

Antje Jackelén's Time and Eternity successfully employs the method of correlation and a close study of the question of time to enter the dialogue between science and theology. Hermeneutical attention to language is a central element of this dialogue, but we must be aware that much science is untranslatable into ordinary language; it is when we get to the bigger metaphysical assumptions of science that true dialogue begins to happen. Thus, although the method of correlation is a useful way to approach this dialogue, there is not a strict equivalence in this relationship. Theology needs science more than science needs theology. In speaking of time and God we must keep in mind the relational nature of classical Christian theism, even in its most austere forms. We should not read Enlightenment ideas of God back into the classical Christian tradition or neglect the apophatic emphasis in Christian theism, which warned against assuming knowledge of the divine nature. God's relation to time always lies beyond our understanding. Studying the effects of either the Newtonian or Einsteinian concepts of time on our theological concepts should not detract our attention from the “lived time” that characterizes human experience. Consideration of the notion of time in the Madhyamaka Buddhist tradition reminds us that we cannot control the inner reality of time and that for humans time is something to be considered pragmatically.     

The Harvard Pigeon Lab under Herrnstein

The history of the Harvard Pigeon Lab is a history of two periods of remarkable productivity, the first under Skinner's leadership and the second under Herrnstein's. In each period, graduate students flocked to the leader and then began stimulating one another. Chance favored Herrnstein's leadership, too, because an unusually large number of graduate students were admitted in the fall of 1962. In each period, productivity declined as the leader lost interest in the laboratory and withdrew. Directly and indirectly, the laboratory finally died as a result of the cognitive "revolution." Skinner and his students saw the possibility of a natural science of behavior and set about establishing that science based on concepts such as response rate, stimulus control, and schedules of reinforcement. Herrnstein and his students saw that the science could be quantitative and set about making it so, with relative response rate, the matching law, and the psychophysics of choice (analogous to S. S. Stevens' psychophysics). The history might provide a golden research opportunity for someone interested in the impact of such self-organizing research groups on the progress of science.     

Dual Character Art Concepts

Our goal in this paper is to articulate a novel account of the ordinary concept art . At the core of our account is the idea that a puzzle surrounding our thought and talk about art is best understood as just one instance of a far broader phenomenon. In particular, we claim that one can make progress on this puzzle by drawing on research from cognitive science on dual character concepts. Thus, we suggest that the very same sort of phenomenon that is associated with art can also be found in a broad class of other dual character concepts, including scientist , Christian , and many others. Instead of focusing narrowly on the case of art , we try to offer a more general account of these concepts and the puzzles to which they give rise. Then, drawing on the general theory, we introduce a series of hypotheses about art concepts and put those hypotheses to the test in three experimental studies.     

The Need for a More Effective Science of Cultural Practices

Behavior analysis has produced a robust theoretical analysis of the contingencies involved in cultural evolution. Yet, thus far, the empirical yield of this work remains quite limited. With this paper, I attempt to provide specific examples of the ways to advance an experimental analysis of the contingencies involved in cultural evolution. I begin with a review of the theoretical analyses developed by behavior analysts and other contextually oriented scientists. Next, I submit that, if the goal of our science is both predicting and influencing cultural phenomena, we must produce experimental analyses of the impact of meta-contingencies on organizations’ practices. There is no more pressing reason for doing this than the threat of climate change posed by the continuing growth in human use of fossil fuels. Therefore, the paper provides an analysis of the contingencies influencing organizational practices now affecting continued use of fossil fuels and the contingencies for organizations seeking to prevent their use. One concrete step to advance a science of cultural change relevant to climate change would be to create a database of organizations that are promoting vs. working to prevent fossil fuel consumption and the consequences that seem to maintain their practices. I call for experimental analysis of the impact of altering consequences for these practices and for experimental analyses of interventions intended to change the norms, values, and behavior of organizational leaders who can influence fossil fuel consumption. I then discuss the role of prosocial behavior and values in affecting behavior relevant to reducing fossil fuel consumption because the empirical evidence shows that prosociality favors more “green” behavior. Recent advances in prevention research have identified interventions to promote prosociality, but we need experimental analyses of how advocacy organizations can be more effective in getting these interventions widely adopted.     

The commonsense conception and its relation to scientific theory

Abstract

In this paper I discern two concepts of meaning: meaning O ‐ which is assigned by us on the basis of our commonsense conception in order to constitute our own daily reality — and meaning I, which we assign when we interpret reality scientifically. Authors who contend that the commonsense conception is nothing but a kind of scientific theory, do not see that the two fields of life have their own concept of meaning. Commonsense and science are not separate from each other, however: though both have their own practices, the way we interpret reality scientifically presupposes our commonsense conception.     

基于概念复杂度的加工容量观

探讨了一个认知科学的概念——容量,主要是介绍一种基于概念维度的加工容量观.这种观点认为加工容量最好以进入某一特定运算过程的独立维度来定义,容量的增长意味着可以表征更多的维度,而概念的组块与分割是常用的表征策略.个体差异通过表征的清晰度和有效性的差异来表现,而认知的发展则是成熟与经验相互作用的结果.     

RALPH WENDELL BURHOE: HIS LIFE AND HIS THOUGHT

Abstract. The fourth installment from the author's book-length study of Ralph Wendell Burhoe's life and thought sets forth the substance of his intellectual theological program. Constructed with the intention of laying the foundation for behavior that conforms to the requirements for survival as laid down by the reality system of which we are part, it also aims to provide motivation for such behavior. The heart of the program is formed by concepts of God and soul. The concept of God grounds an understanding of a reality system upon which we are dependent and to which we must conform whereas the concept of soul gives assurance that our behavior does make a difference and that our contributions to the reality system possess an everlasting quality.     

The need for self-control in achievement tests: Changes in students’ state self-control capacity and effort investment

In the present research, we investigated the relation between changes in students’ state self-control capacity and their motivational test-taking effort over the course of an achievement test. Thereby, we considered trait self-control as a major predictor of achievement-related behavior as a covariate. N?=?1840 apprentices repeatedly rated their state self-control capacity and the test-taking effort they invested while working on a 140-min achievement test in mathematics and science. Using growth curve analyses, our results revealed correlated decreases in state self-control capacity and the test-taking effort invested over the course of the test. Furthermore, we found that trait self-control helped to keep state self-control capacity and test-taking effort at a higher level over the course of the test. Our results support the assumption of the process model of self-control that waning self-control capacity is reflected in reduced motivational effort. Furthermore, our findings provide evidence that self-control might play a crucial role in students’ test-taking behavior in large-scale assessment studies. By modeling changes in state self-control capacity and effort investment while considering trait self-control, we provide an alternative approach for investigating self-control-dependent processes and the underlying mechanisms of self-control in achievement situations.     

关于道德唤起与道德行为关系的实验研究

本文通过一个关于测验作弊的实验研究,揭示了道德唤起与道德行为之间存在的一定关系,即不同的道德唤起水平会对道德行为产生一定的影响。通过实验后的个别访谈,我们分析了道德认知、道德情感与道德唤起之间的关系。最后,我们提出了本实验研究的不足之处和可能存在的后续研究。     

Gregory Bateson on deutero-learning and double bind: a brief conceptual history

The concepts of deutero-learning and double bind have acquired an increasingly important status in various fields of social and behavioral science, particularly in psychiatry, psychotherapy, organization, and policy science. With this proliferation, however, their original meaning and significance has become increasingly muted. In this article it is argued that both concepts are important ingredients of a behavioral theory of (organizational) learning. To support this argument, the development of both concepts is traced to the work of Gregory Bateson. In Bateson's thinking, the two concepts have a firm base in dyadic behavior and interaction.     

The structure of choice

An unsolved fundamental problem in decision science concerns the extent to which the nature of the perceived relationships among items in a set of alternatives influences how they are chosen. More specifically, given a choice set with n items, how does human choice behavior differ as a function of the perceived relationships between the items of the set? In what follows, we study this problem empirically and theoretically from the standpoint of the dimensional structure of the choice set. In particular, we use generalized invariance structure theory (GIST; Vigo, 2013, 2014) to propose an inverse relationship between the degree of concept learning difficulty of a choice set (as determined by its degree of invariance or internal coherence) and choice response times on its members. To our knowledge, this is the first model that precisely unifies these two fundamental constructs. On average, the model, without free parameters, accounts for nearly 90% of the variance in the data from our two response-time experiments.     

Knowledge Transmission and the Internalism-Externalism Debate about Content

Philosophia - Sanford Goldberg (2015) argues for Content Externalism by drawing our attention to the extent to which an individual’s concepts depend on the concepts of others. More...     

Innateness in cognitive science

Innateness is one of the central concepts of cognitive science; but it is also a source of considerable confusion. In this article, I survey recent attempts to understand the notion of innateness as it figures in cognitive science and indicate which is likely to prove most fruitful. One approach draws directly on our "commonsense" views about innate traits. Another aims to characterize innateness in terms of concepts drawn from biology, such as genetic determination. Yet neither strategy has met with much success. This could indicate that a satisfactory account of innateness needs to make use of the conceptual resources of cognitive science itself. A proposal that takes this suggestion seriously is outlined, and an appeal is made for a more systematic assessment of the role and significance of the notion of innateness to cognitive science.