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Behaviorism

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The Psychological Record, 2011, 61, 449–464

Sketch

Behaviorism
J. Moore
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Early forms of psychology assumed that mental life was the appropri-
ate subject matter for psychology, and introspection was an appropriate
method to engage that subject matter. In 1913, John B. Watson proposed
an alternative: classical S–R behaviorism. According to Watson, behav-
ior was a subject matter in its own right, to be studied by the obser-
vational methods common to all sciences. Unfortunately, by around
1930, Watson’s behaviorism had proved inadequate. Many researchers
and theorists then adopted a view in which various organismic entities
were inferred to mediate the relation between S and R: mediational
S–O–R neobehaviorism. This general view has remained influential,
although the details of the various versions have differed over the
years. The behavior analysis of B. F. Skinner took an entirely differ-
ent approach. Particularly important was the study of verbal behavior.
Although behaviorism is often conventionally defined as an approach
that seeks to explain behavior without directly appealing to mental
or cognitive processes, this definition needs considerable clarification,
especially as it pertains to Skinner’s behavior analysis and his view of
behaviorism as a philosophy of science.
Key words: behaviorism, cognitive psychology, mentalism, methodological
behaviorism, operationism, hypothetico-deductive method

According to standard histories, psychology emerged as an independent

discipline in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) founded a psychol-
ogy laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. In his work, Wundt
assumed that the study of conscious or subjective mental life was the ap-
propriate subject matter for psychology. As part of his study of mental life,
Wundt conducted experiments in an area close to what we would now call
sensation and perception. Wundt believed that by understanding mental
life, we could come to understand the full range of the human condition,
including human culture. Prior to that time, people may well have studied
sensory physiology and reflexes, engaged in discussions about moral phi-
losophy and conduct, engaged in philosophical discussions about the nature
and limits of knowledge, or even carried out demonstrations similar to
Wundt’s. However, Wundt is generally credited with launching psychology

I thank Marshall Dermer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to J. Moore, PhD, Dept of Psychology,
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (e-mail: [email protected]).
450 Moore

as a distinct branch of experimentally based, scientific study, idiosyncratic

though it was.
Many individuals went to Leipzig to study the “new psychology” with
Wundt and then went on to start programs at other universities. Among
those who studied at Leipzig was the Englishman E. B. Titchener (1867–
1927), who emigrated to the United States and started his own psychology
program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1892. Titchener called
his approach “structuralism.” Following Wundt, Titchener assumed that
the appropriate subject matter for psychology was conscious, subjective
mental life. For Titchener, the elements of mental life were our sensations,
images, and feelings. These elements were to be studied by carefully draw-
ing inferences from participants’ introspective reports and reaction times.
Participants needed to be adults—children were not suitable. Participants
also needed to be “properly trained”—they needed at least 10,000 closely
supervised training trials. Given appropriate training, for example, par-
ticipants could then be expected to introspectively discern as many as
42,415 different sensations, and Titchener could infer which of those sen-
sations were higher or lower in the structure of consciousness. Throughout,
however, participants needed to be careful to report the stimulus as a
primitive, fundamental phenomenon, and not commit the “stimulus error”
by interpreting the stimulus.
Even though structuralism did become reasonably influential in the
United States, many questioned whether it had practical implications, such
as for educating children, training the workforce, or managing behavior in
any general sense. Accordingly, an alternative to structuralism emerged in
the late 1800s and early 1900s in the United States called “functionalism.”
Functionalists employed some of the same research methods as had struc-
turalists but emphasized the function of conscious mental phenomena, such
as how they aided adaptation. For example, functionalists might use reac-
tion times to study how children's conscious mental phenomena developed
over time, so that educational practices could be properly tailored to their
development.
Two difficulties that arose in connection with both structuralism
and functionalism were the lack of reliability and the lack of agreement.
Introspection as a method was particularly problematic. For instance, con-
cerning the lack of reliability, research findings with the introspective
method were not often replicated with other participants or in other labo-
ratories, despite the emphasis on properly trained participants. Similarly,
concerning the lack of agreement, it was not abundantly clear what psy-
chologists were actually talking about when they debated whether there
was a difference between introspective reports about the “texture” of an
image and a sensation. As a result, psychology lurched back and forth be-
tween many esoteric discussions that failed to convince the general public
of its practical value.

The Rise of Behaviorism

Beginning in the second decade of the 20th century, John B. Watson
(1878–1958) argued ferociously against both structuralism and functional-
ism. In a now classic article, Watson (1913) asserted that neither was effec-
tive as a science and that the time had come for psychology to take its place
 BEHAVIORISM 451

as a legitimate natural science. It could do so by discarding its long-standing

concern with conscious mental functioning as a subject matter and intro-
spection as a method. In Watson’s view, mental life as traditionally conceived
simply did not exist. Rather, psychology should embrace behavior as its
subject matter and rely on experimental observation of that subject mat-
ter as its method. He called his viewpoint behaviorism. It was objective as
opposed to subjective; it borrowed measurement and analytical techniques
from “animal psychology” and reflexology and then applied them to adap-
tive forms of behavior. It insisted on analyzing behavior at a detailed and, if
necessary, sequential level—what we would now call a molecular level—in-
stead of accepting it at a large-scale and integrated level—what we would
now call a molar level. By emphasizing observability, it avoided problems
inherent in introspective reports, namely, the lack of reliability and the lack
of agreement. The principal unit of analysis for Watson was the “habit,” de-
fined as the coordinated and consistent act that develops in a given situation
through repetition, rather than some supposed phenomenon from mental
life. He applied his analysis to everything from human emotional responses
to language. Today we call Watson’s viewpoint classical S–R behaviorism.
Classical behaviorism may be said to represent the first phase of the “behav-
ioral revolution.”
Despite the importance of Watson’s contributions, two problems re-
mained. One was the apparent spontaneity of behavior: Some responses
seemed to develop without a characteristic stimulus evoking them. A second
problem was the variability of behavior. Even when a characteristic stimulus
preceded responses, the topography and frequency of the responses often
differed significantly. As a result of such problems, by 1930 many researchers
and theorists began to seek ways to modify classical S–R behaviorism.
At issue was how to do so. One approach that proved popular was to
insert intervening, “organismic” variables between stimulus and response.
The function of these variables was to mediate the relation between stim-
ulus and response, thereby accommodating the previously mentioned
concerns about spontaneity and variability. In this mediational approach,
external stimuli (S) are held to activate some intervening, internal pro-
cess or entity (O) that is causally connected in a complex but systematic
way to an eventual response (R), and the mediating process or entity (the
aforementioned O variable) is taken as the proper focus of psychological
science, rather than the response itself. In other words, the response is
functionally related to the mediator, rather than the environment, because
the organism is in direct contact with only the mediator, rather than the
environment. Early examples of these mediating organismic variables were
response tendencies, motives, and purposes. Later examples were attitudes,
moods, perceptions, interpretations, and the like. These variables were
thought to be inside the organism in some sense, in a dimensional system
that was nonbehavioral. A nonbehavioral dimension means that the factors
are not described in the same terms and are not confirmed with the same
methods of analysis as the behavioral facts they are said to address (e.g.,
Catania & Harnad, 1988). This approach was sufficiently novel to warrant
being called a new form of behaviorism—a neobehaviorism. Hence, we may
meaningfully refer to this position as mediational S–O–R neobehaviorism.
Mediational S–O–R neobehaviorism may be said to represent the second
phase of the behavioral revolution.
452 Moore

The Rise of Operationism

The issue then became how to be scientifically respectable while pos-
tulating these organismic variables. The solution, borrowed to some degree
from the philosophy of science that was developing under the auspices of
logical positivism at about the same time, was to interpret them as “theoreti-
cal terms” or “theoretical concepts.” Theoretical terms were contrasted with
observational terms. Observational terms referred to phenomena that could
be directly measured using instruments, such as dials, counters, pointers,
and meters. Theoretical terms referred to constructs that were, by definition,
unobservable and inferred.
Even so, how could researchers be sure that the inferred theoretical
terms were not just made up? Especially, how could researchers agree on
the meaning of the terms? After all, structuralism and functionalism were
plagued by the inability to agree on the meaning of their concepts, and
mediational S–O–R neobehaviorism did not want to repeat the well-known
errors of its intellectual ancestors. The solution was to require that the
terms or concepts be “operationally defined.” The concept of operational
definitions was developed in the natural sciences by the theoretical physicist
P. W. Bridgman (1882–1961). An operational definition was achieved by relat-
ing the term or concept to something publicly observable, namely, the exper-
imental operation that served as the measure of the term. For example, the
term “length” was operationally defined by pointing to the actual observable
operation of measuring something—say, by a ruler. In psychology, the opera-
tional definition of a “sensation” was a verbal report about the magnitude
of a stimulus, perhaps designated on some numerical scale, or some other
differential reaction on a sensory discrimination task.
The embrace of operationism occurred at approximately the same time
that two related developments were occurring in the philosophy of science.
One of these developments concerns the details of how strictly theoretical
terms or concepts were to be defined by referring to observables, in light
of the principle of operationism. The second concerns the formalization of
the hypothetico-deductive methodology. These developments influenced
all forms of psychology during the 1930s and beyond. They especially in-
fluenced the behavioral learning theories of Edward C. Tolman (1886–1959),
Clark L. Hull (1884–1952), and Kenneth W. Spence (1907–1967). We may now
look more closely at these two developments.

The Nature of Definitions

As mentioned above, an important concern for theorists in both philoso-
phy and the sciences was how strictly theoretical terms or concepts were
to be defined. More specifically, were the concepts to be exhaustively or
partially defined by relating them to observables? An exhaustive definition
meant that the concepts were defined without remainder by referring to
observables. The implication was that exhaustively defined concepts could
be applied in only one situation. In contrast, a partial definition meant that
the concepts did have additional meaning beyond the current situation and
could be applied elsewhere.
To illustrate the distinction between exhaustive and partial defini-
tions, consider two terms in psychology. The first is habit strength, from the
 BEHAVIORISM 453

learning theory of C. L Hull , referring to the observed number of reinforce-

ments that had taken place in the presence of the stimulus of interest. It
was wholly defined by the observable terms in an equation. Hence, habit
strength was exhaustively defined.
In contrast, consider the term super-ego, from psychoanalytic theory. It
was not the result of computations in the same way that habit strength was.
Rather, it pertained to something that “existed” in some sense, and it func-
tioned by expressing cultural rules across a wide range of situations, from
sexually tinged childhood episodes to later forms of adult moral conduct. It
was only partially defined by any particular “observation.”
Early on, both logical positivism and operationism had exhaustively
defined their terms. Perhaps this strategy was useful at the time because
it guarded against unwarranted speculation or extension of analytical con-
cepts when rigor and clarity of thought were at a premium. However, in logi-
cal positivism Carnap (1936, 1937) eventually came to de-emphasize exhaus-
tive definitions in favor of partial definitions. Worth noting is that he did so
on the basis of technical considerations in formal logic, analyses of which
are beyond the scope of the present sketch, rather than practical concerns
about the actual derivation and application of the terms.
Important to note at this point is that operationism prompted similar
discussions in psychology. However, these discussions did involve practi-
cal concerns, rather than technical considerations involving formal logic:
Theorists objected that with exhaustive definitions, no general systems
could be built that applied concepts across different situations. One example
was mentioned above: super-ego. As another example, consider something
called a “negative attitude.” Theorists reasoned that a negative attitude
might influence several forms of behavior, not just one. The construct of
a negative attitude therefore needed to have a broad range of application,
across many different situations. Hence, many researchers and theorists
came to emphasize partial definitions because they believed exhaustive
definitions were far too restrictive in the actual conduct of science.
The psychologists MacCorquodale and Meehl (1948) sought to calm the
epistemologically troubled waters by formally proposing a distinction be-
tween two interpretations of theoretical terms. They called one interpreta-
tion the intervening variable interpretation. According to this interpretation,
terms were exhaustively defined, without remainder, by their relation to
observable measures. As mentioned above, this interpretation was consis-
tent with the original definition of terms under logical positivism and op-
erationism. MacCorquodale and Meehl called the other interpretation the hy-
pothetical construct interpretation. According to this interpretation, terms
were only partially defined by their relation to observable measures. In their
words, hypothetical constructs admitted “surplus meaning.” This interpreta-
tion was consistent with the liberalized definition in logical positivism men-
tioned above (e.g., Carnap, 1936, 1937). Either usage was acceptable; it was
just a matter of clarifying and being consistent in that usage.
The variables and inferred constructs in the learning theories of
C. L. Hull and K. W. Spence were then analyzed extensively, and numerous
articles debated whether the terms were defined exhaustively or partially,
and were in fact being used consistently. In light of the distinction, Tolman
(1949), who was one of the first researchers or theorists to introduce the
notion of theoretical terms to psychology, quite explicitly abandoned his
454 Moore

original intervening variable interpretation in favor of the hypothetical con-

struct interpretation:
I am now convinced that “intervening variables” to which we
attempt to give merely operational meaning by tying them
through empirically grounded functions either to stimulus vari-
ables, on the one hand, or to response variables, on the other,
really can give us no help unless we can also embed them in a
model from whose attributed properties we can deduce new rela-
tionships to look for. That is, to use Meehl and MacCorquodale’s
[sic] distinction, I would abandon what they call pure “interven-
ing variables” for what they call “hypothetical constructs,” and
insist that hypothetical constructs be parts of a more general
hypothesized model or substrate. (p. 49)
In fact, most researchers and theorists followed Tolman and tacitly em-
braced the hypothetical construct interpretation, which allowed an explana-
tory concept to be applied in more than one situation.
As we shall see later in this sketch, the distinction was critical for the
following reason. If a term was held to be only partially defined by observa-
tions or calculations, then the way was open for a broader interpretation of
theoretical concepts in psychology. A hypothetical construct interpretation
clearly afforded greater latitude and generality in theory construction. More
general systems could be developed, with broader ranges of application. The
concept could “mean” anything, including something mental if not dualistic.
The observational basis provided by the operational definition provided only
the evidence to justify the use of the concept, rather than its nature. The up-
shot was that partial definitions admitted and actually legitimized mental
if not dualistic concepts. Most researchers and theorists saw nothing wrong
with this outcome, as they held to essentially mental if not outright dualistic
beliefs anyway. They simply saw operationism as a way to generate the neces-
sary agreement about concepts, so that they could believe they were being sci-
entific in their endeavors. Consider the following passage from Kimble (1985):
Even in Watson’s day there were those, most notably Tolman,
who attempted to bring mentalistic-sounding concepts back into
psychology by means of what amounted to operational defini-
tions. In a general way, the operational point of view did nothing
more than insist that terms designating unobservables be de-
fined in ways that relate them to observables. From there it pro-
ceeded to a further insistence that concepts defined in this way
must have a relationship to behavior. In this way these concepts
became intervening variables, ones that stand between observ-
able antecedent conditions on the one hand and behavior on the
other. The diagram below serves to summarize this point:

Antecedent Conditions — Mentalistic Concepts — Behavior

Independent Variables — Intervening Variables — Dependent Variables

Obviously, there is nothing in this formula to exclude mentalis-

tic concepts. In fact, the whole point of it is to admit unobserv-
ables. (p. 316)
 BEHAVIORISM 455

Comments by the eminent Harvard psychologist E. G. Boring (1950), one

of the principals in the debates, are similarly illustrative:
All the mentalistic entities come in as reduced to the operations
by which they are observed.... Quite contrary to expectation, it
turns out that the behaviorist can eat the cake of conscious-
ness and have it too. He may not always know it, but he can. (pp.
658–659)

The Hypothetico-Deductive Method

The second development concerned the formalization of the hypo-
thetico-deductive method (Hempel & Oppenheim, 1948). According to this
method, which can be traced through Newton and Galileo back as far as
Aristotle, the appropriate method for science was to test a hypothesis by
deducing an implication from a more general law or theory. This approach
is sometimes also known as the “covering law” approach. When the de-
duction or implication was framed in the past tense, it was regarded as an
explanation. When it was framed in the future tense, it was regarded as a
prediction. If experimentation or observation yielded publicly observable
data that were consistent with the deduction or implication, the theory was
regarded as supported, and the event was regarded as subsumed under the
law and therefore explained. According to this view, the appropriate goal
for science was to develop theories that generated predictions that could be
tested against the facts of experience. Under the influence of logical posi-
tivism, this methodology became the standard in most disciplines, psychol-
ogy included. Indeed, it was particularly important in psychology because
it represented a further safeguard against returning to the uncertainties
of introspection. Here was a concrete “empirical” method according to
which theories could be tested against the facts of experience. Researchers
had “objective criteria” for deciding whether a theory was supported or not.
They had finally overcome the criticisms based on introspective concerns
with unobservable mental life. Nearly all areas of psychology embraced the
method, but it was particularly significant in behavioral learning theory. For
example, C. L. Hull and K. W. Spence enthusiastically embraced the method,
although E. C. Tolman, who was decidedly less formal and systematic in his
theorizing, relied less upon it.
Nevertheless, closer analysis suggests that the supposed advantages
of the method actually fell well short of what was claimed. As researchers
and theorists adopted an approach that involved partial definition of con-
cepts according to a hypothetical construct interpretation, those concepts
might actually be dualistic in nature, as discussed earlier. The hypothetico-­
deductive method served to insulate those concepts from scrutiny. Recall
that a partial definition would legitimately admit some dualistic concept,
because the evidence for the concept differed from the nature of the con-
cept. Thus, all sorts of measures were hailed as proxies or surrogates for
what was actually some underlying dualistic concept, simply because the
measures were publicly observable and could generate agreement. Boring’s
(1950) quote, cited earlier, was symptomatic. A conspicuous example was
the reliance on some physiological measure, which was taken as evidence
that legitimized talk about some underlying dualistic concept. According to
456 Moore

common reasoning, brain recordings were taken to indicate some localiza-

tion of function. That localization of function was, in turn, taken to indicate
that some inner controlling entity or agent, perhaps in the form of a theoreti-
cal homunculus, resided in that location. This whole approach simply repre-
sented the return to a long-standing dualistic concern with an all-controlling
mind or soul, and it was of concern to many (e.g., Kantor, 1938; Skinner,
1945). In addition, it implied that the construction and testing of hypotheses
involved mysterious mental activities on the part of scientists, not under-
standable in naturalistic terms. In short, the hypothetico-deductive method
represents a form of “epistemological dualism” as it concerns the processes
by which scientists are presumed to acquire knowledge.

The Radical Behaviorism of B. F. Skinner

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) was a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow,
and faculty member during the discussions outlined above. However, he
never embraced the S–O–R model of mediational neobehaviorism in his ex-
planations of behavior. As a result, he did not have the same concerns as his
neobehaviorist contemporaries about definitions of unobservable mediating
terms, inferred constructs, validation, theory testing, and so on. Skinner’s
approach to a science of behavior is now known as behavior analysis. The
philosophy of science underlying behavior analysis is called radical behav-
iorism. How Skinner came to develop his ideas is a complex story, described
in his several autobiographical works, and is not repeated here. Especially
important from the outset were his interests in verbal behavior and episte-
mology. The term radical implies a thoroughgoing and comprehensive be-
haviorism, rather than an extreme position that is fanatically restricted to
only publicly observable behavior. Skinner (1989) explicitly linked his ideas
to the philosophy of science when he defined radical behaviorism in the fol-
lowing way:
I don’t believe I coined the term radical behaviorism, but when
asked what I mean by it, I have always said, “the philosophy
of a science of behavior treated as a subject matter in its own
right apart from internal explanations, mental or physiological.”
(p. 122)
Although both Skinner and Watson hold that behavior is a subject matter
in its own right, Skinner differs from Watson in certain other respects, chief
among which are the implications of the conception of operant behavior. We
can now review the basic principles of Skinner’s radical behaviorism (Moore,
1999, 2008).

Some Basic Principles of B. F. Skinner’s “Radical Behaviorism”

1. Behavior: A subject matter in its own right. Behavior is the name for
that part of the functioning of an organism that consists of its interacting
or having commerce with its surrounding environmental circumstances.
An instance of behavior is an event. The formulation of a behavioral event
includes not only (a) how the organism is acting but also (b) the features of
the surrounding environmental circumstances with respect to which it is
acting. This subject matter is formulated as a functional relation between
the behavior in question and environmental variables. The environmental
 BEHAVIORISM 457

variables are those that have become significant during the lifetime of the
species, or have been experienced during the lifetime of the organism, in-
cluding its social-cultural environment. Part of the environment is enclosed
within the skin. We determine functional relations by varying environmen-
tal conditions and seeing if behavior varies accordingly, through the ex-
perimental method. In special situations it is appropriate to consider “doing
nothing” or “standing still” as instances of behavior. Thus, not all instances
of movement are behavior, and not all instances of behavior entail move-
ment. Some instances of behavior occur because an eliciting stimulus has
been presented to the organism, either unconditioned or conditioned. Other
instances occur because in the past, the behavior has produced a particular
consequence in the presence of a particular set of antecedent circumstances,
and those antecedent circumstances are again present. This latter case is
described as a three-term contingency of reinforcement: In the presence of
(a) a discriminative stimulus, (b) a response characteristically produces (c) a
reinforcing consequence. To be sure, a theoretically oriented behavioral neu-
roscience is clearly a legitimate discipline. There is a sense in which a behav-
ioral account of an event has two gaps. One gap is within the event, from the
time an organism encounters some environmental circumstance to the time
it responds. A second gap is between events, from the time the subject has
a given experience to the time the effects of that experience are reflected in
its behavior. There are physiological phenomena associated with these gaps
that neuroscience can know about and that will increase our ability to pre-
dict and control behavior, for example, if information about an organism’s
behavioral history is lacking. In any case, behavior is not studied because it
provides evidence that validates theoretical or explanatory inferences about
causes of behavior (e.g., acts, states, mechanisms, processes, entities) from
another dimension (e.g., neural, mental, cognitive, psychic, conceptual). The
bulk of traditional psychology embraces the second perspective, however
implicitly.
2. Analytic concepts: Functional, relational, and generic. Definitions of
concepts are functional and relational. For example, a reinforcer is defined
in terms of its function. It is a consequence of a response that increases
the probability of the response. Furthermore, it is defined by its relation to
the response in question. Readers may note that something with sugar in it
may well function as a reinforcer when it is presented as a consequence of
a response. However, we define it as a reinforcer because of its effect on be-
havior, not by how much sugar it has in it. Finally, stimuli and responses are
generic concepts—they belong to classes, and the functional relations (such
as reinforcement) obtain between classes. Class boundaries are sometimes
determined by experience, and sometimes they are innate.
3. Behavior: Public and private. Although many behavioral events are
publicly observable, not all are. Some behavioral events are “private,” in the
sense that they are accessible to only the person who is behaving. Private
behavioral events are determined by the tools or characteristics of an ob-
server, rather than by anything pertaining to the nature of the event itself
(Donahoe & Palmer, 1994). Typically, these private behavioral events gain
their functional significance through public relations. Consequently, there
is no appeal to autonomous private entities from another dimensional sys-
tem as causes of behavior. Behavioral principles are developed through the
analysis of public behavior and then used in interpretations of private forms.
458 Moore

Private behavior is therefore the recipient of analyses of public behavior, not

the autonomous and initiating donor to them. As used here, this sense of
privacy implies that in the future, perhaps with technological advances, pri-
vate behavioral events may be more readily accessible to others, but even if
they are not, they remain natural behavioral events. In sum, private behav-
ioral events (a) are not in another dimension; (b) are not a necessary anteced-
ent or mediator for a publicly observable behavioral event; (c) are neither
initiating nor originating causes of behavior, although they can potentially
contribute to discriminative control over subsequent behavior; (d) are them-
selves caused by, and may enter into the behavioral stream as a result of,
events that transpire during the lifetime of the organism; and (e) should be
analyzed in the same way as publicly observable behavior, rather than ac-
cording to a different mode of inquiry. The “radical” in radical behaviorism
means “an approach that is thoroughly and comprehensively behavioral and
that thereby can include behavioral events which are not publicly observ-
able.” It does not mean “an extreme approach that is fanatically restricted
to only the publicly observable in order to meet certain conceptions of what
science must be, and requires therefore that everything that is not publicly
observable be either (a) ignored by behavioral science or (b) treated as a
theoretical construct, which is then operationally defined in terms of pub-
licly observable variables.” The bulk of traditional psychology embraces this
second meaning, however implicitly.
4. Opposition to mentalism. Mentalism is the appeal to causes of behav-
ior (e.g., acts, states, mechanisms, processes, entities, faculties, structures)
from other dimensions (e.g., neural, mental, cognitive, psychic, conceptual,
mystical, transcendental) in an explanation of behavior. However, there
is no literal mental dimension that differs from a behavioral dimension.
Consequently, “mental talk” in traditional psychology does not occur be-
cause of the actual influence of phenomena from the mental dimension.
Rather, mental talk occurs because of a wide variety of other extraneous
influences. To be sure, in certain cases mental talk may appear to be valid,
but any apparent validity is because the talk somehow takes into account
actual neurophysiological variables, contingent relations between behavior
and environment, patterns of ongoing behavior, or private behavioral events,
rather than so-called mental factors that are regarded as different from be-
havioral factors and belonging to a dimensional system that differs from
the behavioral dimension. For example, talk of internal “states” may neglect
to trace the origin of the states, if any internal state is even relevant, back
to contact with the environment, such that the states are not independent,
autonomous contributions of the organism from another dimensional sys-
tem. Closer analysis indicates that most of the time, mental talk entails fan-
ciful explanatory fictions that are cherished for extraneous and irrelevant
reasons, such as by being part of the general view of human nature that is
tacitly assumed to be true and is deeply ingrained in our Western culture.
In sum, these fictions are taken (a) to be in another dimensional system; (b)
to afford “competence,” to be a mediator, or to be a necessary initiating or
originating cause for a publicly observable behavioral event; (c) to be part
of the intrinsic psychological makeup that defines human nature; and (d) to
require a different mode of inquiry than does publicly observable behavior.
Radical behaviorists argue that the mental talk is to be rejected because it is
manifestly counterproductive: It diverts attention away from, and therefore
 BEHAVIORISM 459

interferes with, the analysis of functional relations between behavior and

environmental variables. In particular, failure to conceive of private phe-
nomena as behavioral rather than mental opens the door to traditional du-
alistic conceptions of the causes of behavior and ultimately a “nothing can
be done about it” attitude concerning behavior. Indeed, an entire orientation
to research has become orthodox in contemporary psychology that supports
mentalistic analyses of behavior. This orientation uses publicly observ-
able variables as proxies, or surrogates, for the mental causes in order to
meet the presumed requirements of science, and is called “methodological
behaviorism.”
5. Selection by consequences. Selection by environmental consequences
is the significant causal mode, at three levels: (a) phylogeny—the level of the
species, dealt with by a behavior-analytically informed behavioral genetics;
(b) ontogeny—the level of the individual organism during its lifetime, dealt
with by behavior analysis; and (c) cultural—the level of the culture, dealt
with by a behavior-analytically informed cultural or social anthropology.
6. Verbal behavior as operant behavior. Verbal behavior is a result of
operant behavioral processes, rather than representational or logical pro-
cesses that are explicitly held to be nonbehavioral. Knowledge claims such
as scientific theories and explanations are verbal phenomena and may be
analyzed as such, rather than as constructions having a representational
or logical status that is explicitly nonbehavioral. Indeed, to view them as
nonbehavioral constructions is to accept mentalistic assumptions about the na-
ture of the processes according to which humans are said to become knowl-
edgeable. Theories and explanations identify causal relations in behavior,
and then formulate them in abstract, economical terms. The importance of
research and the scientific method is that they sharpen the discriminative
control of natural variables over the scientific verbal behavior that consti-
tutes knowledge claims, for example, by removing metaphors or other forms
of mischievous verbal distortions or extensions. A particularly important
contribution of research and the scientific method in behavioral science is
to remove the mentalistic influence from knowledge claims. This mentalistic
influence may be readily seen in theories and explanations that appeal to
events taking place somewhere else, at some other level of observation, de-
scribed in different terms, and measured, if at all, in different dimensional
systems, instead of theories that are formal and economical representations
of data, reduced to a minimal number of terms. Appropriately formulated
scientific statements allow individuals to behave effectively without direct
or prolonged personal contact with the codified situations.
7. Pragmatism. Given the preceding principles, the importance of
knowledge claims is judged in terms of their pragmatic contribution to
practical, effective action (e.g., prediction and control). For example, two
important goals of science are (a) to analyze the contingencies of rein-
forcement found in nature and (b) to formulate rules or laws that make it
unnecessary to be directly exposed to the contingencies to secure desired
outcomes. These goals could be said to lead in turn to increased “under-
standing” of natural events. Truth may therefore be regarded as a matter
of increasing our understanding of what promotes effective action with
respect to nature.
8. Social activism. Our culture should actively promote practices that
increase the quality of life for its citizens. One of these is the rejection of
460 Moore

mentalism in human affairs. In the long run, mentalism decreases quality

of life because it misidentifies causes of behavior and thereby inhibits the
growth of scientific knowledge. Another practice is the application of behav-
ioral principles to remedy problems with socially significant behavior, for
example, by strengthening repertoires of adaptive behavior. Our culture will
presumably benefit if persons are better readers, or more careful stewards
of environmental resources. A culture thrives when it teaches its members
to be concerned about the welfare and ultimate survival of the culture,
rather than just their own immediate well-being. Unfortunately, the radi-
cal behaviorist goals run counter to well-established mentalistic practices
in the culture at large, and are often met with great misunderstanding and
resistance.
9. Summary. A comprehensive science of behavior is concerned with ac-
counting for, predicting, controlling, influencing, explaining, and in a very
broad sense understanding behavior. What is relevant for researchers and the-
orists to take into account as they address these concerns? First, they can use-
fully take into account the underlying physiology of the organism with which
they are dealing. This is the province of neuroscience. By understanding how
the organism’s body works, or how it has been equipped through evolution to
deal with the environment, or how it already has been changed by experiences
during its lifetime, they can better predict and control behavior. Second, re-
searchers and theorists can usefully take into account the underlying genetic
structure of the organism. This is the province of behavior-analytically in-
formed behavioral genetics. Evolution has selected particular genetic endow-
ments that provide certain responses to environmental stimulation, as well
as nervous systems that can be modified during the lifetime of the organ-
ism to acquire new forms of response to the environment. Third, researchers
and theorists can usefully take into account events during the lifetime of the
organism. This is the province of behavior analysis. The organism typically
experiences both eliciting events and consequences of its responses during
its lifetime, and these experiences change the organism so that it behaves in
different ways in the future. Fourth, researchers and theorists can usefully
take into account the broad cultural context in which the organism lives. This
is the province of a behavior-analytically informed cultural anthropology. The
living organism is influenced by practices and circumstances that have their
origins in the behavior of other organisms, and the influence of these inter-
locking arrangements is significant.

Summary and Conclusions

For behavior analysts, behaviorism is the philosophy of science underly-
ing the science of behavior. It takes behavior as a subject matter in its own
right, and applies the principles and methods of other natural sciences to
develop theories and explanations.
A common statement about behaviorism is that because it deals with
behavior rather than the mind, it holds that behavior should be explained
without directly referring to mental events or processes. At first glance, this
statement seems reasonably straightforward. However, closer inspection
indicates it is actually somewhat ambiguous. What needs to be clarified is
why it holds that behavior should be explained without directly referring to
mental processes.
 BEHAVIORISM 461

For example, a common position in Western culture is that a mental di-

mension exists that differs qualitatively from a behavioral dimension and that
phenomena in this mental dimension cause behavior. However, this position
goes, explanations cannot appeal directly to the causal mental phenomena
because they are not publicly observable. As a result, another mode of inquiry,
different from one based on direct observation, is necessary to engage the
mental phenomena. The other mode of inquiry may involve something like
rational philosophical analysis, or it may involve engaging the mental indi-
rectly, by using publicly observable phenomena like behavior or physiological
recordings as theoretical proxies for the mental phenomena. The operative
term here is indirectly. According to this position, behaviorism may indeed be
defined as a science of a publicly observable subject matter like behavior, but
the study of behavior is useful only because it provides evidence for conclu-
sions about the unobservable mental phenomena that really cause behavior,
which are then rendered as “theoretical” and “operationally defined” in terms
of observables to meet epistemological assumptions about science. So inter-
preted, this position is consistent with the statements that behaviorism deals
with behavior rather than the mind, and that behavior should be explained
without directly referring to mental events or processes.
However common this position is, behavior analysis rejects it. To repeat,
behavior analysis holds that behavior is a subject matter in its own right.
The study of behavior is not a proxy for concerns with inferred causal fac-
tors in another dimension. Behavior is functionally related to environmental
variables at the level of phylogeny, ontogeny, or culture. Both behavior and
environment reflect factors inside or outside of the skin. A mental dimen-
sion that differs from a behavioral dimension has never existed for anybody.
Persons talk about the mental because of spurious social influences, not
because mental phenomena literally exist in another dimension and cause
people to talk about them.
The implications are as follows. Suppose we spend our time searching
for causal acts, states, mechanisms, processes, structures, or entities that we
assume are in another dimension. If neither those phenomena nor the other
dimension exist, then we will miss the relevant phenomena in the one di-
mension that do cause behavior. For example, suppose some traditional form
of psychology attributes an instance of behavior to the presence or absence
of an inferred, inner causal entity called “self-esteem.” This causal entity is
further assumed to be part of another dimension, which may be variously
characterized as hypothetical, conceptual, or theoretical. Certainly self-­
esteem is not itself an entity that is directly observable. Traditional forms
of psychology may then fail to note whether responses have had character-
istic consequences in the lives of persons said to possess or lack self-esteem.
Presumably, it is desirable to provide consequences that will result in per-
sons’ (a) being described as having greater self-esteem and (b) engaging in
more productive, adaptive behavior. We can debate how well it is defined,
whether it is an intervening variable or hypothetical construct, and so on.
But all these debates are simply irrelevant at best. At worst, they damage the
potential of a science of behavior. The important consideration is that when
we appeal to causal phenomena like self-esteem from another dimension,
we do not pay attention to the person’s interaction with the environment in
the relevant behavioral dimension, and whether responses in the person’s
life have had the necessary characteristic consequences. We therefore miss
462 Moore

possibilities for direct, practical, effective action when it comes to promoting

the behavior of interest. We will further miss possibilities to enhance the
quality of human life, if not to increase the probability of our very survival
as a species. By understanding when we are appealing to phenomena from
another dimension, and by focusing our scientific energies instead on causal
phenomena in the one dimension, we can go a long way toward replacing
our mentalistic and dualistic tendencies and improving our chances of suc-
cess. Therein lies the promise of a genuine behaviorism.

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 BEHAVIORISM 463

Study Questions

1. Briefly describe the characteristics of structuralism, according to

the article. Use the terms introspection and contents of consciousness
knowledgeably in your answer.
2. Briefly describe the characteristics of functionalism, according to
the article.
3. Briefly describe the characteristics of Watson’s S - R classical behav-
iorism, according to the article. Use the terms objective and molecu-
lar knowledgeably in your answer.
4. Briefly describe the characteristics of mediational S - O - R neo­
behaviorism, according to the article. Use the term mediational,
organismic variable knowledgeably in your answer.
5. Briefly describe the distinction between observational and theoreti-
cal terms. According to the article, what is the importance of opera-
tionism regarding the understanding of theoretical terms?
6. Briefly describe the distinction between the intervening variable
and hypothetical construct interpretation of theoretical terms.
7. Briefly describe the characteristics of the hypothetico-deductive
methodology. Use the term covering law knowledgeably in your
answer.
8. Summarize the following principles of radical behaviorism: (a)
behavior as a subject matter in its own right, (b) private behavior,
(c) selection by consequences at three levels, (d) verbal behavior as
operant behavior, and (e) pragmatism.
9. What is the article’s definition of mentalism? Summarize why radi-
cal behaviorists object to mentalism.
10. According to the article, what are three reasons why cognitive psy-
chologists appeal to mentalism in their explanations of behavior.
11. Briefly describe the relation between radical behaviorism and be-
havioral neuroscience, according to the article.
12. Briefly describe the practices known as “methodological
behaviorism.”
13. Summarize the radical behaviorist argument about why it is not
helpful to explain behavior by referring to mental processes.
464

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