What Is Defined in Operational Definitions? The Case of Operant Psychology
Behavior and Philosophy 31:111 - 126 (2003)
| Abstract | With S.S. Stevens, operationism became an important influence in psychology. In this paper I discuss the differences between Bridgman's and Stevens' proposals on operationism and the role that operational definitions play in scientific theory. I discuss how Stevens' notions of the basic act of discrimination and of the relation procedure–outcome influenced B.F. Skinner's criteria under which the main conceptual distinctions in operant psychology were formulated. The operational origin of the dichotomies between respondent and operant behavior, contingency-shaped and rulegoverned behavior, private and public events, and verbal and nonverbal behavior are examined. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJon D. Ringen (1976). Explanation, Teleology, and Operant Behaviorism. Philosophy of Science 43 (June):223-253.
Uljana Feest (2005). Operationism in Psychology - What the Debate is About, What the Debate Should Be About. Journal for the Histoty of the Behavioral Sciences 41 (2):131-150.
William Timberlake (2004). Is the Operant Contingency Enough for a Science of Purposive Behavior? Behavior and Philosophy 32 (1):197 - 229.
Gary L. Hardcastle (1995). S. S. Stevens and the Origins of Operationism. Philosophy of Science 62 (3):404-424.
Frances K. McSweeney & Kenjiro Aoyama (2001). Evolution and Operant Behavior, Metaphor or Theory? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (3):545-546.
Douglas V. Porpora (1980). Operant Conditioning and Teleology. Philosophy of Science 47 (4):568-582.
Julian C. Leslie (2001). Selection in Operant Learning May Fit a General Model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (3):542-543.
Edmund Fantino & Stephanie Stolarz-Fantino (2000). Fish Displaying and Infants Sucking: The Operant Side of the Social Behavior Coin. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (2):254-255.
François Tonneau & Michel B. C. Sokolowski (2001). Is Operant Selectionism Coherent? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 (3):558-559.
James A. Stephenson & Mark A. Staal (2007). An Ethical Decision-Making Model for Operational Psychology. Ethics and Behavior 17 (1):61 – 82.
Daniel K. Palmer (2003). Specifying Psychology's Observable Units: Toward an Integration of Kantor's "Behavior Segment", Skinner's "Operant", and Lee's "Deed". Behavior and Philosophy 31:81 - 110.
M. D. Matheson & D. M. Fragaszy (1998). Imitation is Not the “Holy Grail” of Comparative Cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 21 (5):697-698.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-05-29Total downloads3 ( #203,919 of 556,895 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,931 of 556,895 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
