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Rediscover the science and philosophy of behaviorIn Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers, distinguished researcher W. M. Baum delivers an expansive collection of incisive papers setting out a new paradigm of thinking about behavior. The book offers only articles that put forward a philosophical and theoretical framework for an effective natural science of behavior. Quantitative analysis is largely avoided (except for a paper on, of all things, avoidance).Organized into three parts, the author explains the flow-like nature of behavior and its link to evolution, as well as descriptions of a pure form of behaviorism that correct some flaws in B.F. Skinner's seminal works. The book also links behaviorism to anthropology in its final section.Readers will also find:* Fulsome descriptions of the molar nature of behavior and why the molecular view is misguided* Re-imaginations of the concept of reinforcement, including considerations of allocation, induction, and contingency* Explorations of the links between behavior analysis and Darwinian evolutionary processesAn essential critique--and reorganization--of behavior theory and philosophy, Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers is a controversial, fascinating, and eye-opening journey through a half-century of transformational work in the field.
List of contents
Preface ixAcknowledgments xiPart I Multiscale Behavior Analysis 11 The Correlation-Based Law of Effect 32 Quantitative Prediction and Molar Description of the Environment 243 The Trouble With Time 364 From Molecular to Molar: A Paradigm Shift in Behavior Analysis 485 The Molar View of Behavior and Its Usefulness in Behavior Analysis 736 Molar and Molecular Views of Choice 787 Rethinking Reinforcement: Allocation, Induction, and Contingency 918 Driven by Consequences: The Multiscale Molar View of Choice 1209 Reinforcement 13310 Avoidance, Induction, and the Illusion of Reinforcement 13911 Multiscale Behavior Analysis and Molar Behaviorism: An Overview 17112 Behavior, Process, and Scale 195Part II Molar Behaviorism 20313 Radical Behaviorism and the Concept of Agency 20514 Commentary on Foxall, "Intentional Behaviorism" 22315 Behaviorism, Private Events, and the Molar View of Behavior 22916 Ontology for Behavior Analysis: Not Realism, Classes, or Objects, but Individuals and Processes 24817 Berkeley, Realism, and Dualism 26018 What is Suicide? 26419 Relativity in Hearing and Stimulus Discrimination 266Part III Culture and Evolution 27320 Rules, Culture, and Fitness 27521 Being Concrete about Culture and Cultural Evolution 29522 Behavior Analysis, Darwinian Evolutionary Processes, and the Diversity of Human Behavior 318References 345Index 367
About the author
William M. Baum is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Hampshire and a Research Associate at the University of California, Davis. He has published over one hundred journal articles and has over twenty years' teaching experience at universities including Harvard and the University of New Hampshire. His research interests include choice, cultural evolution, behavioral processes, and the philosophy of behavior.
Summary
Rediscover the science and philosophy of behavior
In Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers, distinguished researcher W. M. Baum delivers an expansive collection of incisive papers setting out a new paradigm of thinking about behavior. The book offers only articles that put forward a philosophical and theoretical framework for an effective natural science of behavior. Quantitative analysis is largely avoided (except for a paper on, of all things, avoidance).
Organized into three parts, the author explains the flow-like nature of behavior and its link to evolution, as well as descriptions of a pure form of behaviorism that correct some flaws in B.F. Skinner's seminal works. The book also links behaviorism to anthropology in its final section.
Readers will also find:
* Fulsome descriptions of the molar nature of behavior and why the molecular view is misguided
* Re-imaginations of the concept of reinforcement, including considerations of allocation, induction, and contingency
* Explorations of the links between behavior analysis and Darwinian evolutionary processes
An essential critique--and reorganization--of behavior theory and philosophy, Science and Philosophy of Behavior: Selected Papers is a controversial, fascinating, and eye-opening journey through a half-century of transformational work in the field.
