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Contemporary Behaviorisms in Debate

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-77395-3

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Contemporary Behaviorisms in Debate
Diego Zilio  •  Kester Carrara
Editors

Contemporary Behaviorisms
in Debate
Editors
Diego Zilio Kester Carrara
Department of Social and Developmental State University of São Paulo (UNESP)
Psychology at Bauru
Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil
Goiabeiras, Vitória – ES, Brazil

ISBN 978-3-030-77394-6    ISBN 978-3-030-77395-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77395-3

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

Jointly published with Paradigma  – Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia do Comportamento, São  Paulo.
Chapters 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 19 of the present book were published originaly in Portuguese by
Paradigma - Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia do Comportamento, São Paulo, Brazil, 2019.
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
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Preface

The year 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of B. F. Skinner’s death, one of the most
important psychologists of the twentieth century. Skinner was the central figure in
the development of behavior analysis and its philosophical framework known as
“radical behaviorism.” Skinner’s radical behaviorism generated descendants, forms
of behaviorism in some ways significantly different from radical behaviorism, yet
not that different so that they clearly remain within a behavioristic world view. This
does not mean, of course, Skinner’s behaviorism is a thing of the past. On the con-
trary, it still is the principal philosophy behind behavior analysis in its experimental
and applied domains. The various behaviorisms discussed in this book only add to
the movement as whole by showing that behaviorism is not a monolithic or static
position; quite the opposite, it is a dynamic movement, changing and adapting in the
face of new questions, issues, and perspectives. The death of behaviorism has been
proclaimed since its early days—a “premature” assessment, to say the least—but
this volume shows that behaviorism is alive and kicking, even 30 years after its main
proponent passed away.
This book contains seven sections, each one dedicated to a particular variation of
contemporary behaviorism: Howard Rachlin’s teleological behaviorism, William
Baum’s molar behaviorism and multiscale behavior analysis, John Staddon’s theo-
retical behaviorism, John Donahoe’s biological behaviorism, Gordon Foxall’s
intentional behaviorism, Steven Hayes’ contextual behaviorism or contextual
behavioral science, and Emilio Ribes-Iñesta’s field-theory behaviorism. Each sec-
tion contains three chapters. Written by the original proponents of those forms of
behaviorism, the first chapters introduce the reader to the main characteristics of
each proposal. Following these, we have commentary chapters written by promi-
nent Brazilian behavior analysts about those forms of behaviorisms. Each section
ends with the proponents of those forms of behaviorism replying the
commentaries.
In a sense, this book is organized in a “target paper” structure in which we have
the target chapters, the commentaries, and the replies totalizing 21 chapters. More
than providing to the reader an introduction to contemporary forms of behaviorism,
this book also promotes debate about the main philosophical issues faced by the

v
vi Preface

field of behavior analysis today—issues that can directly influence future epistemo-
logical variations in the selection process of “behaviorisms.” By doing so, the book
is directed not only to the present, but, more importantly, toward the future of
the field.

Vitória, Brazil  Diego Zilio

Bauru, Brazil   Kester Carrara
April, 2021
Acknowledgments

Diego Zilio was funded by The Tutorial Education Program (PET) from the Ministry
of Education (MEC). Kester Carrara was funded by Research Productivity Grant
from CNPq—The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.

vii
Contents

Part I Teleological Behaviorism

1 Teleological Behaviorism: Origins and Present Status������������������������    3
Howard Rachlin
2 Purposive Behavior and Psychological Categories:
Thoughts on Teleological Behaviorism��������������������������������������������������   21
Filipe Lazzeri
3 Response to Comments of Lazzeri����������������������������������������������������������   33
Howard Rachlin

Part II Molar Behaviorism

4 Introduction to Molar Behaviorism
and Multiscale Behavior Analysis����������������������������������������������������������   43
William M. Baum
5 The Molar View of Behavior: A Paradigm Shift
in Behavior Analysis?������������������������������������������������������������������������������   63
Carolina Laurenti
6 Genes, Selection, and Behavior:
Response to Laurenti’s Commentary����������������������������������������������������   73
William M. Baum

Part III Theoretical Behaviorism

7 Theoretical Behaviorism��������������������������������������������������������������������������   79
John Staddon
8 What Is the Theory of Theoretical Behaviorism? ��������������������������������   97
Carlos Eduardo Lopes
9 Theory: A Response to Lopes������������������������������������������������������������������  107
John Staddon
ix
x Contents

Part IV Biological Behaviorism

10 Biological Behaviorism����������������������������������������������������������������������������  113
John W. Donahoe
11 Comments on “Biological Behaviorism”�����������������������������������������������  137
Marcus Bentes de Carvalho Neto
12 Reactions to Commentary on Biological Behaviorism ������������������������  145
John W. Donahoe

Part V Intentional Behaviorism

13 Intentional Behaviorism��������������������������������������������������������������������������  151
Gordon R. Foxall
14 Behavior Analysis and Psychological Concepts:
Commentary on Foxall’s Intentional Behaviorism ������������������������������  191
Jorge M. Oliveira-Castro
15 Behavior Analysis and Psychological Concepts:
Reply to Oliveira-Castro ������������������������������������������������������������������������  211
Gordon R. Foxall

Part VI Contextual Behaviorism

16 Contextual Behavioral Science as a Distinct Form
of Behavioral Research and Practice�����������������������������������������������������  239
Steven C. Hayes
17 Will the Wing Fly Away from the Body? A Commentary
on Steven Hayes’ Chapter, Contextual Behavioral Science ����������������  257
Julio C. de Rose
18 The Bottom Line Is Progress: All the Rest Is Commentary����������������  265
Steven C. Hayes

Part VII Field-Theory Behaviorism

19 A Theory of Behavior or a Theory of Psychology? ������������������������������  273
Emilio Ribes-Iñesta
20 A Critical Appraisal of Ribes’ Theory of Psychology ��������������������������  315
Hernando Borges Neves Filho and Tiago de Oliveira Magalhães
21 The Definition of Psychological Behavior
and the Adequacy of Theoretical Concepts Are the
Fundamental Issues: A Reply to Neves Filho and Magalhães ������������  327
Emilio Ribes-Iñesta

Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  337
Contributors

William M. Baum  Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University

of California, Davis, CA, USA
Kester Carrara  State University of São Paulo, Bauru, Brazil
Marcus Bentes de Carvalho Neto  Federal University of Pará, Belém, Brazil
John W. Donahoe  Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of
Massachusetts/Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
Hernando Borges Neves Filho  State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil
Gordon R. Foxall  Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Department of Business Administration, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland
Steven  C.  Hayes  Behavior Analysis Program, Department of Psychology,
University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
Carolina Laurenti  State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil
Filipe Lazzeri  Faculty of Philosophy, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil
Carlos Eduardo Lopes  State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil
Tiago de Oliveira Magalhães  Ari de Sá Faculty, Fortaleza, Brazil
Jorge M. Oliveira-Castro  University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
Howard  Rachlin  Psychology Department, Stony Brook University, Stony
Brook, NY, USA
Emilio Ribes-Iñesta  Center for the Study and Research of Knowing and Human
Learning, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz, Mexico

xi
 xii Contributors

Julio C. de Rose  Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil

John Staddon  James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Professor of Biology
and Neurobiology Emeritus, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Diego Zilio  Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil

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