Irreconcilable Differences and Political Reality in These Dark Ages

Jj, McDowell

doi:10.1007/bf03392548

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(8 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although both interpretations of the power function version of the matching law and theory remain viable, the de facto abandonment of the response strength interpretation in the modern literature is probably a salutary development. The inexactitude of this interpretation harkens back to an earlier era when it was common to consider empirical observations, such as rate of responding, as imperfect measures of the true items of interest, which were psychological variables like response strength (McDowell, 1991). The idea that different properties of reinforcement may regulate different properties of behavior in similar ways nevertheless remains viable in the power function version of matching theory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the theoretical and empirical status of the matching law and matching theory.

Jj¹

2013

Psychological Bulletin

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The original and power function versions of the matching law and matching theory are mathematical accounts of continuous choice that have been applied to the behavior of many vertebrate species, including humans, and have become influential in a variety of disciplines, such as economics, behavioral pharmacology, and clinical science. Each version can be interpreted either from a response strength perspective or from a purely algebraic perspective. The point of departure of both versions of matching theory is the assertion that all behavior is choice governed by the matching law. This assertion permits sets of equations to be derived that constitute the 2 versions of the theory. Considerable experimental evidence leads to the conclusion that both interpretations of the original version of the matching law and theory are false and that both interpretations of the power function version of the law and theory are tenable. Specifically, the behavior of animal and human subjects conforms exactly to the mathematical forms required by the power function version of the law and theory, and the theoretical assumptions entailed by both interpretations of this version are supported by the empirical evidence. In addition, the theoretical interpretations of all but 1 of the parameters of the power function version's equations are consistent with available evidence. The one problematic parameter is interpreted as the rate at which unmeasured background resources are acquired. The theoretical interpretation of this parameter must be reconciled with observation in order to maintain matching theory's central assertion that all behavior is choice.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the theoretical and empirical status of the matching law and matching theory.

Jj¹

2013

Psychological Bulletin

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Philosopher of science, Terry L. Smith, discussed this issue in the context of the analogy between operant conditioning and evolution by natural selection (McDowell, 1991, 2004: Skinner, 1981; Staddon & Simmelhag, 1971). Smith (1983) pointed out that selective animal breeding, that is, artificial or engineered selection, was known to be useful in producing desired animal phenotypes long before it was suggested that the same process might occur naturally and be responsible for phenotypic differences among species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Matching in an Undisturbed Natural Human Environment

McDowell

Caron

2010

J Exper Analysis Behavior

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Data from the Oregon Youth Study, consisting of the verbal behavior of 210 adolescent boys determined to be at risk for delinquency (targets) and 210 of their friends (peers), were analyzed for their conformance to the complete family of matching theory equations in light of recent findings from the basic science, and using recently developed analytic techniques. Equations of the classic and modern theories of matching were fitted as ensembles to rates and time allocations of the boys' rule‐break and normative talk obtained from conversations between pairs of boys. The verbal behavior of each boy in a conversation was presumed to be reinforced by positive social responses from the other boy. Consistent with recent findings from the basic science, the boys' verbal behavior was accurately described by the modern but not the classic theory of matching. These findings also add support to the assertion that basic principles and processes that are known to govern behavior in laboratory experiments also govern human social behavior in undisturbed natural environments.

show abstract

“…The main difficulty is that behavior analysis and at least some versions of cognitive psychology hold diametrically opposed views of reality. According to McDowell (1991), "behavior analysis presupposes a materialistic ontology, according to which the world consists of material objects and events," whereas (cognitive) "psychology presupposes a nonmaterialistic ontology, according to which the world consists of non-material objects and events as well as material objects and events" (p. 29). Hence, trying to make sense out of concepts such as memory traces, storage locations, and retrieval systems using behavior-analytic theory is like comparing apples and oranges.…”

Section: Infant Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may seem inadequate for cognitively oriented psychologists, and it may be partially responsible for the criticism that, by concentrating primarily on observable behavior, behavior analysis ignores what is most interesting about human psychology (McDowell, 1991). The inadequacy, however, may arise from the selection of the particular behavior not by the behavior analyst but by the cognitive psychologist.…”

Section: Infant Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Theory in behavior analysis: An application to child development.

Schlinger

1992

American Psychologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Theory in behavior analysis is described, and its application to developmental psychology is illustrated using examples from the literature on the development of infant memory and perceptual size constancy. Traditional approaches to development are briefly described and juxtaposed with a behavioral approach. Behavior-analytic theory is evaluated according to several criteria of good scientific theories. It is concluded that modern behavioranalytic theory, which grew largely out of the work of B. F. Skinner, succeeds well at explaining many of the facts of infant memory and perceptual size constancy and may also succeed at explaining facts in other areas of developmental psychology. Behavior analysis may thus be able to provide some theoretical uniformity in the field of developmental psychology.

show abstract

Irreconcilable Differences and Political Reality in These Dark Ages

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

On the theoretical and empirical status of the matching law and matching theory.

On the theoretical and empirical status of the matching law and matching theory.

Matching in an Undisturbed Natural Human Environment

Theory in behavior analysis: An application to child development.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About