Philosophy of Science, with Special Consideration Given to Behaviorism as the Philosophy of the Science of Behavior

Problems of Teaching the Behaviorist Perspective in the Cognitive Revolution

“…Yet these same social scientists feel free to lump together the various behaviorist perspectives. Behaviorism has never been a unitary psychological perspective and proponents differ significantly in terms of methodology and theoretical outlook [ 8 , 9 ]. In introductory textbooks, and textbooks devoted to cognition, typically only two types of behaviorism are mentioned those of John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner.…”

“…It is well worth reading and incorporating his comments into student reading lists. Moore [ 8 ] also describes errors in communicating Skinner’s view of cognitive or mental events.…”

“…The Hullian approach is also known as molecular behaviorism in contrast to the molar behaviorism of Tolman, the contiguity approach of Edwin R. Guthrie, and the radical behaviorism approach of Skinner. All the various behaviorist approaches (even the behaviorism of the “Watsonian Type”) regularly consider what are now called cognitive processes [ 8 ].…”

“…The issues voiced in this paper are not unique to me. They have been expressed by many individuals including Frederick Adams [ 3 ], Abraham Amsel [ 4 ], Howard Cromwell [ 5 ], James Grice [ 6 ], Vickie Lee [ 7 ], Jay Moore [ 8 , 9 ], Geir Overskeid [ 10 ], Jaak Panksepp [ 5 ] and Thom Verhave [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Commentary on "Coming to Terms With Motivation in the Behavior-Analytic Literature" by Alo and Cancado

“…It is worth considering the history of the intervening variable and its important role in mediational neobehaviorism (Moore, 2010). In mediational behaviorism, unobservable meditational variables are allowed to bridge the gap between environment and response.…”