BEHAVIORAL CONCEPTS AND CONTENT:



BEHAVIORAL CONCEPTS AND CONTENT:

THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR 11

HDFL 798

Spring, 2001

Thursdays, 3:30-5:20

4070 Dole Human Development Center

Instructor Office Hours

Edward K. Morris, Ph.D. Generally 2:00-5:00 M-W,

Department of Human Development but best by appointment 4020 Dole Human Development Center

Phone: 864-4840 / Fax: 864-5202

E-mail: ekm@ku.edu

1. Course Description

This course is formally described in the 1999-2001 University of Kansas Graduate Catalog

as follows:

HDFL 798. Behavioral Concepts and Content: The Analysis of Behavior H (3). An introductory graduate course on the history and philosophy of behavior analysis, with special emphasis on its basic concepts and theories, and their application to various domains of behavior (e.g., perception, emotion, language, cognition). The relationships between behavior analysis and other psychological theories are also addressed, as are the major disciplinary and professional issues currently facing the field. Prerequisite: HDFL 796 or consent of instructor. (p. 253)

More informally, this is as a graduate seminar survey course on behavior analysis. As a discipline, behavior analysis has three branches: (a) the experimental analysis of behavior, for laboratory research elucidating the basic behavioral processes (e.g., reinforcement), (b) applied behavior analysis, for the application of those principles and their derivative technologies to the prevention and amelioration of clinical, educational, social, and community problems (cf behavior modification), and (c) the conceptual analysis of behavior, for historical, philosophical, and theoretical inquiry (e.g., radical behaviorism as the philosophy of a science of behavior). Although generally a survey course, this course emphasizes the experimental and conceptual analyses of behavior, and their application to interpreting and understanding the everyday behavioral content (i.e., behavioral content; e.g., personality). It also touches on relations between behavior analysis and other disciplines (e.g., biology, psychology, anthropology). As for applied behavior analysis, we will address it throughout the semester where it interacts with the other two branches, as well as more formally toward the end of the semester.

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The prerequisite for this course is Professor James A. Sherman's HDFL 796, "Laboratory in Behavioral Development and Modification: The Analysis of Behavior I." This ensures that students begin the course with some background in the basic behavioral processes and core behavior-analytic concepts. If you lack the prerequisite, you may still enroll if you have taken other courses on this material or if you can convince me about relevant and extenuating circumstances, which is usually not too difficult to do.

II. Assigned Texts

The course has three required textbooks, listed below. The Kansas Union Bookstore will

have all the books, but so too may the other bookstores in town.

Catania, A. C. (1998). Leaminiz (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Nye, R. D. (1992). The I ac of B. F. Skinner. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan.

Charlie Catania's (1998) Learning is the definitive mid-level introduction to the basic behavioral processes. But, it also covers the traditional "leaming" literature as well, and several areas of behavioral content (e.g., language, memory). The book will sometimes be a little "thick," for Catania writes about much in few words. So, do not be surprised if you have to re-read the text in places -- I do.

Robert D. Nye's (I 992) book, The LegaCy af B. F. Skinner, is the best brief overview of Skinner's work available today. Nye reviews the basic concepts presented in Skinner (1953) (see below) and Catania (1998) (see above), and extends them, for example, by addressing Skinner's views on Freud and psychoanalysis, Carl Rogers and client-centered therapy, and controversial issues in Skinner's work and misunderstandings about it.

B. F. Skinner's (1953) Science and Human Behavior is his classic and most comprehensive treatment of what a science of behavior entails and how it applies to human behavior. Although behavior analysis has grown and evolved considerably since Skinner wrote this book, the basic facts and concepts described therein have not changed appreciably, even though they have been appreciably built on, so the book remains useful today. The book is, moreover, a primary source, where we can read what Skinner wrote, not what others write about what he wrote. You will be an informed reader of such material by the time you have finished the course.

The assigned readings will, however, cover more than this. They will also include material drawn from other primary and secondary sources, as necessary and appropriate. Copies of these readings will be available in a drawer marked "Morris Readings" underneath the faculty mailboxes in the HDFL main office (4001 Dole). The office is open from 8:00-5:00, Mondays through Fridays. Do not take the readings from the building, and please take them only for as long as you will need to read or copy them. The Department has copy machines in the room immediately off the main office (400 1 A) and the room behind the mailboxes (400 1 B Dole). The copying cannot be done for you or for free, but you may pay as you go or open a copying account with the Department (see Tracy McNeal, 4001 Dole). The readings will also be available at the Reserve Desk at Watson Library.

111. Recommended Course Reading

Recommended readings will also be listed in each week's syllabus. These are optional, but

they provide further background, as well as extensions into related material. They may also prove to be useful resources for future coursework, research, and teaching -- not to mention BDFL graduate degree requirements (e.g., comps, review paper).

IV. Course Requirements

The course will be conducted as an instructor-led seminar. Its general requirements are

that you attend class, participate in discussion, an answer take-home questions (40%), prepare a weekly discussion question (20% each), complete weekly reading evaluations (20%), and write a five-page review of an empirical literature (20%).

1. Class attendance and participation (20%). Class attendance and participation need no definition. Your grade, though, will be pro-rated on for arriving late or leaving early.

2. Take-home assignment (20%). Part of your grade will also be based on a take-home assignment included in each week's syllabus and which I may ask you to answer in class. This should not be an onerous task, but it does ask you to engage the course material more independently (and perhaps more creatively) than can be achieved through the other requirements. For instance, I may ask you to (a) define a term or a concept, (b) provide a behavioral interpretation of everyday behavior, (c) answer a question out of the blue (e.g., Are behavior analysts Republicans or Democrats?), or (d) describe and correct a misrepresentation of behavior analysis.

3. Discussion questions (20%). One discussion question is required each week. Its purpose is to set the occasion for insightful and critical thinking about the reading. You may also have questions that do not come from the reading, and may ask them as well (and I will try to answer them), but you will be graded on the questions that come from the reading. The question is due in my HDFL mailbox by 5:00pm Wednesday -- the day before class (the Department office closes at 5:00). Or, it may be e-mailed to me, but it must then be in my "mailbox" by 6:00pm. Some technical niceties: (a) The question must come from all the readings (e.g., if it comes from one reading, but is answered in another, this will not make it an effective question for class discussion), (b) it must be prepared according to the style guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA, i.e., HDFL comp requirements; e.g., typed, double-spaced); and (c) it must include the citation (no need for the reference) and the page number of the reading from which it is drawn. By the way, the questions need not be long; often, 25 words will suffice.

Your question is not to be about simple facts that might be generated for a quiz or whose answers might easily be found in a dictionary or other resource (e.g., "Where was B. F. Skinner born?”) nor should it have a simple yes-no answer (e.g., "Was B. F. Skinner a first-born child?"), nor should it be existential (e.g., "Why was B. F. Skinner born?"). Rather, you should ask a question about aspect of the reading you do not understand or that needs further explanation or clarification. Your question may also challenge the facts, concepts, and analyses presented in the readings or raise questions about the relation of the readings to other issues and topics. These questions should also be suitable for class discussion, which is one of their purposes. Indeed, I will often ask you about your questions in class.

4. Reading evaluations (20%). A form will be included at the back of each week's syllabus where I ask you to rank, rate, and evaluate the assigned readings for that topic -- both quantitatively (i.e., ranking and rating) and qualitatively (e.g., explanations for rankings and ratings, further questions about the reading). The form is to be handed in at the end of class each week. This allows you to ask still further questions about the material and to shape my behavior in selecting which readings I retain from semester to semester -- and which I drop.

5. Term paper (20%). This requirement requires that you prepare a five-page review of an empirical literature on a topic of your choice, but related to behavior analysis - basic or applied. Ideally, the paper should assist you with other HDFL degree requirements (e.g., a literature review for a comp question or review paper), but it must not be drawn from previously prepared material; it should be new to you or to at least something you are preparing concurrently. As for the paper's preparation, several successive approximations to the final version will be required throughout the semester: (a) a 10-25 word description of your topic, (b) annotated lists of references (e.g., books, chapters, journal articles) for your paper (other than the required course textbooks), (c) a one-page outline (20-25 lines), and (d) rough drafts. These approximations will each count for 1% of your final grade; the final paper, itself, is worth another 16%. These assignments are due in class on the following dates:

Date Paper Requirement

February I A 10-25 word description of your topic;

February 22 The 10-25 word description of your topic (revised where requested) and 5 annotated (20-25 words) references you will use in preparing your paper;

March 15 The 10-25 word description and the 5 annotated references (both revised where requested), and 5 more annotated references;

April 5 The 10-25 word description and the 10 annotated references (both revised where requested), and a one-page outline (20-25 lines) of the paper and a draft of your introduction;

April 26 The 20-25 word description and outline (both revised where requested) and a rough draft of the entire paper, including the (now unannotated) references,

May 11 Final paper due (5:00)

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You may change your topic at any time during the semester, but if you do, you will need to revise and resubmit all the requirements due up to that point for your new topic. If you want to review material on a topic covered later in the semester, I may be able to provide you with relevant references from the last time I taught the course. As with the other requirements, the paper must be prepared in APA style at each stage of its preparation. In addition, I will grade it in accordance with the criteria used for grading HDFL comprehensives answers (see last page of syllabus).

By the way, in my comments on your papers and in other written work for the course (e.g., on the blackboard), I will use some of the following editorial conventions and abbreviations. Some of them are generic, others are idiosyncratic; some pertinent to content, others to style. These are = Greek for psychology, = Greek for philosophy, BA = Greek for behavior analysis, AABT = Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, APA = American Psychological Association, ABA = Association for Behavior Analysis or applied behavior analysis (for applied research)- EAB = the experimental analysis of behavior (for basic research); and CAB = the conceptual analysis of behavior (for conceptual analysis). Among my editorial conventions are: = right/good/agreed, sp = possible spelling error, tr = possible poor transition between sentences or paragraphs (i.e., ideas), " = possibly poor quotation, wc = possibly poor word choice, awk possibly awkward phrasing, and x = possibly not in APA style.

V. Course Schedule and Topics

As an overview of the material we will cover this semester, I provide below a week-by-

week listing of the general topics below. But, because I revise the course each time I teach it, I may not follow the schedule exactly, but this will be a close approximation.

Week/Date Topics

0. January 18 Overview and Introduction

1. January 25 A History of Behavior Analysis

2. February I Philosophy of Behavior Analysis

3. February 8 A Science of Behavior

4. February 15 Behavioral Contingencies 1

5. February 22 Behavioral Contingencies 11

6. March I Behavioral Contingencies III

7. March 8 Behavioral Contingencies IV

8. March 15 Context: Biology and Environment

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00. March 22 Spring Break

9. March 29 Behavioral Content I

10. April 5 Behavioral Content II

I 1. April 12 Behavioral Content III

12. April 19 Applied Behavior Analysis 1

13. April 26 Applied Behavior Analysis 11

14. May 3 Conclusion: Issues, Implications, and Recent Advances

VI. Grade Summaries

To assist you in keeping track of your grades, I have provided a summary grade sheet

below. Please fill in the blanks with your grades as you receive them.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Topic Number Attendance/ Take-Home Discussion Reading Term

and Dates Participation Assignment Question Evaluations Paper

(20%) (20%) (20%) (20%)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. January 25 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

2. February 1 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

3. February 8 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

4. February 15 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

5. February 22 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

6. March 1 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

7. March 8 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

8. March 15 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

9. March 29 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

10. April 5 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

11. April 12 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

12. April 19 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

13. April 26 _______ __________ _________ ________ ______

14. May 3 ______ __________ _________ ________ ______

00. May 11 (5:00)

Student ID# _________ Office Use:

Reader Feedback For:

Graded by Reader: A B C Student _______________

Advisor_______________

Date Sent:___________ Reader A_______________

Reader B_______________

Due Date:____________ Reader C______________

WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVES – READER EVALUATION FORM

Area:_______________ Question:__________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Rate the Question: If you think this is a bad question, do not grade the answer. Simply circle BQ = bad question below and return the entire package.

1. Appropriate as a written comp Excellent 1 2 3 4 5 Poor

2. Breadth Too broad 1 2 3 4 5 Too narrow

Comments:

Rate the Student's Answer (circle your choice)

Grade: A = Acceptable NA = Not Acceptable BQ = Bad Question

Scale: 1 = Excellent, 2=Above Average, 3 = Average, 4 = Below Average, 5 = Poor

Content 1. Use of literature 1 2 3 4 5

2. Factual information 1 2 3 4 5

3. Organization 1 2 3 4 5

4. Documentation 1 2 3 4 5

5. Logic 1 2 3 4 5

6. Introduction 1 2 3 4 5

7. Completeness 1 2 3 4 5

8. Conclusion 1 2 3 4 5

9. Originality 1 2 3 4 5

Style 1. Clarity of writing 1 2 3 4 5

2. Proofing 1 2 3 4 5

3. Paraphrases/quotes 1 2 3 4 5

4. Use of APA Style 1 2 3 4 5

Written Comments -- provide feedback for both Acceptable (A) and Not Acceptable (NA) answers. Use the back of this sheet or a separate sheet if needed.

BEHAVIORAL CONCEPTS AND CONTENT:

THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR 11

Topic #I:

A History of Behavior Analysis

Assigned Reading

Michael, J. (1985). Behavior analysis: A radical perspective. In B. L. Hammonds (Ed.), The Master Lecture Series, Vol. 4- Psychology and Learning (pp. 99-121). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Michael, J. (1991). Historical antecedents of behavior analysis. The ABA Newsletter, 13(2), 7 12.

Nye, R. D. (1992). The legacy of B.F. Skinner (Preface, pp.vii-x; Ch. 1; B.F. Skinner: A brief biography, pp.1-10). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole

Coleman, S. R. (1982). B. F. Skinner: Systematic iconoclast. The Gamut, 6 (Summer/Spring),

53-75

Recommended Reading

American Psychologist, 1992, 47-(Il), 1269-1533. Special issue: Reflections on B. F. Skinner

and Psychology.

Babkin, B. P. (1949). Pavlov- A biography Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bakan, D. (1966). Behaviorism and American urbanization Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 2, 5-29.

Bjork, D. (I 993). B. F. Skinner: A Life. New York: Basic Books

Boakes, R. (1984). From Darwin to behaviourism: Psychology and the minds of animals. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.

Boring, E. G. (1950). A history of experimental psychology (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.

Buckley, K. W. (1989). Mechanical man: J.B. Watson and the beginnings of behaviorism.

New York: Guilford.

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Catania, A. C., & Hamad, S. (Eds.). (1988). The selection of behavior: The operant behaviorism of B.F. Skinner: Comments and consequences. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chiesa, M. (1994), Radical behaviorism- The philosophy and the science. Boston: Author's Cooperative.

Coleman, S. R. (1985). B. F. Skinner, 1926-1928: From literature to psychology. The Behavior Analyst, 8, 77-92.

Coleman, S. R. (1988). Assessing Pavlov's impact on the American conditioning enterprise. The Pavlovian Journal of Biological Sciences, 23, 102-106.

Day, W. F. (I 980). The historical antecedents of contemporary behaviorism. In R. W. Rieber & K. Salzinger (Eds.), Psychology- Theoretical- historical perspectives (pp. 203-263). New York: Academic Press.

Dinsmoor, J. A. (1979). A note on the historical record: MPA and MABA. The Behavior Analyst, 2, 22-24.

Dinsmoor, J. A. (1987). A visit to Bloomington: The first conference on the experimental analysis of behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,48, 441-445.

Evans, R. 1. (1968). B- E, Skinner- The man and his ideas. New York: Dutton.

Gray, J. A. (1979). Ivan Pavlov. New York: Viking

Hackenberg, T. D. (1995). Jacques Loeb, B. F. Skinner, and the legacy of prediction and control. Mm Behavior Analyst, 18, 225-236.

Harris, B. (1979). Whatever happened to little Albert? American Psycholoizist, 3-4, 151-160.

Heidbreder, E. (1933). Seven ps)zchololzies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Hilgard, E. R. (1987). PsycholojZy in Americn- A historical survey. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Jonich, G. (1984). Edward L, Thomdike- The sane positivist.. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

Kantor, J. R. (1924). Principles of psychology, YoL 1. Chicago: Principia Press.

Kantor, J. R. (1926). Principles of psychology,, YoL 11. Chicago: Principia Press.

Kantor, J. R. (1946). The aim and progress of psychology. American Scientist, 34,251-263.

Kantor, J. R. (1959) Interbehavioral psychology . Chicago: Principia Press.Kantor, J. R. (1963). The scientific evolution of psychology. (Vol. 1). Chicago: Principia Press.

Kantor, J. R. (1969). The scientific evolution of psychology. (Vol. 2). Chicago: Principia Press.

Kantor, J. R. (I 976). Behaviorism, behavior analysis, and the career of psychology. The Psychological Record, 26, 305-312.

Keller, F. S. (1973). The definition of psychology (2nd ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Laties, V. G. (1987). Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior: The first thirty year (1957-1987). Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 48, 495-512.

Leahey, T. H. (2000). A history of psychology: Main currents in psychological thought

(3rd .). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Lee, V. L. (1988). Beyond behaviorism. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Logue, A. W. (1985a). The growth of behaviorism: Controversy and diversity. In C. E. Buxton (Ed.), Points of view in the modern history of behaviorism (pp. 169-196). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Logue, A. W. (1985b). The origins of behaviorism: Antecedents and proclamination. In C.E. Buxton (Ed.), Points of view in the modern history of behaviorism (pp. 141-167). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

Malone, J. C. (1990). Theories of learning: A historical approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Morris, E. K. (1982). Some relations between interbehavioral psychology and radical

behaviorism. Behaviorism, 10, 187-216.

Morris, E. K., & Todd, J. T. (1999). Watsonian behaviorism. In W. O'Donohue & R. Kitchener (Eds.), Handbook of behaviorism (pp. 15-69). New York: Academic Press.

Morris, E. K., Todd, J. T., Midgley, B. D., Schneider, S. M., & Johnson, L. M. (1990). The history of behavior analysis: Some historiography and a bibliography. The Behavior Analyst, 13m 131-158

O'Donnell, J. M. (1985). The origins of behaviorism: American psychology, 1870-1920. New York: Columbia University Press.

O'Donohue, W., & Kitchener, R. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook of behaviorism. New York:

Academic Press.

Pauly,P.J. (1987). Controling life: Jacques Loch and the engineering ideal in biology.. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peterson,M.E. (1978). TheMidwestAssociationforBehaviorAnalysis: Past,present,and future. The Behavior Analyst, 1, 3-15.

Peterson, M. E. (1979). A reply to Dinsmoor. The Behavior Analyst, 2, 25.

Richelle, M. (1993). B. F. Skinner: A reappraisal. Hissdale, NH: Erlbaum.

Samelson, F. (1980). J. B. Watson’s little Albert, Cyril Burt’s twins, and the need for a critical science. American Psychologist, 35, 619-625.

Samelson, F. (I 98 1). Struggle for scientific authority: The reception of Watson's behaviorism, 1913-1920. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 17, 355-425

Schneider, S. M., & Morris, E. K. (1987). A history of the term radical behaviorism: From Watson to Skinner. The Behavior Analyst, 10, 27-39.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Skinner, B. F. (1945). The operational analysis of psychological terms. Psychological Review, 52, 270-277, 291-294.

Skinner, B. F. (1950). Are theories of learning necessary? Psychological Review, 52,270-277,291-294

Skinner, B. F. (1956). A case history in scientific method. American Psychologist , 11, 211

Skinner, B. F. (1959). John Broadus Watson, behaviorist. Science, M, 197-198.

Skinner, B. F. (1967). B. F. Skinner. In E. G. Boring & G. Lindzey (Eds.), A history of psychology in autobiography ( Vol. 5, pp.387-413). [ In Epstein and Skinner (1982, pp. 9-38, see also p. 6, 277.284)]

Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity New York: Knopf

Skinner, B. F. (1974). About behaviorism. New York: Knopf

Skinner, B. F. (1976). Particulars of my life. New York: Knopf

Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a behaviorist. New York: Knopf.

Skinner,B.F. (1981). Pavlov’s influence on psychology in America. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 17, 242.245.

Skinner, B. F. (1983). A matter of consequences. New York: Knopf.

Smith, N., Mountjoy, P., & Ruben, D. (198). Reassessment on psychology: Washington, DC; University Press of America.

Todd, J. T. (1996). A history of Division 25 (Experimental Analysis of Behavior). In D. A. Dewsbury (Ed.), Unification through devision: Histories of the division of the American Psychological Association (pp. 157-193). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Todd, J. T., & Morris, E. K. (1986). The early research of John B. Watson: Before the behavioral revolution. The Behavior Analyst, 9, 71-88.

Todd, J. T., & Morris, E. K. (Eds.). (1994). Modern perspectives on John B. Watson and classical behaviorism. Westport, CT: Greenwood

Todd, J. T., & Morris, E. K. (Eds.). (1995). Modem perspectives on B. F. Skinner and contemporary behaviorism. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Verplanck, W. S. (1954). Burrhus F. Skinner.

Watson, J. B. (1913a). Image and affection in behavior. Journal of Philosophy 10, 421-428

Watson, J. B. (1913b). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 2-0, 158-177.

Watson, J. B. (1914). Behavior: An introduction to comparative psychology. New York: Holt.

Watson, J. B. (1916). The place of the conditioned reflex in psychology. Psychologic Review, 2a, 89-116.

Watson, J. B. (1919). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.

Watson, J. B. (1924). Behaviorism. New York: W. W. Norton. (2nd ed. published 1930)

Watson, J. B. (1936). Autobiography. In C. Murchison (Ed.), A histoey of psychology in autobiography (Vol. 3, pp. 271-281). Worchester, MA: Clark University Press.

Watson, J. B., & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of Experiemental Psychology 10, 421-428.

Watson, J. B., & Watson, R. R. (1928). Psychological care of infant and @. New York: Norton.

6

Commentary

As I will emphasize throughout the course, contingencies and context -- both historical and current -- are fundamental for understanding behavior. This holds both for the behavior of individuals, as well as for social and cultural practices. Philosophy, psychology, behaviorism, and behavior analysis are exemplars of the latter - they are cultural practices. Among these, behavior analysis evolved out of behaviorism during the 1930s and 1940s; behaviorism emerged in the first decades of the 20th century from evolutionary biology, comparative psychology, and functionalism; and psychology evolved out of philosophy in the mid- I 800s. This evolutionary sequence, of course, begs the question of whether or not behavior analysis is part of psychology or philosophy, a point we will want to discuss. In any event, to cover all the history of philosophy, psychology, and behaviorism as the context for understanding behavior analysis would take us beyond the purposes and possibilities of this course. This material is better addressed in an other course--HDFL891:HistoryandSystemsofPsychology. For this week, we undertake more modest and circumscribed coverage of some of this history - a more modem history of behavior analysis.

We begin, first, with a broad-based overview of behavior analysis, as it exists today, so that we can know what we are reading the history of. For this, we turn to Jack Michael's (1985) chapter, "Behavior Analysis: A Radical Perspective." Michael offers an excellent and accurate overview of the discipline, beginning with a recent history of the field, followed by a review of basic, applied, and conceptual analyses of behavior. In a sense, this chapter covers, in capsule form, much of the content of the course. We will turn back to it often.

As for the history of behavior analysis per se, a few comments are in order. One means of accessing this material is through tertiary sources -- textbooks on the history of psychology. The classic and most widely cited of these are Boring (1950) and Heidbreder (1933), but their coverage is not a proper pre-history of behavior analysis. Boring (1950), for instance, conflates much of traditional behaviorism with Skinner's contributions. Heidbreder (1933), in turn, offers not so much a history as an analysis of the major schools or systems of psychology dominant in the early part of this century, of which behaviorism (but not behavior analysis) was one among others -- structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, and gestalt psychology. Psychology is no longer sorted into schools, but rather reflects today an interest in narrower theories and content areas (e.g., personality, cognition). To update these two texts, and add breadth to other areas of experimental psychology, I would today recommend Hilgard (1987) and Leahey (2000).

As for texts on the history of psychology written by behavior analysts, little is available, probably because behavior analysts have been more engaged in basic and applied research than in conceptual analysis of which history is a part. Only Fred Keller (1973) has written a history and systems text, and a brief one at that, but it is fairly conventional. The one behaviorist -though not necessarily a behavior analyst, depending on definitions -- who has written extensively on the history of psychology was the interbehavioral psychologist, J. R. Kantor (I 963, 1969). His two-volume history of psychology is a sophisticated, scholarly, and critical (sometimes hypercritical) examination of the emergence (or lack thereof) of scientific psychology through the ages.

Turning to textbooks on the history of behaviorism, none have been written; however, some excellent, more focused and scholarly secondary sources are available. Boakes (1984), for instance, provides a good overview of the early experimental work in non-human animal psychology, but it stops short of behaviorism as a system of psychology. O'Donnell (1985) focuses on cultural, social, and institutional factors that transformed early behaviorism into mainstream psychology and that made psychology in the United States, in some senses, behavioral (see also Bakan, 1966). The most recent addition to this literature is O'Donohue and Kitchener's (1999) Handbook of Behaviorism.

Biographies of important figures in the history of psychology and of behaviorism represent another source of secondary material. Some excellent texts are available on the major contributors, as well as important secondary source journal articles and chapters on the history of behavior analysis in the history of psychology (see, e.g., Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences). They cannot all be listed here, but see Morris, Todd, Midgley, Schneider, and Johnson's (1990) bibliography on the history of behavior analysis. For an excellent overview of this history, see Willard Day's (1980), "The Historical Antecedents of Contemporary Behaviorism."

This week, we examine, in part, the work of several major figures in the history of behaviorism and behavior analysis, and some of the conceptual basis of their work: Edward L. Thomdike (I 874-1949) and the "law of effect," Ivan P. Pavlov (I 849-193 6) and Russian reflexology, John B. Watson (1878-1958) and classical behaviorism, B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) and radical behaviorism, and J. R. Kantor (1884-1988) and interbehavioral psychology. These behaviorists had forerunners, of course, and they also were not alone in their own times. Among Pavlov's colleagues, for instance, were Ivan Sechenov (1829-1903) and Vladimir Behkterev (1857-1927); Watson's colleagues were Harvey Carr and RobertYerkes; among Skinner's colleagues were Walter Hunter and Fred Keller. Perhaps only Kantor stood alone in his own time and perspective. In focusing on these figures, I am not surreptitiously trying to promote 44 great man" history, but I do recognize that their contributions are profoundly important to what we know today as behavior analysis.

The first major figure in the history of behaviorism might arguably be Edward L. Thomdike (see Joncich, 1984). In his dissertation, Thomdike (I 899) worked out a connectionist S-R psychology, whose best known law -- the "Law of Effect -- was the forerunner of the behavioral process known today as reinforcement. Next, we have Ivan Pavlov (I 928) and Russian reflexology. Although more interested in neuroscience per se, Pavlov initiated the first purely objective, systematic analysis of behavior. His research was rigorous and meticulous, and laid down the foundations of what we know today as reflex or respondent functional relations, and the conditioning thereof. Pavlov is important to behaviorism and behavior analysis because Watson (I 916) in part drew on classical conditioning as a basic behavioral process. Skinner, in turn, acknowledged Pavlov's contributions to what he would call respondent behavior and conditioning (see Skinner, 1953). See Coleman (I 988) and Skinner (I 98 1) for more general analyses of Pavlov's influence on American psychology; see Babkin (1949) and Gray (1979) for Pavlov biographies.

As for the founding of behaviorism, this is attributed to John B. Watson (Watson 1913a, 1913b). He pulled together the arguments against an the introspective psychology of mind, presented the arguments for a behavioral psychology, coined and introduced the term "behaviorism," and then was behaviorism's very strong advocate. Why Watson had the impact he did on psychology is answerable in many ways, at many levels (e.g., personal, cultural). One reason is that Watson made important contributions to the fields of comparative psychology and animal behavior prior to the 1913b publication of his "behaviorist manifesto" (see Todd & Morris, 1986); in addition, he held important positions within the profession (e.g., at Johns Hopkins University; editor, the Psychological Bulletin). Another reason lies in certain cultural patterns in the United States at the turn of the century, in particular, social and political Progressivism (see, e.g., Bakan, 1966; O'Donnell, 1985).

Many scholars have written many things about Watson and his psychology, more than we can cover in a week. For a Watson biography, see Kerry Buckley's (1989) Mechanic-a] Man -an intellectual and social history, not a personal one; for autobiographical material, see Watson (1936). For access to other material, see the secondary source listings under Watson in Morris et al. (1990; e.g., Logue, 1985a, 1985b). For instance, to put Watson's work in good historical perspective, you might see Franz Samelson's (I 98 1), "Struggle for Scientific Authority: The Reception of Watson's Behaviorism, 1913-1920." Watson was a controversial figure for several reasons, one of them described in Ben Harris' (I 979) paper - "Whatever Happened to Little Albert?" This offers a close, hard look at Watson's best-known study on the classical conditioning of human behavior (Watson & Rayner, 1920; see also Samelson, 1980). Another controversy was Watson's extramarital affair and his dismissal from Johns Hopkins University and all of academic psychology. This is described by Kerry Buckley (1994) in "Misbehaviorism: The Case of John B. Watson's Dismissal from Johns Hopkins University." For a more modem look at Watson and classical behaviorism, see Todd and Morris (I 994), especially Todd's (1994) chapter, "What Psychology Has to Say about John B. Watson: Presentations of Classical Behaviorism in Psychology Textbooks, 1920-1989." This addresses both the nature of Watson's system of psychology and the controversies, and puts them into a contemporary perspective. For what Skinner had to say about Watson, see "John Broadus Watson, Behaviorist" (Skinner, 1959). By the way, for an excellent tertiary (almost secondary) description and analysis, John Malone's (1990) chapter, "J. B. Watson: The Original Behaviorism" (pp. 93-118).

After Watson came neobehaviorism and the age of leaming theories, for instance, those of Edward Tolman and Clark Hull (see Malone, 1990), among whom Skinner is often included, for he is chronologically "neo" in comparison to John B. Watson. For instance, he was conducting and publishing research that would become the basis for his first book – The Behavior of Organisms (Skinner, 1938; see also Todd & Morris, 1995). Throughout this time, and later, Skinner was also working out "radical behaviorism" as the philosophy of the science of behavior (Skinner, 1945; see Schneider & Morris, 1987). Both his empirical and his conceptual work greatly and forever differentiate his work from that of the other neobehaviorists, which would follow much different philosophical orientations. Today, Skinner's science, its philosophy, and their application are broadly referred to as the discipline (and profession) of behavior analysis.

As for material on Skinner's life and times, you might consult his autobiographical material (Skinner, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1983a), Dan Bjork's 1993 biography B.F. Skinner nad Behaviorism in American Culture: For book-length introductions to Skinner’s work, see Evans (1968) and Nye (1992); for intermediate material, see Chiesa (1994) and Richelle (1993). Other good resources may be found in several collections – American Psychologist (1992)), Catania and Hamad (1988), and Todd and Morris (1995). For more specific material on radical behaviorism, see Lee (1988) and Delprato and Midgley (I 992); for the experimental analysis of behavior, see what Day (I 980) called the finest critical examination ever of Skinner's research program, Bill Verplanck's (1954) "Burrhus F. Skinner" (see also Reese, 1986). With respect to Skinner's contributions -- mainly in his first book -- The Behavior of Organisms (Skinner, 1938) -- some celebratory pieces were recently published in honor of the 50th anniversary of the book's publication (see Todd & Morris, 1995).

With this material behind us, we begin addressing the history of behavior analysis proper. For this, please turn next to Michael's (1 99 1) "Historical Antecedents of Behavior Analysis." It offers a brief, but excellent overview of the influences on Skinner and of Skinner's subsequent influences on behavior analysis. As you read through this, you might look over Morris' broader handout of the history of behavior analysis, which will be used as the basis for class discussion. As for more biographical material, we will read Nye's (1992) chapter, "B. F. Skinner: A Brief Biography" (pp. 1-10), but will also to go more deeply into Skinner than this, and so we turn to Steve Coleman's (1982) "B. F. Skinner: Systematic Iconoclast." Coleman, a historian, provides us with a biographical sketch of Skinner's life, and places Skinner and his work in its cultural, intellectual, and philosophical context, the last of which we will address in more detail next week.

Behavior analysis also has a history as a profession, not just as a discipline, but aside from what we can glean from the foregoing readings, we do not have time to cover it. However, a few comments are in order. The earliest meetings among behavior analysts occurred while Skinner was at Indiana University in the late 1940s (see Dinsmoor, 1987). The first professional association for behavior analysts began in 1964 as a division of the American Psychological Association -- APA Division 25 for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (today, the Division for Behavior Analysis; see Todd, 1996). The next professional association to emerge was the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy in 1967. In 1974, the naming of the discipline and profession as "behavior analysis" was institutionalized with the founding of the Midwestern Association for Behavior Analysis, which the next year became the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA). For a history of its founding, see Marge Peterson (aka Vaughan) (1978), Jim Dinsmoor's (1979) reply thereto, and Peterson's (1979) reply in return.

The history of behavior analysis as a profession also includes the history of its journals. The field has four major journals corresponding somewhat to its subdivisions. The Journal for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB) was founded in 1958 as an outlet for research on basic behavioral processes. The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) was founded in 1968 as an outlet for applied research. Behaviorism, which is now Behavior and Philosophy, was founded in 1972 for publications in the area of behavioral philosophy. Em Behavior Analyst began publication in 1978 as the house journal for ABA. For histories of the founding

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BEHAVIORAL CONCEPTS AND CONTENT:

THE ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR II

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A History of Behavior Analysis

Reading Evaluations

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Michael(1985)

Michael (I 99 1)

Nye (1992)

Coleman (I 982)

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