behavior 101

Purpose of Science

description, prediction, control

Description

Facts examined for relations with other facts

Prediction

Probability that one event will occur based on the occurrence of another

Control

Changes occur from manipulations

Functional Relation

Change in one event produced by change in another event

Parsimony

All simple explanations ruled out before using complex explanations

Experimentation

Basic strategy of most sciences

Pragmatism

truth value of a statement is a function of how well the statement produces effective action

Determinism

Universe is lawful and orderly

Philosophic Doubt

Continually questioning what is fact

Replication

Repeating experiments

Empiricism

Objective observation

Explanatory Fiction

Fictitious variable that contributes nothing to understanding behavior

Radical Behaviorism

Behaviorism according to Skinner that includes private events

hypothetical constructs

Presumed entities not manipulated in an experiment

Behaviorism

Philosophy of the science of behavior

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Natural science approach to the study of behavior

Behaviorism according to Watson

methodological behaviorism

methodological behaviorism

stimulus-response psychology

Behavioral

Conduct studies of behavior, not about behavior

Effective

Behavior must improve to a practical degree

Technological

Procedures described with sufficient detail for replication

Analytic

Functional relation between manipulated events and some dimension of a behavior

Applied

Affecting change that improves people's lives

Mentalism

Assumes "inner" dimension exists different from a behavioral dimension

Systematic

Procedures described in terms of principles from which they were derived