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The generative nature of language development has been noted in both cognitive and behavioral psychology. Within behavior analysis, several procedures have been utilized to investigate the emergence of untrained language in both typical and neurotypical populations. These procedures often require an overt learner response (e.g., matching-to-sample). Stimulus pairing procedures pair stimuli together contiguously to form relations and do not require an overt learner response. The stimulus pairing procedure was originally described by Leader et al. (1996) and since then different terms have been used to describe it application (e.g., "respondent-type training," "stimulus pairing observation procedure," "stimulus pairing procedure," "sequential stimulus pairing"). The purpose of the present paper is to describe the procedure, review the applied research on the use of pairing procedures to facilitate emergent language, identify similarities and differences among variants of the procedure, and synthesize this information to better inform researchers and practitioners. Directions for future research on this topic are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional, and still quite accepted, view of psychological phenomena (e.g., emotions, moods, 'propositional attitudes') holds that they are inner entities of some non-behavioral sort (reducible or not to brain phenomena) that bring about behaviors. Behavioral and related externalist perspectives, on the other hand, oppose (in different ways) this view. There is controversy, however, over how to understand psychological phenomena giving prominence to behaviors. Most versions of the so-called extended mind view, for instance, are very different from behavioral perspectives. This paper aims at contributing to this discussion by outlining a behavioral approach that draws upon Ryle and Skinner, among others. According to this approach, psychological phenomena of different categories are by and large made up of overt and/or covert behaviors and their relations to the environment. This paper starts off by briefly surveying the range of psychological categories and identifying a desideratum for an account thereof, according to which the account should, in general, be consistent with the basic nuances of these categories. It is suggested that the outlined approach fares well in this respect and is virtuously (as opposed to viciously) parsimonious. Also, Rachlin's teleological behaviorism and Clark and Chalmers' extended mind view are very briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of music in behavior analytic accounts constitutes a poorly addressed area of application due to conceptual incongruities in the field and a general lack of common ground between the disciplines of music and behavior analysis. This paper will examine the suitability of Skinner's (1957) analysis of verbal behavior in describing various musical behaviors and propose clarifications of verbal behavior constructs to account for the conceptual similarities and differences between musical and verbal behaviors. The musical concepts of mimicry, relative pitch, and absolute pitch are also discussed from the perspective of a verbal behavior analysis. These are presented as examples of how presumably innate musical abilities remain subject to operant principles of behavior modification and how certain conventions of music may suggest novel functional relations that could expand the existing categorization of operants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the consideration of private events is central to Skinner's Radical Behaviorism, Skinner's perspective on the topic of private events is not universally accepted within the behavioral community. At least 3 alternatives to Skinner's position have been purported, among them Baum's molar perspective, Rachlin's teleological perspective, and Hayes and Fryling's interbehavioral position. This paper considers the similarities and differences among these alternatives to Skinner's analysis of private events from the perspective of interbehaviorism and interbehavioral psychology. The implications of this analysis for philosophical and conceptual progress in behavior analysis are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many accounts of personality, the positions of behavioral writers are rarely presented in depth and it assumed that behavioral writers have neglected the topic of personality. In reality, since the very beginnings of behaviorism, behavioral theorists have devoted considerable attention to the topic of personality, and a term Skinner equated with personality, the self. This paper summarizes some of the major assumptions of traditional personality theory and theory of self, and then summarizes the positions of various behavioral theorists such as John Watson, B. F. Skinner, Arthur Staats, and others on personality and self. Behavioral theorists have not neglected these topics, and behavioral accounts of these topics present a more parsimonious view. Personality and the self are behavior in need of explanation, in contrast to the belief that personality and the self function to explain as well as cause behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overskeid (1993) argues that the radical behaviorist account of inner events is inadequate. He recommends an alternative approach which explicitly acknowledges the causal role of inner events. This approach supposedly increases the predictive and controlling power of our treatment and also contributes to theoretical consistency. In this paper, it is argued that Overskeid's alternative approach is based on a mistake. Although accepting the causal role of inner events indeed contributes to theoretical consistency, it does not increase the predictive and controlling power of the treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refutes the arguments presented by Hayes, Adams and Dixon (1997) against Skinner's radical behaviorism theory. Brief overview on the arguments; Position of Hayes, Adams and Dixon on relativism; Authors' conception of causality; Summary and conclusions.

Mechner’s advocacy of interrelating beauty, music, and behavior reunites themes from the earliest stages of the development of behavior analysis. This reunification occurs after a long hiatus during which molar behaviorism emphasized averaging over moment-to-moment behaving and deemphasized moment-to-moment behaving itself. Molar behaviorism cannot meaningfully address many of the musical themes Mechner analyses. Interpretations of musical behaving and other complex behaviors like volition in terms of average behavior encourages focusing on steady-state behavior and discourages focusing on shaping. The resulting problem is clear if we remember that we do not hear molar (average) musical behavior, so to examine the aesthetic qualities of molar musical behavior is conceptually impossible. The solution is to develop more powerful and more general shaping methods for moment-to-moment musical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The current study sought to extend the work of Stewart et al. ( The Psychological Record, 52, 77-88, ) by investigating the effects of differing histories with regard to color on participant's equivalence test performances. Method: Thirty-two university students were divided into four groups exposed to different training procedures, but all were subsequently exposed to an identical equivalence test using colored stimuli (either red or green). Initially, participants were divided into two groups, one receiving training with stimuli colored either red or green (the All Color group), while the other received training with stimuli colored only black (Color Test group). In addition, half of the participants in both groups were exposed to exemplar training procedures (Exemplar Training groups), with the remaining participants simply receiving repeated test exposures (Repeat Groups). Results: Results showed that participants in the All Color groups produced higher equivalence responding relative to participants in Color Test groups. Conclusion: Exemplar training was shown to be effective in promoting equivalence responding only for participants in the All Color groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy that critically examines the foundations, assumptions, methods, products, and implications of the activity called science. The present sketch reviews the historical development of the philosophy of science, representative individuals in the field, and topics of long-standing interest. The sketch is intended to prepare readers for subsequent discussions on behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and the meaning of mental terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study assessed the effects of systematically separating the cue from the response in temporally defined schedules of delayed signaled reinforcement. Identical schedules were used to study the effects of the independent variable on response acquisition and response maintenance. In the first experiment, 8 groups of 3 naïve rats were exposed to 1 of 8 temporally defined schedules that differed in both the duration of a response opportunity and response-signal temporal separation. In the second experiment, 3 rats were exposed to the previously described schedules using a within-subjects design. Results in both experiments showed response rate as a decreasing function of response-signal temporal separation. The findings could be the result of the combination of delaying conditioned reinforcement and blocking the response selected for reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the review made by professor Dennis J. Delprato on the book "Mind and Its Evolution: A Dual-Coding Theoretical Approach." He cites that the focus of the review is the comparison of the book with psychologists J. R. Kantor's and B. F. Skinner's behavioristic analyses of mentalistic phenomena. He mentions that Delprato is correct as well in noting that the book is not a representative of cognitive theories that affirm mysterious mental processes that lacks direct observational correlates.

Stevens's power law (ΨαΦβ) captures the relationship between physical (Φ) and perceived (Ψ) magnitude for many stimulus continua (e.g., luminance and brightness, weight and heaviness, area and size). The exponent (β) indicates whether perceptual magnitude grows more slowly than physical magnitude (β < 1), directly as physical magnitude (β ≈ 1), or more quickly than physical magnitude (β > 1). These exponents are typically determined using judgments of single stimuli. Miller and Sheldon (1969) found that the validity of Stevens's Power Law could be extended to the case where the mean of a property in an ensemble of items was judged (i.e., average length or average tilt where β ≈ 1). The present experiments investigate the extension of this finding to perceived brightness with β ≈ 0.33 and find evidence consistent with predictions made by Miller and Sheldon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitivism has dominated mainstream psychology for decades, but lately its position has been weakened. It has been criticized not only by behavior analysts but also by social and evolutionary psychologists, neuroscientists, and authors who are or used to be cognitivists themselves. At the same time, psychologists and neuroscientists in several fields are now rediscovering the necessity of understanding behavior in light of its functional relations. Hence a need for relevant knowledge is felt. Cognitive psychology has little to offer in this regard. Behavior analysis, on the other hand, possesses a wealth of relevant facts and theory. Though chances seem slight that mainstream psychology will return to behaviorism, a window of opportunity now exists for the reintegration of behavior-analytic research into the mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response variability, a fundamental characteristic of behavior, may be in some cases an induced effect of reinforcement schedules. Research on schedule-induced response variability has shown that continuous reinforcement results in less variability than intermittent reinforcement schedules. Studies on the effects of intermittency of reinforcement, periodicity of reinforcement, and type of schedule have resulted in mixed findings. Contingencies have also been arranged to directly influence operant response variability. These include lag reinforcement schedules, differential reinforcement of novel behavior, differential reinforcement of less frequent behavior, and percentile reinforcement schedules. These procedures are discussed in terms of practicality and implications for use in applied settings. Contingencies and treatment packages that indirectly influence response variability are addressed in terms of response allocation, response generalization, and response covariation. Studies on the effects of a variety of other variables on response variability are also reported, such as levels of food deprivation and drugs. Finally, directions for applied research in response variability are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review addresses the etiology of bipolar disorder and presents the literature within a psychological behaviorism framework (Staats, 1996; Staats & Heiby, 1985). The proposed theory attempts to provide an integrative developmental approach that is grounded in established behavioral principles. The bipolar theory posits 15 hypotheses based on past and concurrent biological and situational factors as well as their interactions with an individual's basic behavioral repertoires. Implications for subclassification and treatment research are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examines whether humans would learn to solve simple problems by applying an efficient rule that is, concept teaming. Training of humans on a computerized version of the procedure that Pisacreta has used with pigeons; Exploration of five additional conditions that were expected to yield more or less stereotypy relative to the results obtained in experiment one; General discussion on the study.

Focuses on the collapse of socialism and its impact on the emergence of the science of human behavior. Noam Chomsky's repudiation of verbal behavior as the undermining factor in behaviorism; Author's contention that the reinstatement of the link between linguistics and the study of animal learning is needed to effect a genuine science of human behavior.

Examines the logical features of causality, a concept essential to scientific thinking, in regard to respondent and operant behaviors. Operant behavior as emitted behavior breaks with any criterion of precedent causality; Causality as functional relation; Application of the category of contingency to superstition respondent and operant conditioning.

This article presents a review and critical analysis of the verbal basis of emotional phenomena from two behavioral perspectives: Paradigmatic Behaviorism (Pb) and Radical Behaviorism (Rb). Pb has explained the acquisition of verbal-emotive functions from a respondent semantic conditioning perspective, whereas Rb describes similar emotive functions from an operant perspective. Both approaches, however, have remained largely adversarial. The basis for this adversarial relationship stems largely from different and yet related behavioral traditions. This review attempts to provide some points of synthesis between both behaviorisms by highlighting their commonalities, limitations, and differences in the context of understanding anxiety-related phenomena. Both positions maintain that language behavior is at the core of an adequate account of emotional phenomena in humans. Each position has also addressed how people come to know their feelings, the functions that emotions serve, and how they can be changed or modified in therapy. Some avenues for synthesis are suggested that span experimental, conceptual, and therapeutic areas. We conclude that differences between Pb and Rb are far outweighed by their respective contributions toward addressing how people come to know their feelings and how emotional dysfunction can be changed in language-based cognitive-behavioral therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the results of behavioral psychology experiments in which subjects were given nonarbitrary relational pretraining that brought their responses under the control of four contextual stimuli, namely, same, opposite, more-than and less-than. Transfer of stimulus control through equivalence relations; Relational testing stability criteria.

Responds to the observations made by Harrie Boelens and M. Sidman to the authors' views on relational frame theory (RFT). Role of stimulus equivalence in understanding range of human behavior; Traditional ideas in behavioral psychology on which RFT is based; Properties of arbitrarily applicable relational responding.

Examines pessimistics assessments of behaviorism's contributions and its future role. Use of operant principles in research in social psychology and large-scale applications; Implications for behaviorism in terms of core principles and peripheral implications.

Studies the influence of Walter S. Hunter on behaviorism. Hunter's contribution to B.F. Skinner's operant psychology; Biographical account of Hunter's development as a psychologist; Manner by which Hunter contributed to the evolution of modern operant psychology; Similarities in the works of Skinner and Hunter.

Discusses the relationships among radical behaviorism, stimulus equivalence and human cognition. Nature of the radical behaviorist's perspective on human cognition; Behavioral research into the relationship between stimulus equivalence phenomena and symbolic behavior; Alternative to other methodological approaches to psychology.

Examines the proposition that the use of contingent, extrinsic reinforcement undermines the rate at which intrinsically interesting behaviors occur from a behavior-analytic viewpoint. Environmental stimuli's control of the rates of behaviors rather than interest intrinsic to the organism; Fallacy of recommendations based on the concept of undermining intrinsic interest.