Radical Behaviorism for ABA Practitioners
1 An unavoidable (but Reasonable) Assumption
FREE OR DETERMINED?
Inside versus outside
Are we free to choose?
Or is our behavior determined?
Competing assumptions
A few more issues
Non-physical causation
Responsibility
Choice
Yes, your assumption is itself determined
CONSEQUENCES FOR PRACTITIONERS
2 It’s Just Verbal Behavior
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT VERBAL BEHAVIOR
Do you agree…?
Verbal behavior is learned
What is verbal behavior?
How do we learn our verbal repertoire?
ORGANIZATION OF VERBAL BEHAVIOR
The concept of response classes
Verbal response classes
Reconsidering conventional concepts
GIVEN THAT VERBAL BEHAVIOR IS LEARNED…
Just verbal behavior?
What is a conviction?
Is something missing?
3 Nevermind
CAUSE AND EFFECT
IS MAKING UP YOUR MIND LIKE MAKING UP YOUR BED?
What is mentalism?
The mind-body problem
Do mental explanations explain?
Inventing inside “causes”
WHAT IS REALLY INSIDE?
Public vs. private
What about thinking?
And emotions and feelings?
Learning to respond to private events
Traits, attitudes, moods, and all that other stuff
WHAT TO DO ABOUT MENTALISM
4 Seeing yourself
LEARNING TO TALK ABOUT OURSELVES
Our verbal community
Who do you think you are?
Perception, awareness, attention, and consciousness
THE BEHAVIOR OF SENSING
The role of reinforcement history
Seeing that you are seeing
MANAGING OUR BEHAVIOR
Self-control
Self-reinforcement
5 The Misdirection of Everyday Dialect
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANGING
PURPOSE, INTENTION, AND GOALS
PROBLEM SOLVING
RULES, ADVICE, AND INSTRUCTIONS
6 Is There Something Special About Reasoning?
WHAT IS REASONING?
More than verbal behavior?
The proposition
Premises and conclusions
Logicality and rules
Deductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning
7 Behavioral Responsibility
CREATIVITY
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE?
ARE WE THEN BLAMELESS?
IT COMES DOWN TO RESPONSIBILITY
CONSCIENCE
8 Ethics, Rights, and Values – Without the Heat
ETHICS AND ETHICAL COMMUNITIES
RIGHTS
What are rights?
And where do rights come from?
VALUES
What are values?
Are values beyond science?
TAKING THE HEAT OUT OF ARGUMENTS
9 A social Life
CULTURE
Culture-free contingencies
And the influence of culture
NATURAL SELECTION
WHERE CAN THIS LEAD?
A role for behavioral science
Cultural engineering
10 Radical Behaviorism
RADICAL BEHAVIORISM
The philosophy of the science of behavior analysis
Historical context
Radical vs. methodological behaviorism
A matter of opinion?
Selling radical behaviorism