Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:28:14.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pragmatism and the Science of Behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Hobert W. Burns
Hobert W. Burns*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many pragmatic philosophers insist that causality in human behavior is to be explained by psychological field theorism rather than by modern behaviorism. This paper attempts to demonstrate (1) that pragmatists often support one aspect of an untenable disjunction in psychological theory, (2) that the asserted disjunction is but a methodological distinction, and (3) that the causal order in human behavior is most likely to be profitably described, predicted, or explained by the methods of modern behaviorism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , January 1960 , pp. 58 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © 1959 by Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Barker, R. G.: “Gestalt Psychology,” in W. S. Monroe (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Research, New York: Macmillan, 1941, pp. 547–548.Google Scholar
2. Bergmann, G.: “Psychoanalysis and Experimental Psychology: A Review from the Standpoint of Scientific Empiricism,” Mind, 1943, 52, pp. 122–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Bergamnn, G., & Spence, K. W.: “The Logic of Psychophysical Measurement,” Psychol. Rev., 1944, 51, pp. 1–24.10.1037/h0055474CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Bigge, M. L.: “A Philosophical Orientation for Educational Psychology,” Educ. Theor., 1953, 4, pp. 347–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Bigge, M. L.: “A Relativistic Approach to the Learning Aspect of Educational Psychology,” Educ. Theor., 1954, pp. 213–219.10.1111/j.1741-5446.1954.tb01101.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Bigge, M. L.: “The Harmonies and Conflicts of Principles of Topological and Vector Psychology with the Tenets of Three Educational Philosophies.” Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Kansas, 1951.Google Scholar
7. Bode, B. H. Conflicting Psychologies of Learning, Boston: D. C. Heath, 1929.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Bode, B. H.: How we Learn, Boston: D. C. Heath, 1940.Google Scholar
9. Brameld, T.: Patterns of Educational Philosophy, New York: World Book, 1950.Google Scholar
10. Brameld, T.: Philosophies of Education in Cultural Perspective. New York: Dryden, 1955.Google Scholar
11. Brubacher, J. S.: Eclectic Philosophy of Education, New York: Prentice-Hall, 1951.Google Scholar
12. Ellson, D. G.: “Order in Behavior,” Sci. Mon., 1954, 78, pp. 10–14.Google Scholar
13. Feigl, H., & Brodbeck, May (eds.): Readings in the Philosophy of Science, New York: Appleton, 1953.Google Scholar
14. Frank, P.: Philosophy of Science, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1957.Google Scholar
15. Gowin, D. B.: “A Critique of the Compatibility of Gestalt-Theorie with Experimentalism”. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Yale University, 1954.Google Scholar
16. Grünbaum, A.: “Causality and the Science of Behavior,” in H. Feigl & May Brodbeck (Eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, New York: Appleton, 1957, pp. 755–788.Google Scholar
17. Guthrie, E. R.: The Psychology of Learning, New York: Harper, 1935.Google Scholar
18. Harlow, H. F.: “Experimental Analysis of Behavior,” Amer. Psychol., 1957, 12, pp. 485–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Koehler, W.: Dynamics in Psychology, New York: Liveright, 1940.Google Scholar
20. Koehler, W.: The Place of Value in a World of Fact, New York: Liveright, 1938.Google Scholar
21. Levit, M.: “On the Psychology and Philosophy of Concept Formation,” Educ. Theor., 1953, 3, pp. 193–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Lewin, K.: “Defining the 'Field at a Given Time',” Psychol. Rev., 1943, 50, pp. 292–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Lewin, K. “Field Theory and Learning,” in T. R. McConnel (Ed.), The Psychology of Learning, (Part II, 41st yearbook, National Society for the Study of Education), Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Co., 1942, pp. 95–107.Google Scholar
24. MacCorquodale, K., & Meehl, P. E.: “On a Distinction between Hypothetical Constructs and Intervening Variables,” Psychol. Rev., 1948, 55, pp. 95–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Mace, C. A.: “Behaviourism,” in A. V. Judges (Ed.), Education and the Philosophic Mind, London: Harrap, 1957, pp. 102–120.Google Scholar
26. Madden, E. H.: “The Philosophy of Science in Gestalt Theory,” in H. Feigl & May Brodbeck (Eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, New York: Appleton, 1953, pp. 559–570.Google Scholar
27. Marx, M. (ed.): Psychological Theory, New York: Macmillan, 1951.Google Scholar
28. McGill, V. J.: “A Psychological Approach to Personality,” in R. W. Sellars, V. J. McGill, & M. Farber (Eds.), Philosophy for the Future, New York: Macmillan, 1949, pp. 287–316.Google Scholar
29. Reichenbach, H.: The Rise of Scientific Philosophy, Los Angeles: University of California, 1950.Google Scholar
30. Spence, K. W. “The Nature of Theory Construction in Contemporary Psychology,” in M. Marx (Ed.), Psychological Theory, New York: Macmillan, 1951, pp. 68–86.Google Scholar
31. Spence, K. W.: “The Postulates and Methods of 'Behaviorism',” in Feigl & Brodbeck (Eds.), Readings in the Philosophy of Science, New York: Appleton, 1953, pp. 571–584.Google Scholar
32. Thomas, L. G.: “Mental Tests as Instruments of Science,” Psychol. Monogr., 1942, 54, No. 3 (Whole No. 245).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Thomas, L. G.: “Prospects of Scientific Research into Values,” Educ. Theor., 1956, 6, pp. 193–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34. Tilton, J. S.: An Educational Psychology of Learning, New York: Macmillan, 1951.Google Scholar