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Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
A self-interpretive behavior analysis
1Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122.
The American Psychologist
|November 1, 1992
Summary
Behavior-analytic theory, rejecting self-awareness as foundational, can be self-inclusive. Its principles extend to logic and awareness, differing from mainstream psychology on causation and attribution errors.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavior Analysis
Background:
- Behavior-analytic theory traditionally rejects self-awareness as a core psychological concept.
- Mainstream psychology often relies on concepts like the fundamental attribution error, which behaviorism challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate how behavior-analytic theory can be formulated in a self-inclusive manner.
- To clarify the theoretical underpinnings and points of divergence between behavior-analytic and mainstream psychological approaches.
Main Methods:
- Elaboration of core behavior-analytic principles (discrimination, generalization) to encompass higher-order conditionalities.
- Analysis of theoretical disagreements concerning causation (contiguous vs. remote) and attribution biases.
Main Results:
- Behavior-analytic theory can be stated self-inclusively, integrating the theorist.
- Principles of discrimination and generalization are shown to extend to concepts, logic, and awareness.
- Controversies may stem from challenging the fundamental attribution error and differing views on causation.
Conclusions:
- Behavior-analytic theory offers a non-dualistic, participatory view of the theorist within the world.
- Reconciling behavior-analytic theory with mainstream psychology requires understanding its unique framework on causation and cognition.
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