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Essentialism and selectionism in cognitive science and behavior analysis
1Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063.
The American Psychologist
|November 1, 1992
Summary
Selectionism, not essentialism, is key to understanding behavior. Variability is fundamental, and Skinner
Area of Science:
- Behavioral science and psychology
- Cognitive science
- Philosophy of science
Background:
- Selectionist paradigms, encompassing phylogenetic and ontogenetic contingencies, define boundaries for units but not blueprints.
- Variability is an inherent characteristic of all entities shaped by selection processes.
- B.F. Skinner's approach characterized behavioral units as generic, aligning behavior analysis with selectionism and avoiding essentialist pitfalls common in psychology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To refine the distinction between essentialism and selectionism in scientific analysis.
- To identify and critique essentialist tendencies within various fields, including linguistics, memory research, representation theories, associationism, and behavior analysis.
- To explore the potential for integrating contemporary cognitive science research, such as adaptive networks, within a selectionist framework relevant to behavior analysis.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis and theoretical refinement of essentialism versus selectionism.
- Identification and examination of prominent examples of essentialist thinking across different scientific disciplines.
- Interpretation of recent trends in cognitive science, specifically adaptive networks, through a selectionist lens.
Main Results:
- Essentialism, which posits fixed, inherent properties, is contrasted with selectionism, which emphasizes variation and historical contingency.
- Essentialist analyses were identified in linguistics, theories of memory and representation, associationism, and even within behavior analysis.
- Adaptive network research in cognitive science demonstrates amenability to a selectionist interpretation.
Conclusions:
- Adopting a selectionist perspective, as pioneered by Skinner, is crucial for a robust understanding of behavior and avoids the limitations of essentialism.
- Recognizing and mitigating essentialist biases is necessary across various scientific domains.
- The selectionist framework offers a promising avenue for future interdisciplinary research, particularly bridging behavior analysis and cognitive science.