Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
04:52
Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
Published on: February 3, 2023
Varieties of scientific explanation
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. jcm@uwm.edu
The Behavior Analyst
|April 6, 2012
Summary
Scientific explanations can be instantiation or deduction from a covering law. Behavior-analytic explanations, however, differ by focusing on pragmatic verbal behavior, not just laws.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavior Analysis
Background:
- Scientific explanations commonly rely on instantiation or deduction from covering laws.
- Traditional neobehaviorism exemplifies covering law explanations in psychology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate behavior-analytic explanations from traditional scientific explanation forms.
- To highlight the unique approach of Skinner's radical behaviorism.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of scientific explanation structures.
- Comparison of instantiation and covering law models with behavior-analytic approaches.
Main Results:
- Instantiation explains events as specific instances of general laws (e.g., psychophysical law, matching law).
- Covering law explanations derive events from general laws and antecedent conditions.
- Behavior-analytic explanations, rooted in radical behaviorism, emphasize pragmatic verbal behavior.
Conclusions:
- Neither instantiation nor covering law models fully align with behavior-analytic explanations.
- Radical behaviorism offers a distinct framework for understanding scientific explanation in behavior analysis.
Related Concept Videos
02:31Scientific Laws and Theories
Scientific Laws
01:32The Scientific Method
The scientific method is a detailed, empirical problem-solving process used by biologists and other scientists. This iterative approach involves formulating a question based on observation, developing a testable potential explanation for the observation (called a hypothesis), making and testing predictions based on the hypothesis, and using the findings to create new hypotheses and predictions.
Generally, predictions are tested using carefully-designed experiments. Based on the outcome of these...
Generally, predictions are tested using carefully-designed experiments. Based on the outcome of these...
02:40The Scientific Method
Research is what makes the difference between facts and opinions. Facts are observable realities, and opinions are personal judgments, conclusions, or attitudes that may or may not be accurate. In the scientific community, facts can be established only using evidence collected through empirical research.
03:50The Scientific Method
Chemistry is an empirical science. Scientists often pose questions to understand the chemistry in everyday life and seek answers to these questions. To achieve this, scientists follow a definitive series of steps that together make up the Scientific Method. This approach involves making observations, asking questions, building a hypothesis, conducting experiments, analyzing results, and forming a conclusion.
00:59Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning is a form of logical thinking that uses related observations to arrive at a general conclusion. It is uncertain and operates in degrees to which the conclusions are credible. As such, inductive arguments can be weak or strong, rather than valid or invalid, and conclusions can be used to formulate testable, falsifiable hypotheses.
Inductive reasoning is common in descriptive science. A life scientist makes observations and records them. This data can be qualitative or...
Inductive reasoning is common in descriptive science. A life scientist makes observations and records them. This data can be qualitative or...
01:16Models, Theories, and Laws
Scientists frequently use models to help them comprehend a specific collection of phenomena. In physics, a model is a condensed version of a physical system that is too complex to study thoroughly. One such example is the light wave model; unlike water waves, light waves are typically invisible to us. Nonetheless, it is helpful to think of light as being composed of waves, since investigations show that light behaves like water waves. Since it is impossible to visually see what is genuinely...