What are the benefits from a debate about cognition, behavior, and causality?
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1School of Psychology, University of South Australia, Australia.
Abstract:
Some authors have argued that the debate about whether or not self-efficacy can be legitimately viewed as a cause of behavior is futile due to incommensurability between underlying philosophies. Nevertheless, the debate provides a valuable case study of comparative paradigms in psychology for teaching purposes. It also stimulates a secondary debate about whether clinical utility is a sufficient criterion in clinical decision making. Another consequence of the debate has been a reminder of the negative consequences of the focus on the individual in contemporary psychology.
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