SPE 563 Module 2
Pragmitism - Answer - The notion that a question is only worth pursuing if the answer to it
would change our knowledge of the world
- explore answers to questions for which the answers would improve someone's circumstance
- in Behavior Analysis, we only intervene when
there is a behavior that needs to be changed
Science - Answer the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or
misunderstanding
Determinism - Answer The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which
phenomena occur in relation to other events, not in accidental fashion
- There are ALWAYS causes of behavior - Cause and Effect
- All actions are the result of heredity or environmental factors.
- No instance of behavior occurs without a physical cause
- In behavior analysis we focus on the environmental impact on organisms, both the
antecedents and consequences
Realism - Answer The view of the world that assumes only the natural world, which
presupposes an absolute truth
- "view of the world that assumes a real world to exist apart from our perceptions" (Baum 2017,
p. 288).
Mentalism - Answer - An assumption of an "inner" dimension as the explanation of behavior
- Describing behavior as having non-physical, mental cause; a 'belief'
- "Mentalistic" - any assumption of inner cause of behavior; inner causes which cannot be
confirmed, observed or measured
- Use of mentalistic terms implies that the actual cause has been determined
explanatory fiction - Answer A fictitious variable, often another name for an observable
behavior, which implies an inner cause for the behavior
Mentalistic Explanations - Answer - the cause is "within"
- not observable or measurable
- assumes explanatory fictions
- internal causes cannot be changed or the pathway to change is complex and not measurable
Pragmitism - Answer - The notion that a question is only worth pursuing if the answer to it
would change our knowledge of the world
- explore answers to questions for which the answers would improve someone's circumstance
- in Behavior Analysis, we only intervene when
there is a behavior that needs to be changed
Science - Answer the state of knowing: knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or
misunderstanding
Determinism - Answer The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which
phenomena occur in relation to other events, not in accidental fashion
- There are ALWAYS causes of behavior - Cause and Effect
- All actions are the result of heredity or environmental factors.
- No instance of behavior occurs without a physical cause
- In behavior analysis we focus on the environmental impact on organisms, both the
antecedents and consequences
Realism - Answer The view of the world that assumes only the natural world, which
presupposes an absolute truth
- "view of the world that assumes a real world to exist apart from our perceptions" (Baum 2017,
p. 288).
Mentalism - Answer - An assumption of an "inner" dimension as the explanation of behavior
- Describing behavior as having non-physical, mental cause; a 'belief'
- "Mentalistic" - any assumption of inner cause of behavior; inner causes which cannot be
confirmed, observed or measured
- Use of mentalistic terms implies that the actual cause has been determined
explanatory fiction - Answer A fictitious variable, often another name for an observable
behavior, which implies an inner cause for the behavior
Mentalistic Explanations - Answer - the cause is "within"
- not observable or measurable
- assumes explanatory fictions
- internal causes cannot be changed or the pathway to change is complex and not measurable
