2024 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 24-49
Radical behaviorism is a philosophy about the subject matter and methodology upon which behavior analysis is based. In recent years, radical behaviorism has been critically and developmentally inherited by several behavior analysts, a movement that can be called post-Skinnerian behaviorism. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss some of these post-Skinnerian behaviorisms, mainly those coming from the field of the experimental analysis of behavior. The behaviorisms covered in this paper are Baum’s molar behaviorism, Rachlin’s teleological behaviorism, Staddon’s theoretical behaviorism, Timberlake’s biological behaviorism, and another biological behaviorism by Donahoe. First, the main points of these post-Skinnerian behaviorisms are explained and contrasted with Skinner’s radical behaviorism. Then, the similarities and differences among these behaviorisms are summarized in terms of how behavior is viewed, the distinction between operant and respondent, the treatment of conscious experience and mental life and the use of mental concepts, the treatment of internal causes of behavior, and pragmatism. Finally, the article discusses a future vision of the experimental analysis of behavior as guided by each of these behaviorisms.
