Radical Behaviorism http educationportal comacademylessonthreelaterapproachesgestaltpsychoanalysisandbehaviorism htmllesson 1 Determinism

Radical Behaviorism http: //education-portal. com/academy/lesson/three-laterapproaches-gestalt-psychoanalysis-andbehaviorism. html#lesson 1

Determinism and Materialism l l 2 These are the basis for all of science Science must start with these two tenants or it cannot do its work

Two Basic Philosophical Tenants l Determinism: – – – l Materialism: – – – l 3 All “events” have a cause There are no uncaused phenomena (more later) The world is composed of only material or physical stuff There is no non-physical stuff (more later) Therefore all causes must be material

More Determinism l l We say that all events are “determined” by causes All causes are “lawful” that is, there are natural, discoverable laws that govern the interaction of a cause and its effect. All human behaviors are “determined” or have causes This is different from “Predetermination” To more on predeterminism 4

Maggots Analogy l l 5 Humans used to think that the appearance of maggots was a spontaneous event, that is, there was not cause for the maggots to appear, they just did (some believe in spontaneous combustion which means that something bursts into flames for no reason, it just happens) With new technologies and ways of thinking about the world, eventually humans discovered a cause for the maggots So it is with human behavior – just because we don’t readily see a cause doesn’t mean there isn’t one

What kinds of causes are there? l l 6 Only material causes Non-material causes cannot exist according to Materialism Philosophical Background Non-material stuff include notions of spirit and mind and mentality These are outside the realm of scientific study

Where are these causes? l l l 7 Causes are primarily in the environment (more later) Behavior cannot be separated from the environmental context in which it occurs The opposite of environment is “mentality” (more later)

Black Box Analogy l l 8 Picture the “mind” as a black box The box is covered with switches, levers, buttons and all manner of ways of receiving input from outside the box It is capable of outputting an innumerable variety of behaviors But the connections within the box between the switches and levers affected by the environment and the behavioral outputs are unknown and unknowable because the box is sealed shut

Black Box Analogy (cont’d) l l 9 We can know that flipping certain switches and punching certain buttons cause certain behaviors, but we can never know how those connections occur. To attempt to discover those “cognitive” connections is a waste of time.

In summary l l 10 Psychology should be scientific, so must follow the tenants of scientific explanation – determinism & materialism All behaviors are caused All causes must be physical or material in nature Allowing for non-physical causes (mentality, etc. ) violates the basic tenants of doing science.

Implications l l 11 When is someone responsible? What is the role of imprisonment? What is morality? What is freedom?

Predetermination l l l 12 Has roots in religion A system of thought popularized in the 1600’s by some groups of protestants If “God” knows all then God knows what will happen next Nothing humans do can violate God’s will Humans have no choice but to do God’s will Therefore all events happen because they have been predetermined by God’s knowledge to happen

How Determinism is different from Predetermination l l 13 Predetermination implies that future events have already been “determined, ” that is “pre”-determined to the time at which they happen Determinism makes no such claim that the future is “pre”-determined, only that all events are determined by something in the past Determinism allows for complex and unpredictable causes to interact and cause events. We say that the events of tomorrow are determined by causes today, but not predetermined in that they couldn’t be anything different than what they will be. Back

Old Philosophical Question: What is the world made of? l Since the Renaissance, two philosophical “camps” have emerged: – – 14 Dualism Monism

Dualism: Two kinds of stuff in the world l l Physical Non-physical – – 15 Spirit Soul Mind “god”

Monism: One kind of stuff in the world l Physical only – l 16 (at least I have not met a monist yet who claims that the only type of stuff that exists is the non-physical kind) Monism is also called “Materialism” since monists believe that only material or physical things exist Back

Behavioral Psychology Types l l 17 Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning