REDUCTIONISM AND BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

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REDUCTIONISM AND BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS
M. JACKSON MARR SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY GEORGIA
TECH ATLANTA, GA 30332-0170 USA mm27_at_prism.gatech.
edu
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The goal of any science is to reduce the apparent
complexity of nature to relatively simple
accounts, principles, or mechanisms all of which
manifest a causal structure.
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NAGELS CATEGORIES

• HOMOGENEOUS REDUCTION
• 2. HETEROGENOUS REDUCTION

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NAGELS CATEGORIES

• HOMOGENEOUS Newtons Laws, Classical
  Thermodynamics, Behavior Analysisany science.
• HETEROGENEOUS any explanation of an observed
  fact which appeals to events taking place
  somewhere else, at some other level of
  observation, described in different terms, and
  measured, if at all, in different dimensions.
  B.F. Skinner

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HETEROGENEOUS REDUCTION

• Classical thermodynamics statistical mechanics
• Chemical bonding quantum mechanics
• Newtons gravity general relativity
• Mendels proportions genes and chromosomes
• Drug action receptor function
• Diseases bacteria and viruses
• Behavioral history neural change

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HOMOGENEOUS REDUCTION
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Issues of Homogeneous Reduction in Behavior
Analysis
1. Definition of behavior and functional
classifications 2. Role of behavior in the
natural sciences 3. Patterns of explanation 4.
Contingencythe fundamental explanatory concept
in behavior analysis
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DEFINITIONS OF BEHAVIOR
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ROLE OF BEHAVIOR IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES
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PATTERNS OF EXPLANATION WHAT CONSTITUES AN ACCOU
NT?
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Operant Conditioning
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MATCHING-TO-SAMPLE
sample
comparison
comparison
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Maxwells Equations
             

• Symmetry between electricity and magnetism
  Explained the nature of light as electromagnetic
  waves moving at speed c.

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CONTINGENCY THE FUNDAMENTAL EXPLANATORY CONCEPT
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Three-term Contingency

• SD
• SR
• Ro

• SD discriminative stimulus
• Ro operant class
• SR reinforcer

F force m mass dv/dt acceleration
Newtons Second Law of Motion
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ISSUES OF BEHAVIOR PATTERNS

• FUNCTIONAL UNITS OF BEHAVIOR
• 2. MOLAR-MOLECULAR DISTINCTION

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HETEROGENEOUS REDUCTION
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SKINNERS HETEROGENEOUS REDUCTION
any explanation of an observed fact which
appeals to events taking place somewhere else, at
some other level of observation, described in
different terms, and measured, if at all, in
different dimensions.
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WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR BODIES WHEN WE BEHAVE?
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SOME PHILOSOHICAL POSITIONS

• ONTOLOGICAL REDUCTION
• 2.EXPLANATORY REDUCTIONISM
• 3.METAPHYSICAL MATERIALISM

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MEREOLOGICAL FALLACY ATTRIBUTING A PROPERTY OF
A WHOLE TO A PART OF THE WHOLE.
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STRATEGIES FOR REDUCTION
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ARE WE MACHINES?!
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GENERAL FUND OF BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

• 1. Molecular Processes (biochemical, biophysical)
• 2. Cellular functions
• 3. Tissue/organ functions
• 4. Morphogenic-developmental
• 5. Behavioral-environmental
• 6. Species adaptation-evolution

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NOTHING IN NEUROBIOLOGY MAKES SENSE EXCEPT IN THE
LIGHT OF BEHAVIOR GORDON SHEPHERD (Neurobiology,
1994, p. 9)