Possibilities of Conceptual/Philosophical Investigation in Behavior Analysis

Authors

  • Alexandre Dittrich Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v15i0.25369

Keywords:

behavior analysis, radical behaviorism, conceptual/philosophical analysis, research in psychology

Abstract

Behavior analysis, as a field of scientific investigation, is usually described as comprising a three-parts division: conceptual/philosophical analysis, experimental analysis and applied analysis. The objective of this article is to identify and characterize the main possibilities of investigation in the conceptual/philosophical analysis domain. Interpretation, defined as the extension of behavior-analytic principles to the comprehension of behavioral relations outside the experimental domain, is presented as a basic procedure in all kinds of conceptual/philosophical analysis. The possibilities of investigation identified in this domain are: (1) to suggest to the behavior-analytic community the adoption of certain epistemological and ethical positions, considered to be coherent and useful; (2) to communicate with other philosophical and scientific traditions (or with specific authors inside these traditions); (3) to increase the power to understand and intervene (in experimental and applied contexts) over certain behavioral phenomena. Finally, we point out that the proposed division does not imply or suggest a strict separation between the different possibilities of investigation in the domain of conceptual/philosophical analysis, neither exhausts all the possibilities of investigation in this domain.

Keywords: behavior analysis; radical behaviorism; conceptual/philosophical analysis; research in psychology.

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Published

2011-12-20

How to Cite

Dittrich, A. (2011). Possibilities of Conceptual/Philosophical Investigation in Behavior Analysis. Interação Em Psicologia, 15. https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v15i0.25369

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 0 (2011): Número Especial

Section

Articles

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