Preface ix
1. Introduction 1
Why Study Behavior? 1
What Is Behavior? 2
Operant Behavior 4
Operant Consequences: Reinforcers and Punishers 5
The Development of Operant Behavior 6
Operant Stimulus Control: Generalization and Discrimination 7
The Generic Nature of Stimuli and Responses 8
Unconditioned Respondent Behavior 9
Conditioned Respondent Behavior 9
Summary and Conclusions 10
Key Terms and Concepts 10
Study Questions 11
2. What Is Inside? 13
Some Historical Background 13
Mentalism 15
Sometimes Mental Talk is Actually About Private, Covert Behavior 18
Behavior as a Scientific Subject Matter in its Own Right 19
Free-Will Objections to Behavior as a Scientific Subject Matter in its
Own Right 19
What Does “Free Will” Actually Mean? 20
Summary and Conclusions 21
Reference 22
Key Terms and Concepts 22
Study Questions 22
3. Genes, Selection, and Physiology 23
Chromosomes 23
Genes 24
Genes as Causes of Behavior 26
Selection 27
The Selection of Behavior 28
The Selection of Operant Behavior 30
Summary and Conclusions 31
Reference 32
Key Terms and Concepts 32
Study Questions 32
4. The Nature of Verbal Behavior 33
The Evolution of Verbal Behavior 34
Verbal Behavior, Language, and Communication 35
The Functional Analysis of Verbal Behavior: Contingencies and
Units 36
The Mand Relation 37
The Tact Relation 38
The Intraverbal Relation 39
Grammar and Syntax 39
Higher-order Verbal Relations: Equivalence Relations 40
Verbal Regulation 41
Interpretation 42
Verbal Behavior, Folk Psychology, and Mentalism 42
Summary and Conclusions 43
References 44
Key Terms and Concepts 44
Study Questions 44
5. Self 46
Individuality 46
Self as Agent 47
What Does Agency or Freedom Mean? 48
The Self in Behavior Analysis 50
Summary and Conclusions 51
References 52
Key Terms and Concepts 52
Study Questions 52
6. Consciousness and Awareness 53
What Does Consciousness Mean? 53
Private Behavioral Events 55
Verbal Reports About Our Internal Sensations and Feelings 55
The Influence of Covert Operant Behavior 57
Consciousness From a Traditional Point of View 58
Awareness 59
Some Contemporary Issues 60
Blindsight 60
Phantom Limb Pain 61
Consciousness in the Laboratory 61
Summary and Conclusions 62
References 62
Key Terms and Concepts 62
Study Questions 63
7. Thinking, Cognition, and Memory 64
What is the Behavior of Thinking? 64
Memory 66
Traditional Views of Thinking, Cognition, and Memory 69
Summary and Conclusions 71
Reference 72
Key Terms and Concepts 72
Study questions 72
8. Knowledge and Truth 73
Knowledge as Behavior 73
Knowing How and Knowing That 74
Knowledge From a Traditional Point of View 74
Truth 75
Verbal Processes, Truth, and Scientific Knowledge 76
Summary and Conclusions 78
References 79
Key Terms and Concepts 79
Study Questions 79
9. Perceiving 80
Behavior Analysis and Perceiving 80
Seeing as a Function of Environmental Circumstances 82
Some Representative Studies of Perceiving 83
Attention 85
Dreaming 86
A Traditional View of Perceiving 87
Summary and Conclusions 88
References 88
Key Terms and Concepts 89
Study Questions 89
10. Purpose, Intention, and Belief 90
Behavior Analysis and Purpose 90
Behavior Analysis and Intention 92
Behavior Analysis and Belief 93
Traditional Views of Purpose, Intention, and Belief 94
Summary and Conclusions 95
References 96
Key Terms and Concepts 96
Study Questions 96
11. Personality and Individual Differences 97
Personality 97
Behavior Analysis and Traits 99
Intelligence Testing 100
Creativity 103
Summary and Conclusions 105
References 106
Key Terms and Concepts 107
Study Questions 107
12. Attitudes, Attributions, and Situations 109
Behavior Analysis and Attitudes 109
Implicit Attitude Measurement 110
Behavior Analysis and Attribution 111
Attitudes From a Traditional Point of View 112
Internal Attributions and the Pernicious Social -isms 114
Summary and Conclusions 115
References 115
Key Terms and Concepts 116
Study Questions 116
13. Feelings, Emotions, Moods, and Motives 119
Feelings From a Behavioral Point of View 119
Traditional Accounts of Feelings 119
Feelings and the Mind-Body Problem 120
The Causal Status of Feelings and Emotions 120
Other Minds 122
Moods, Emotions, and Motives 122
The Feelings of Reinforcers 124
Summary and Conclusions 125
References 125
Key Terms and Concepts 125
Study Questions 125
14. Applied Behavior Analysis, Abnormal Behavior, and Therapy 127
Some Representative Behavior-Analytic Interventions 128
Clinical Behavior Analysis 130
Comparison to Traditional Views 132
Why Do Forms of Traditional Therapy Work When They Do? 134
Who Judges Improvement? 135
Summary and Conclusions 136
References 136
Key Terms and Concepts 136
Study Questions 137
15. Ethics and Morality 138
What is Good Conduct? 138
Social Impact as Another Consideration 140
The “Good” 140
The Temporal Context 142
The Moral-Ethical Matrix 142
Moral and Ethical Injunctions 143
Summary and Conclusions 143
References 144
Key Terms and Concepts 144
Study Questions 144
16. Values, Rights, and Responsibilities 146
Values as Reinforcers 146
Rights 147
Responsibility 147
Jurisprudence 148
Summary and Conclusions 150
References 150
Key Terms and Concepts 150
Study Questions 150
17. Education 152
A Behavior-Analytic View of the Educational Process 152
Contingencies and the Matter of Control 153
Verbal Knowledge 154
Tacts 154
Intraverbal Control 155
Some Traditional Assumptions About Students, the Educational Process,
and the Role of the Instructor 156
Concepts, Collateral Responses, and Equivalence Classes 157
Behavior-Analytic Assessment 160
Summary and Conclusions 160
References 161
Key terms and concepts 161
Study questions 161
18. Societies and Cultures 163
Three Levels of Selection 163
Cultural Practices 164
Evolution of a Culture 166
Design of a Culture 167
Democracy 167
Summary and Conclusions 168
References 169
Study Questions 169
19. Conclusion 170
Name Index 173
Subject Index 175
