Critical Analysis of the Concept of Causality in Behavioristic Psychology
- 1 August 1972
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Reports
- Vol. 31 (1) , 175-197
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1972.31.1.175
Abstract
A number of problems in contemporary psychology can be attributed to the influence of Hume's perceptual-level view of causality. This influence is most clearly manifested in Skinner's descriptive behaviorism which advocates the search for functional relationships between observable sequences of events. In general, Hume's views have: (1) led psychologists to attempt to redefine terms pertaining to consciousness in behavioral language, thereby producing conceptual chaos; (2) systematically encouraged the study of trivial types of learning in preference to the study of man's conceptual abilities; and (3) resulted in the appearance of blatant contradictions between theory and practice.Keywords
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