BEHAVIOR, WHAT IT IS NOT AND WHAT IT MIGHT BE

Abstract

The word “behavior” can be used in different contexts, with different meanings, for living organisms or inanimate things, but in Behavior Analysis sometimes it is used as synonymous of the word “interaction”. Interactions, in the plural form, are the subject of Psychology, and, in the special case of behavior analysis, are studied through analysis of contingencies. Contingencies are not restricted to operants, but the literature has used the word behavior as synonymous of the operant contingency: behavior in interaction with the environment. Keywords: behavior; contingencies; behavior analysis.