BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS AND PRAGMATISM

Resumo

For pragmatism, the meaning of a psychological concept or statement is found in its practical implications for human affairs. Absent is any assumption that the concept or statement represents the Truth about a metaphysical Reality that lies beyond human experience and behavior. Behavior analysts embrace pragmatism, and argue that an important consideration in psychology is the degree to which a psychological concept or statement contributes to effective action in the laboratory or in service delivery. The effective action commonly takes the form of prediction and control. Keywords: pragmatism, prediction and control, mentalism, levels of analysis, neuroscience