Methodological differences between behaviorism and phenomenology in psychology.

“Methodological behaviorism” is a term that frequently appears in the behavioristic literature, but one accompanied by considerable semantic confusion: the term is used to denote very different theoretical positions and the authors classified as methodological behaviorists are many and various. In order to understand the polysemic character of this term, we propose a historical analysis of its origins and development in the literature from the 50 years following its first appearance in 1923. The results reveal that it has been used by authors as diverse as Karl Lashley, B. F. Skinner, Herbert Feigl, and Gustav Bergmann. Moreover, it has been defined in terms of two central features (one a methodological assumption and the other a metaphysical one) and used to demarcate positive and negative forms of behaviorism, depending on how each author has understood those features and forms. We conclude that the term’s polysemic character and different uses can be traced back to its roots in the 1920s, which helps us to understand the semantic confusion in the contemporary literature.

Methodological Behaviorism: Historical Origins of a Problematic Concept (1923-1973).

Recent notes criticizing and defending the use of phenomenological observations in psychology are criticized for failing to take into account the means through which observations can be made objective and public. Objectivity is attained through the use of objects or instruments of measurement, and the public nature of an event is a function of its replicability from laboratory to laboratory. Phenomenological observations are seen from this point of view to be necessarily subjective and private.

Private events made public.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo iniciar um dialogo entre as ideias de B. F. Skinner e M. Merleau-Ponty a partir do comportamento reflexo. Do ponto de vista metodologico, optou-se pelo estudo da primeira fase do pensamento merleau-pontyano, especificamente com o livro La structure du comportament , e a segunda fase do pensamento skinneriano, especificamente com o livro Science and human behavior . Os demais textos de Skinner, Merleau-Ponty e comentadores foram usados como referencia de apoio. Tres momentos serao considerados. No primeiro, apresentar-se-a uma revisao do panorama geral do dialogo entre fenomenologia e behaviorismo. No segundo, tratar-se-a questoes sobre o metodo e sua justificativa. No terceiro, discutir-se-a a superacao da explicacao comportamental pelo reflexo e como ela nos indica o movimento de convergencia entre as filosofias de Skinner e de Merleau-Ponty. Palavras-chave: behaviorismo; behaviorismo radical; fenomenologia; Skinner; Merleau-Ponty

/pdf/behaviorismo-e-fenomenologia-direcionamentos-para-um-dialogo-3vxd0u2kct.pdf

Behaviorismo e fenomenologia: direcionamentos para um diálogo entre Skinner e Merleau-Ponty

Summary.-In answering their critics, Brody and Oppenheim offer a circular description of behavioris~ic method which poses more questions than it answers. An analysis of the terms they employ and the statements they make reveals that Brody and Oppenheim mislead their readers when they pretend that the validity of behavioristic method rests on public observation of an already existing reality called "behavior." In point two of their article, "Methodological Differences between Behaviorism and Phenomenology," Brody and Oppenheim, replying to criticisms (Henle & Baltimore, 1967; Zaner, 1967) of their earlier paper, "Tensions in Psychology between the Methods of Behaviorism and Phenomenology'" (Brody & Oppenheim, 1966), state that "Psychologists are behaviorists, irrespective of the many differences in viewpoint among them, if they take as the fundamental data for their investigations not experiences themselves but the publicly observable behavior of organisms, including verbal communications about experiences of any kind (whether they are sensory or not) in the form of first- and third-person reports; in these cases, the behaviorists take as the fundamental data the statements, that is, the face that the statements are made and not the experiences described in the statements" (Brody & Oppenheim, 1967). The discussion below outlines some of che difficulties inherent in their statement that might be conscri~ed as undermining the effectiveness of Brody's and Oppenheim's description of behavioristic method as a propaedutic to contingent arguments and distinctions. (1) "Publicly observable" is an ambiguous phrase that is often used to justify the claim that observation itself is a fiz~blic experience. Behaviorists, like all other men, observe through private, not public, perceptual organs. They see through individual eyes, not public or common eyes, and hear through individual ears, not common ears. Behaviorists may see that another is seeing or hearing, but the act of seeing or hearing is unalterably tied to individual bodies, not a common body shared by behaviorists. Whether the data are muscle movements or verbal reports, the experience of observing is a function of individual sense organs. Of course, there are varieties of human experiences tied to individual bodies, including experiences of objects, events, or processes as directly perceivable by others. When, for example, one looks at a clock, the clock may be experienced as a "public" directly perceivable by others as well as by oneself. At other times, one may experience an object, event, or process as inaccessible in its original form

Method of behaviorism as stated by brody and oppenheim: a critique

Portraits in straw.

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