Overview

Behaviorism was the dominant movement in American psychology in the first half of the twentieth century, culminating in the radical movement of B.F. Skinner - the most influential psychologist since Freud. John Staddon's entertaining book begins with a brief history of behaviorism and goes on to explain and criticize radical behaviorism, its philosophy and its applications to social issues. But the purpose of The New Behaviorism is to move experimental psychology away from its current undisciplined indulgence in mental life towards the core of science, which is an economical description of nature. The author argues that parsimony, the elementary philosophical distinction between private and public events, even biology, evolution and animal psychology - all are ignored by much contemporary cognitive psychology. The New Behaviorism attempts to redress the balance. The failings of a theoretical radical behaviorism as well as a philosophically defective cognitive psychology point to the need for a new theoretical behaviorism, which can deal with problems such as consciousness that have been either ignored, evaded or muddled by existing approaches. The book will appeal to fellow scientists, graduate students and advanced undergraduates interested in the psychology of learning, curious about the history and philosophy of the behavioral approach and wanting a glimpse of current developments in the behaviorist tradition.

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9781841690148

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The New Behaviorism: Mind, Mechanism and Society is a navigational chart on sailing between the Scylla of Skinnerism and the Charybdis of modern cognitive theory. After a review of the history of behaviorism and an introduction to the experimental foundations of radical behaviorism, Staddon launches into a critique of radical behaviorism on empirical, social policy, and theoretical grounds. <br>- The Behavior Analyst, Fall 2001 <br> Behaviorism is dead; we all know that. But why did it die, and is there anything of it worth resurrecting? In his very readable The New Behaviorism, John Staddon addresses these questions and much, much more. He argues that philosophically Watsonian and Skinnerian behaviorism were fundamentally flawed, but that nonetheless they yielded valuable techniques and results. His positive project here is to provide a satisfactory philosophical foundation for a new behaviorism, one that eschews neither theory nor internal states. Whether that proves successful only time will tell, but Staddon makes a compelling case for giving it a shot. I would urge that not only psychologists, but also philosophers interested in psychology and the cognitive sciences, give this book a shot. You will not be bored.. <br>-Robert Brandon <br>

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