1990 - Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia

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n ere isno doubtthattheexm rimentalanalysesofbehaviorfavored by Skirmer
and themdicalbehavioris? fitreadily intothe approach sketched above astlmtofnatuml
science.Focusing on publicly observablebehaviomldata,theexpen'mentalnnnlysisof
behavioruses powerfulprocedures ofexm rimentalcontrolwhich make even the
G haviorofindividualspredichble,thereby showing how behaviorcaṇ be cmlully
dem ndenton itsenvironmentalconte'xt.Skinnerargued thatthisempiriéaldata-base caa
beintemreted by meansofprincipleswhich arealso e%entially biologicalin nature.The
fi1stoftheseprinciplesisthatthe empiricalphenomenaofbehaviordo notneed to be
reduced to being merereflectionsofeventsatotherlevelsin ordertoberegarded as
biological,fortheirorderly relationslzipswith environmentaleventsprovideafocusfor
scientificanalysisin theirown rightwhich could neverbe replaced by otherlevelsof
enquiry.A second interpretiveprinciple favored by Skinneristhatoftheexplanatory
m werofselection by conmquences,aprinciplewhich formsthebasisalso forthebroad
study of evolutionary biology.This principle leads to an emphasis on dynamic
interactions between behavior and environmentmther than more static accountsof
G haviorasa reflection ofunderlying stmcture. '
' . The Mreatbulk ofSkinner*stheoreticalwritings,however,centerson peoplein
socialcontexî ratherthan on ratsand pigeonsin experimentalconditions.Hisviews
mnkecontactin anumberoffundamentally importantwayswith influentialaspectsof
the socialsciencetradition in psychology.W ith respectto the intem retation ofverbal
behaviorasasocialinteraction within which meaning istobefound,and theemphasis
on theimportanceofverbalbehaviororlanguage in theemergenceofprivateevenî and
the creation ofconsciousne-qs Skinner*sideasaresimilarto those ofoneofthefounding
figuresofsocialconstructionism,G.H.Mead (e.g.,1934). , . '' .
Skinner*saccountofm eaningcan be illustmtedby the following quohtions
from hiswork
'h tmditionaltenm ,meaning and referentsarenottobe found in
wor (IsbptinthecirclmKtancçstmderwhichwords2eusedby
speakersand understoM bylisteners'.tskirmer,1974,p.192)
' ... meaning isnotproperly regatded asaproperty eitherofaresponse
orasituation butmtheroftheconthlgenciesresm nsibleforloth the
topogmphy ofthe behaviorand the controlexerted by stimuli-'
(Skinner,1974,p.90) :
Skinner*sviewsheremakeconsidecablecontactwith thoseofM ead,asisshown
in the following quotaṭionsfrom thelatter*swriting: .