BF Skinner's Radical Behaviorism EXPLAINED

B.F. Skinner’s “Radical behaviorism” is “a thoroughgoing form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings, terms of controlling variables in the history of the person (ontogeny) and the species (phylogeny)”
Cooper, Heron & Heward (2007)

Business inquiries, ideas, and hate mail:
Phone: [phone]

My Gear:

My Influences:

Links for Today:

Special Thanks: Patrons! :)

[BusterBrownTown]

Great vid man, I’m an undergraduate psychology student and so much of this kind of stuff is so dense and intricate it’s so draining. So hearing someone not in a monotone voice, showing actual engagement with the content whilst giving broad strokes and summarising important information is super refreshing.
Keep up the good work!

[jocegodfrey]

WHAT!!!???!! I can’t believe you posted right now! My kids are doing school at home and I just locked myself in my bedroom to take what I can tell them it’s called a restart. I think they think that’s a normal term even though I made it up. I haven’t even listened to the show yet and I already appreciate you thank you

[katelynlitardo]

Thanks for putting this out! We appreciate the content! You made the concept easy to understand! Keep killing it!

[giannism]

Excellent video! Thank you!

Just leaving here some defining characteristics of radical behaviorism:
- identifies behavior as its subject matter
- defines behavior as everything an organism does (i.e. actions, cognition, feelings, senses, and even the neural activity)
- is an inductive approach (i.e. follows a method from the data to the theory)
- is selectionist (i.e. selection as a causal mode; understanding complexity as the cumulative product of relatively simple processes; rejection of essentialism/thinking of nature in terms of "real" categories/essences)
- is pragmatic (i.e. it's occupied with prediction and control of its subject matter)
- rejects mentalism/cognitivism (i.e. the alleged causal status of cognition and/or the mind on behavior)

[tylerdeskins]

Great vid! I’m excited for the next one and would love to hear your take on interbehaviorism as well (if you have the time of course)!

[deneanminfield]

Very informative and simple ! I am currently studying to become a BCBA. Coming from a Biology background, it has been difficult separating my scientific knowledge of the brain to welcome a more behavioral approach. Your videos are definitely helping ! Keep it going ! Thank you.

[randomvideos]

This video is more helpful than my professor. Thank you !

[brendaburger]

Ugh thank you I was so confused by the article lol

[sociocyberneering]

I’m glad to see someone bothered to read “about behaviorism.