Problem
There are six central attitudes of science that guide the values of any science. The attitudes of science include determinism, parsimony, replication, experimentation, empiricism, and philosophic doubt. Determinism is the defining framework of behavior analysis. Applied behavior analysis is very different from other fields of psychology in its approach to understanding human (and animal) behavior by emphasizing functional relations. Functional relations can only be identified when a specific change in the dependent variable is produced by particular manipulations of the independent variable - when a confounding variable did not cause the change.
Respond to the following:
i. Discuss how determinism and functional relations allow you to understand behavior.
ii. Explain how an understanding of the function of behavior guides your behavior interventions.
iii. Describe and compare mentalism and behaviorism. Identify the key differences between the philosophies and provide an example of each.
iv. Explain the different types of behaviorism and discuss how Skinner's radical behaviorism differs from other types of behaviorism.