What Is Behaviorism?

Document Type

Response or Comment

Publication Date

10-1-1984

Published In

Contemporary Psychology

Abstract

Barry Schwartz and Hugh Lacey respond to Steven Hayes's reply (see record 2006-06415-072) to Schwartz and Lacey's comments (see record 2006-06415-071) on Hayes's review (see record 2006-06410-004) of Schwartz and Lacey's book, Behaviorism, Science, and Human Nature (1982). The authors say that in the book they tried to convey both the power and the limits of the behaviorist worldview simply, directly, and clearly. They simply may not possess the appropriate verbal repertoire. If in the book they ignore the importance of verbal behavior in human action, it is because behavior theory virtually completely ignores it. They know that Skinner wrote a book about it almost thirty years ago and that the journal Behaviorism is littered with articles about it, but where are the data? Translation, reinterpretation, and plausibility arguments wear a bit thin over thirty years.

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