Radical Behaviorism for Practitioners

SCH PS508 - Radical Behaviorism for Practitioners

Credits: 2

This course is designed to introduce ABA teachers, clinicians, and practitioners to radical behaviorism, the philosophy of the science of behavior analysis.  In this course, students will review basic assumptions about the nature of behavior, including the philosophical positions of free will and determinism.  Significant emphasis will be placed on verbal behavior, and the problems that can arise when ABA practitioners are confronted with mentalistic explanations of behavior.  Students will also explore more complex conceptual issues, such as knowledge and understanding, purpose and intention, problem solving, reasoning, creativity, culture, ethics, rights, and values, in ways that illustrate how they are important to practitioners in their everyday work.  The historical perspective of how radical behaviorism evolved, and how it compares to other conceptual systems, will also be reviewed.