Book-length treatments of behaviorism from a philosophical and historical perspective are few in number. Tilquin's (1942) is one of these, but its publication in French during World War II and the limited number of available copies make for difficult access. In this paper, I summarize the contents of the book for a general audience of behavior…

Chomsky's (1959) review of "Verbal Behavior" (Skinner, 1957) has been hailed as the most influential document in the history of psychology. Although many rejoinders to Chomsky's review have been published, their impact has been minimal. Moreover, Chomsky has not answered them in detail. To invite Chomsky to revisit a number of matters concerning…

Analysis of the key educational concepts of behaviorism contrasts those concepts with parallel thoughts drawn from more humanistic educators and concludes that behaviorist psychology's attempts to reduce complex human learning to simple animal learning prevents educators from recognizing and helping humans to develop their unique inner resources.…

Analyzes associative structures underlying goal-directed behavior using well-developed techniques for studying Pavlovian conditioning. Identifies the roles of the stimulus, response, and reinforcer in instrumental learning. A response and its reinforcer must be associated for acquisition and maintenance of instrumental behavior. (Author/LHW)

A study following five new nurses during the first 6 months of practice explored development of conceptual, theoretical, and practical knowledge. Participants had been educated in a behaviorist paradigm emphasizing task performance over critical thinking. Thus, they did not critically challenge assumptions or question theoretical constructs…

Discussion of formative evaluation focuses on the history of its use by behavioral psychologists, and refutes the notion that it is a new idea. Names that have been used for the evaluation process are reviewed, and examples of formative evaluation in a variety of settings are given. (11 references) (LRW)

Kaufman attempts to identify essential characteristics that distinguish behavioral from nonbehavioral research in industrial relations. He argues that they are distinguished by the psychological model of man that is contained in the theoretical framework used to deduce or test hypotheses. Comments from Lewin, Mincer, and Cummings with Kaufman's…

The narrowly behavioristic model used by the competence movement is part of a New Right process of culture change aimed at displacing the prevailing professional ethic and culture. The competency method oversimplifies the nature of organizations and work as well as social relations. (SK)

Contends attempts by radical behaviorists to create better society are marked by analytical and philosophical shortcomings. Argues the allegiance of behaviorism to ideology of technocracy serves primarily to reinforce existing societal structures. Suggests, although behaviorism is being used mostly to preserve the regnant social order, it is…

Discusses the theory of behaviorism from a psychological perspective. Three issues are addressed: (1) the datum, including human verbal behavior; (2) the behavior stream; and (3) reduction, including a scientific viewpoint. (Contains two references.) (LRW)

The most important changes that have taken place in behaviorism since John B. Watson's 1913 article are the introduction of the intervening variable approach and the understanding that psychology is both an experimental and a psychometric science. The only observables available to psychology are stimuli and response. (SLD)

The development of B. F. Skinner's theories of behavior and their application in industry are reviewed. Criticisms of Skinner are refuted. (SK)

Reviews the literature concerned with leadership in education. Topics addressed include trait theories of leadership; behavioral theories; situational leadership; instructional leadership; transformational leadership; value-added leadership; community of leaders; women as leaders; and organizational leadership. (Contains 44 references.) (LRW)

This paper examines the relationship among behaviorism, constructivism and Socratic pedagogy. Specifically, it asks if a Socratic educator can be a constructivist or a behaviorist. In the first part of the paper, each learning theory, as it relates to the Socratic project, is explained. In the last section, the question of whether or not a…

UK schools commonly employ a behavioral discipline method comprising rules, rewards awarded when children follow the rules and sanctions when children break them. To date, this approach has had only limited success in halting classroom disruption (Render, Padilla and Krank, 1989; Riley & Rustique-Forrester, 2002; Gutherson & Pickard,…