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Correlated Hypothesizing and the Distinction between Contingency-Shaped and Rule-Governed Behavior

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Rule-Governed Behavior

Abstract

Within our culture, references to consciousness, rational thought, and the use of knowledge are taken as straightforward descriptions of basic human functioning. Within psychology, there has been an enduring controversy over whether such terms qualify as basic explanatory terms, or whether they are misleading intrusions from ordinary language. On one hand, cognitivists have conformed to common usage, encorporating “knowledge,” “awareness,” and other terms of mentalistic origin into the groundwork of their theories. These concepts are said to explain why humans (and sometimes animals as well) behave as they do. On the other hand, behavioral traditions have run counter to these patterns. Many behaviorists have asserted that terms of mentalistic origin are inappropriate to a scientific account.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19122, USA

    Philip N. Hineline

  2. Department of Psychology, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, 44017, USA

    Barbara A. Wanchisen

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  1. Philip N. Hineline
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  1. University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Steven C. Hayes

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Hineline, P.N., Wanchisen, B.A. (1989). Correlated Hypothesizing and the Distinction between Contingency-Shaped and Rule-Governed Behavior. In: Hayes, S.C. (eds) Rule-Governed Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0447-1_7

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