Development of the causal notion in behavior analysis

Abstract

This paper had the objective to investigate the development of Skinner’s model of selection by consequences, which considers the human behavioral repertoire a set product of variables or philogenetic, ontogenetic and sociogenetic selections. The first kind of selection is the natural one that selects behaviors during the specie history due to its value to survival. The second type is the operating conditioning, in which selection takes place during the subject’s history by reinforcement. There still is a third type, which is a consequence of social and cultural environments, where selection is carried out by reinforced consequences that have effects on the group. In both levels of selection, the consequences are responsible for determining behavior; which explains a new causal notion in behavior analysis. The material used was texts from books and scientific journals. The method employed was the analysis of this material and finding out when each kind of selection appeared in Skinner’s work. Thus, it was possible to analyze how this model developed. The results obtained were the description and analysis of when each type of selection appeared in Skinner’s text, the idea of superposition of contingencies and the conflict of ideas in relation to Skinner’s determinism. Finally, it was concluded that Skinner’s work constitutes a conception of controlled behavior by its consequences in three levels of selection simultaneously.