The book is a short history of behaviorism, a critique of Skinnerian radical behaviorism, and a proposal for a new theoretical behaviorism.
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Editorial Reviews
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"An insightful introduction to the behaviorist tradition." -- (Choice, 1994)
"Being heavy with book myself, I read yours too quickly. But not too quickly to see how clear, interesting, and fair-minded it is...You told your story very well." -- Psychologist Richard Herrnstein 1993
"I think it is terrific. I wish everybody in psychology, or for that matter philosophy, wrote as well as you do." Philosopher John Searle -- Philosopher John Searle, 1993
"The reader is treated to an uncommonly accurate rendering of Skinnerian inconsistencies, a penetrating account of the superstition literature, and an illuminating behavioral description of the color phi phenomena...Staddon's interpretation of a theoretical behaviorism is engaging, lively, and thought provoking - even the footnotes are a joy to read." Randall D. Wight -- Contemporary Psychology, 1996
"Being heavy with book myself, I read yours too quickly. But not too quickly to see how clear, interesting, and fair-minded it is...You told your story very well." -- Psychologist Richard Herrnstein 1993
"I think it is terrific. I wish everybody in psychology, or for that matter philosophy, wrote as well as you do." Philosopher John Searle -- Philosopher John Searle, 1993
"The reader is treated to an uncommonly accurate rendering of Skinnerian inconsistencies, a penetrating account of the superstition literature, and an illuminating behavioral description of the color phi phenomena...Staddon's interpretation of a theoretical behaviorism is engaging, lively, and thought provoking - even the footnotes are a joy to read." Randall D. Wight -- Contemporary Psychology, 1996
From the Back Cover
Behaviorism was the dominant movement in American psychology in the first half of the twentieth century, culminating in the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner, the most influential psychologist since Freud. Skinner wrote at length on social engineering, and his views have influenced all psychologists, both behaviorists and others. Recent developments in theory, robotics and artificial intelligence promise to propel behaviorism once more to the forefront of psychology.
In this entertaining book, John Staddon describes the history of the movement from its beginnings in a short polemic by J. B. Watson in 1913, through the US 'rat runners' to exciting modern developments. He argues that the new theoretical behaviorism can tackle even such problems as 'consciousness,' hitherto regarded as the exclusive province of cognitive psychology.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Behaviorism,
By KEVIN MARCH (JUNEAU, ALASKA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Behaviorism (Interpretations) (Paperback)
Behaviorism is an excellent book that lays the foundation for the understanding of radical behaviorism and the principles of modern behaviorism in an entertaining fashion. The text is very philosophical yet very scientific in the discussion of the ever evolving field of one of most important branches of modern psychological thought. This essay easily dispels any and all of the rumors and misconceptions about the two major proponents of the field of Behaviorism being Burrhus Frederic Skinner and John Broadus Watson. Very thought provoking and informative.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Review of Behaviorism,
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This review is from: Behaviorism (Interpretations) (Paperback)
This is a good introduction to behaviorism and its history.The book is rather short which is a good thing if you want a brief introduction to the field (or a bad thing if you are looking for more). Behaviorism is seeing a resurgence in AI robotics with the work of Brooks and others. Staddon defines enough versions of behaviorism that some of them blend into cognitivism and the distinction becomes blurred. One possible distinction would have been the presence or absence of internal state. Watson's and Skinner's behaviorism allowed no state. Cognitive science does. A discussion of state "in the world" (scent trails, etc.) would be an interesting way to work state into radical behaviorism. But Staddon allows state in "modern behaviorism" and his model behaviorist theory is quite simply a finite state machine (automaton). Another possible distinction might have been consciousness but this is not explored in any great detail in this (short) book. Behaviorism should be of interest to AI people. In its more radical forms it represents a minimalist attempt at a theory of intelligence. As such it would be a good place for AI to begin.
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