S.B. – 6
Theory
As of Oct. 20, 2017
(Perhaps this unit is a little more difficult, but it can change one’s perspective of what constitutes an adequate explanation of human behavior.)
Before studying this material there are probably as many definitions for the word “theory” as there are readers of this material. The definitions of the term listed immediately below were given by a college psychology class.
1. proven facts 12. a hypothesis
2. generalized idea 13. a collection of observations
3. a conclusion 14. a guideline or formula
4. never can be proven 15. a studied concept
5. may be proven 16. an explanation
6. a proven hypothesis 17. an unproved hypothesis
7. series of beliefs 18. an idea with no proof
8. a way of thinking 19. a belief not proven
9. a cause in an experiment 20. a statement
10. an idea of a concept 21. why you believe
11. an opinion
Ambiguity is a part of much of our language, but with theory, as you see above, different college students are even using the term to refer to opposites. With so much variance on what is meant by theory, certainly any adequate discussion would need to first clarify the definition. In this unit we shall try to look at a useful concept of theory.
Science does consist of collecting and cataloging data, but collecting and cataloging data is not enough. Science is not just a collection of isolated facts; it is a search for order among the facts it discovers. Biology is more than a collection of the human organs, just as chemistry is more than charts of the properties of elements and compounds. The data in a science is tied together or integrated into a framework.
Q-1. One of the functions of science is a search for ______.
Answer. (order)
Extrapolating or theorizing beyond this data must be done carefully. When extrapolations in the form of theory have been made too hastily, advancement slows down. A famous writer in this area of theory, Whitehead, once said that scientific theory takes off from observations, makes a flight into the thin air of generalization, and lands for renewed observation. This somewhat poetic statement suggests that the theories of science are of value just to the extent that they are grounded in observation.
Considerable discussion exists on how a theory should be constructed. A classical article on theory is B.F. Skinner’s “Are Theories of Learning Necessary?” In this article, theory is defined as any explanation of an observed fact which appeals to events taking place somewhere else, at some other level of observation described in different terms, and measured, if at all, in different dimensions. Here is a mnemonic device for learning these features of the definition of theory: Learning Theory Police Dept. (L.T.P.D.) A theory is an explanation at different
Levels (different levels of observation)
Terms (described in different terms)
Place (somewhere else)
Dimension (If measured at all, measured in different dimensions)
If you don’t like the mnemonic above try LSD-T (LSD tea)
L – Level (different levels of observation)
S – Somewhere else (different place)
D – Dimension (If measured at all, measured in different dimensions)
T – Terms (described in different terms)
Q-2. Skinner defines theory as an explanation based on __________.
Answer. (events at different levels of observation, somewhere else, in different terms, and in different dimensions, if measured at all)
In this definition of theory, the explanation of theory is in a different dimension or level of observation. It would be useful to look at what is meant by the same level of observation. For instance, when a child learns to write, the teacher shows the child how to hold a pencil and demonstrates how letters are formed, praises the child for correct letter formation, etc. The observable writing behavior of the child interacting with the environment (teacher etc.) is what is meant by the same level. If the child’s learning to write is attributed to brain functions or an inner ability to learn, then the learning takes place in a different level of observation.
Q-3. In the material immediately above, “brain function” and “inner ability to learn” are referred to as different level of __________.
Answer. (observation)
ONE: “Physiologizing”: Skinner in “Are Theories of Learning Necessary?” states “we are all familiar with the changes which are supposed to take place in the nervous system when an organism learns. Synaptic connections are made or broken, electrical fields are disrupted or reorganized, concentrations of ions are built up or allowed to diffuse away, and so on.” In a science of behavior where we are concerned with whether or not an organism does a given behavior all statements about the nervous system are theories. In a sense that they are not expressed in the same terms and could not be confirmed with the same methods of observation as the facts for which they are said to account.
Q-4. In the science of behavior all statements about the nervous system are _________________, if they attempt to explain the cause for behavior.
Answer. (theories)
Studying behavior for behavior’s sake is a legitimate area of investigation. Even if all the “functions related to brain spots,” “gland squirts,” and other physiological independent variables could be correlated with specific behavior, there would still be reasons to study the environmental variables that change both the organism’s physiology and behavior.
Skinner is not opposed to the study of physiology. He does, however, question the necessity of including it in an analysis or explanation of behavior. “The English language contains hundreds of expressions which imply such a causal relationship. At the end of a long trial we read that the jury shows signs of brain fatigue, that the defendant is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and that his lawyer is generally thought to have lacked the brains needed to stand up to the prosecution. Obviously, no direct observations have been made of the brain and/or the nervous systems of any of these people.”
Q-5. Skinner contends that statements such as “Synaptic connections are made or broken, electrical fields are disrupted or reorganized, concentrations of ions are built up or allowed to diffuse away,” are __________ when they are supposed to account for a behavior.
Answer. (theory)
TWO: “Mentalism”: If you explain learning by defining it as problem solving, expectancy, cognition, etc. you have only extended your problem. You will need to account for what problem solving is made up of, what expectancy is, etc. Up to this time theories of this type have dominated the field of human behavior. They consist of references to “mental” events, as in saying that an organism learns to behave in a certain way because it “finds something pleasant” or because it “expects something to happen.” To the mentalistic psychologist these explanatory events are no more theoretical than synaptic connections to the neurophysiologist, but in a science of behavior they are theories because the methods and terms appropriate to the events to be explained differ from the methods and terms appropriate to the explaining events.
Q-6. “Bobby does well in school because he finds school enjoyable.” From Skinner’s viewpoint this is an example of _______________.
Answer. (theory)
Theories, whether physiologizing or mentalistic, get in the way of the search for relevant environmental variables. When we attribute behavior to a supposed mental event we are likely to forget that we still have the task of accounting for the causal external event. For example, when we assert that an animal acts in a given way because it “expects” to receive food, then what began as a task of accounting for learned behavior becomes the task of accounting for “expectancy” which then supposedly causes learned behavior. This added complexity is of no real use to the researcher.
Q-7. One of the problems with a mentalistic explanation of expectancy is that we still have to account for the cause of _____________.
Answer. (expectancy )
Inferences: Things that are not directly and publicly observed, as contrasted with facts or data which are publicly agreed upon.
Q-8. An event which is not directly observed is an _______________.
Answer. (inference)
Three: Response Rate as an Alternative: Alternatives to mentalistic inferences do exist and should be considered. Rate of responding appears to be the datum which varies significantly and in the same direction as “learning process.” We may be tempted to accept it as our long-sought-after measure of behavior. Once in possession of an effective datum, however, we may feel little need for any theoretical construct of this sort. Progress in a scientific field usually waits upon the discovery of a satisfactory dependent variable. Until such a variable has been discovered we resort to theory. The entities which have figured so
prominently in learning theory have served mainly as substitutes for a directly observable and productive datum. Now that behavioral scientists have a useful measure of responding, how much can be done without resorting to theorizing? What other sorts of scientific activity are possible? And what light do alternative practices throw upon our present, perhaps unnecessary, preoccupation with theory?
Q-9. Which datum varies significantly and in the same direction as ‘learning process’ and is used as the basic datum of measuring
behavior?
Answer. (rate)
Four: A False Sense of Security: The problem of accounting for behavior is complex and difficult. We are likely to use inference to give us an answer in place of further study.
Q-10. What is produced when inferred answers are used in place of adequate research?
Answer. (false sense of security)
Five: CNS: Skinner has suggested that the letters CNS have at times been used to stand for the Conceptual Nervous System instead of the Central Nervous System. Many theorists point out that they are not talking about the nervous system as an actual structure undergoing physiological or bio-chemical changes but only as a system with a certain dynamic output. This nervous system is unobservable, and is a theory, when it is supposed to account for behavior. A behavioral definition of expectancy has the advantage that the problem of mental inference is avoided, and with it, the problem of how a mental event can cause a physical one.
Q-11. Skinner sarcastically contends that CNS has come at times, to mean not the Central Nervous System, but C____________ N_________ S__________.
Answer. (conceptual nervous system)
Some less behaviorally-oriented psychologists have stated that “Learning is adjustment or adaptation to a situation.” But we scientists should ask, “Of what stuff are adjustments and adaptations made? Are they data, or inferences from data?” “Learning is improvement.” Again we must ask, “Improvement in what? From whose point of view?” “Learning is restoration in equilibrium.” But what is in equilibrium and how is it put there? “Learning is problem solving.” But what are the physical dimensions of a problem or of a solution? These supposed explanations are not useful insofar as they are not precisely defined in observable terms.
Six: Nature of Research: Research designed with respect to theory is also likely to be wasteful. Even when a theory generates research, it does not prove its value unless the research is valuable. Much useless experimentation results from theories, and much energy and skill are absorbed by them. Most theories are eventually overthrown, and the greater part of the associated research is discarded. This could be justified if it were true that productive research requires a theory, as is, of course, often claimed. It is argued that research would be aimless and disorganized without a theory to guide it. The view is supported by psychological texts which take their cue from the logicians rather than empirical science and describe thinking as necessarily involving states of hypothesis, deduction, experimental testing, and confirmation. But this is not the way most scientists actually work. It is possible to design significant experiments for other reasons, and the possibility to be examined is that such research will lead more directly to the kind of information which a science usually accumulates.
Seven: Reductionism: Reduction is defined as the use of constructs and laws from one discipline to explain the relationships found in another area. Satirically, but truthfully, it has been stated that the notion of reductionism has one shortcoming in reference to the study of behavior: “We don’t know which way is down.” In reductionism we are reducing down to a more basic level, but in terms of definitions of this sort it is not clear which direction is more basic (or down).
Eight: Theories are Fun: Perhaps to do without theories altogether is a tour de force which is too much to expect as a general rule. Theories are fun. The kind of explanations used in theory allow even whimsical speculation to suffice, even if the answer is useless. But it is possible that the most rapid progress toward an understanding of behavior and its controlling variables may be made by research which is not designed to test theories. An adequate impetus is supplied by the inclination to obtain data showing orderly changes characteristic of the learning process. An acceptable scientific program is to collect data of this sort and to relate them to manipulable variables.
Q-12. Skinner’s view on the major reason theories continue to exist is that theories are ________________.
Answer. (fun)
(The material above was an effort at making sections of the longer and more technical article more readable. “Are Theories of Learning Necessary” by B.F. Skinner appeared originally in the Psychological Review, 1950, volume 57, pages 193-215.)
Questions on Theory
1. Skinner contends that the most rapid progress toward an understanding of learning will be made by research designed to
test theories.
a. true
b. false
Answer. (b)
2. Skinner contends that behavioral events should be explained in
a. physiological terms
b. mental terms
c. behavioral terms
d. conceptual terms
e. all of the above
Answer. (c)
3. Which of these qualifies as a theory, according to Skinner?
a. events occurring elsewhere
b. events occurring in another dimension
c. events taking place somewhere
d. events, if measured at all, measured in different terms
e. all of the above
Answer. (e)
4. One of the problems with a mentalistic notion of expectancy is that
a. nobody likes it
b. Freud has to be wrong by definition
c. we still have to account for the mental event expectancy
d. you still don’t know what part of the brain stores expectancy
e. all of the above
Answer. (c)
5. Skinner contends that C.N.S. has come to mean _____ _____ _____.
Answer. (conceptual nervous system)
6. “Bobby does well in school because he likes school.” This is an example of the use of a theory that would be helpful to a behavioral scientist interested in Bobby’s performance in the classroom.
a. true
b. false
Answer. (b)
7. The author is opposed to
a. The study of physiology
b. Statements such as “synaptic connections are made or broken, electrical fields are disrupted or reorganized, concentration of ions are built up or allowed to diffuse away.”
c. Such statements as in B above only when they are supposed to account for learning
d. Statements which are not expressed in the same terms and could not be confirmed with the same method of observation as the fact for which they are said to account.
e. c and d above are correct
Answer. (e)
8. According to Skinner, theories
a. Give us a false sense of security
b. Give us a satisfactory explanation of behavior
c. Are necessary for experimentation and research
d. In the field of learning are usually a necessity.
Answer. (a)
9. What is the basic datum for measuring behavior?
Answer. (rate)
10. Bob will study three times as hard as anyone else because he enjoys getting good marks. This would best illustrate what category of theory?
Answer. (mentalistic)
11. What categories of theory are described in Skinner’s “Are Theories of Learning Necessary?”
Answer. (mentalism and physiologizing)