Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Behavior Analyst logoLink to The Behavior Analyst
. 1988 Fall;11(2):131–140. doi: 10.1007/BF03392466

The virtues of scientific psychology: A reply to Harzem

Robert W Proctor, Daniel J Weeks
PMCID: PMC2741955  PMID: 22478007

Abstract

Harzem recently expressed the opinions that, beginning in the 1960s, the progress of scientific psychology has been deferred and that psychological research has failed to address important social issues. He proposed that progress be resumed by taking up, anew, the experimental analysis of behavior. The present reply provides evidence inconsistent with Harzem's assertions regarding the state of contemporary, scientific psychology and questions the wisdom of disregarding the significant body of data and theory that currently are available to pursue the, as yet, unfulfilled promises of the experimental analysis of human behavior.

Keywords: scientific psychology, behavior analysis, cognitive psychology, information processing

Full text

PDF
135

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. GIBSON E. J., WALK R. D. The "visual cliff". Sci Am. 1960 Apr;202:64–71. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. HUBEL D. H., WIESEL T. N. RECEPTIVE FIELDS OF CELLS IN STRIATE CORTEX OF VERY YOUNG, VISUALLY INEXPERIENCED KITTENS. J Neurophysiol. 1963 Nov;26:994–1002. doi: 10.1152/jn.1963.26.6.994. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. HYMAN R. Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time. J Exp Psychol. 1953 Mar;45(3):188–196. doi: 10.1037/h0056940. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Harzem P. On the virtues of being a psychologist. Behav Anal. 1987 Fall;10(2):175–181. doi: 10.1007/BF03392427. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Johnston J. M., Shook G. L. Developing behavior analysis at the state level. Behav Anal. 1987 Fall;10(2):199–233. doi: 10.1007/BF03392431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Krantz D. L. The separate worlds of operant and non-operant psychology. J Appl Behav Anal. 1971 Spring;4(1):61–70. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1971.4-61. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. LEONARD J. A. Partial advance information in a choice reaction task. Br J Psychol. 1958 May;49(2):89–96. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1958.tb00644.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. March J. G. The 1978 nobel prize in economics. Science. 1978 Nov 24;202(4370):858–861. doi: 10.1126/science.202.4370.858. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pennypacker H. S. The challenge of technology transfer: Buying in without selling out. Behav Anal. 1986 Fall;9(2):147–156. doi: 10.1007/BF03391940. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pond S. B., 3rd, Armenakis A. A., Green S. B. The importance of employee expectations in organizational diagnosis. J Appl Behav Sci. 1984 May;20(2):167–180. doi: 10.1177/002188638402000207. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Poulton E. C. Engineering psychology. Annu Rev Psychol. 1966;17:177–200. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ps.17.020166.001141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ratliff K. G., Burkhart B. R. Sex differences in motivations for and effects of drinking among college students. J Stud Alcohol. 1984 Jan;45(1):26–32. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1984.45.26. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stanton A. L. Determinants of adherence to medical regimens by hypertensive patients. J Behav Med. 1987 Aug;10(4):377–394. doi: 10.1007/BF00846477. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. WALK R. D., GIBSON E. J., TIGHE T. J. Behavior of light- and dark-reared rats on a visual cliff. Science. 1957 Jul 12;126(3263):80–81. doi: 10.1126/science.126.3263.80-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Behavior Analyst are provided here courtesy of Association for Behavior Analysis International

RESOURCES