Essentialism and selectionism in cognitive science and behavior analysis.

@article{citeulike:186123, abstract = {Contingencies of selection, be they phylogenetic or ontogenetic, merely set boundaries on units; they do not provide blueprints. Thus, variability is fundamental to all products of selection. Skinner, by characterizing the units of analysis in behavior as generic in nature, established his science squarely within the selectionist paradigm, thereby avoiding the tendency, common throughout psychology, to slip into essentialist analyses. The distinction between essentialism and selectionism is refined in this article, and prominent examples of essentialism in linguistics, theories of memory, theories of representation, associationism, and even in behavior analysis are identified. Recent trends in cognitive science--specifically, research on adaptive networks--is amenable to a selectionist interpretation, suggesting the possibility of future fruitful interactions with behavior analysis.}, address = {Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063.}, author = {Palmer, D. C. and Donahoe, J. W. }, citeulike-article-id = {186123}, issn = {0003-066X}, journal = {Am Psychol}, keywords = {essentialism, selectionism, vitalism}, month = {November}, number = {11}, pages = {1344--1358}, posted-at = {2005-05-07 18:03:35}, priority = {4}, title = {Essentialism and selectionism in cognitive science and behavior analysis.}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1482002}, volume = {47}, year = {1992} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:186123 L3 - citeulike-article-id:186123 TI - Essentialism and selectionism in cognitive science and behavior analysis. JF - Am Psychol VL - 47 IS - 11 SP - 1344 EP - 1358 AD - Department of Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, MA 01063. SN - 0003-066X N2 - Contingencies of selection, be they phylogenetic or ontogenetic, merely set boundaries on units; they do not provide blueprints. Thus, variability is fundamental to all products of selection. Skinner, by characterizing the units of analysis in behavior as generic in nature, established his science squarely within the selectionist paradigm, thereby avoiding the tendency, common throughout psychology, to slip into essentialist analyses. The distinction between essentialism and selectionism is refined in this article, and prominent examples of essentialism in linguistics, theories of memory, theories of representation, associationism, and even in behavior analysis are identified. Recent trends in cognitive science--specifically, research on adaptive networks--is amenable to a selectionist interpretation, suggesting the possibility of future fruitful interactions with behavior analysis. KW - essentialism KW - selectionism KW - vitalism AU - Palmer, DC AU - Donahoe, JW PY - 1992/11// UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1482002 ER -