From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Sat Dec 03 2005 - 06:13:46 GMT
[Case]
Behaviorism seeks to explain all behavior. This would include behavior of
any organism. Although I thought Skinner's Verbal Behavior had a lot going
for it; it was not his greatest hit. I was pointing out that behaviorists
have made great strides by focusing on what can be observed rather that what can
be conceived of. Their account of how behavior is learned sounds a lot like
what you were saying about semiotics. The whole representation thing.
[Arlo]
I don't discount behaviorism to the degree that it can help us understand hidden
structures that influence our behavior. Indeed, many social structures turn to
behaviorism for lessons on using behavior altering techniques on people (the
famous study of restaurants painting their walls red to generate more client
turnover, when red was found to significantly increase the rate of eating and
diminish the likelihood of "hanging around", while blue walls slowed eating and
made people hang around more). Advertising (although Platt considers it to be
Holy and Pure) has long looked towards behavioral psychology (generating an
entire branch called consumer psychology) to see how lessons learned in
behavioral studies could be used to influence consumer behavior.
But I think structuration is more adequate consideration of agency than
behaviorism alone can provide. Structuration theories, for the most part, are
not usually concerned with microgenetic variations (dogs salivating at a ringed
bell), but are generally interested in cultural variations (why Eskimos see
varieties of snow as different, or why people born poor also tend to die poor).
In short, behaviorism tends to focus on the S->R moment, while structuration
looks at patterned behavior over historical time.
But to the question, "is behavior learned", the answer is of course, yes. The
structurationists answer would be, "as external structures (symbolic and
material) are appropriated over time, behavior (and thought) is guided towards
social-cultural expressions expected by the immediate structural realities of
the micro-cultural context." A mouthfull, to be sure, but worth digesting...
Arlo
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