The Interbehaviorist · Vol. 15, No. 1

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THE INTERBEHAVIORIST

A Quarterly Newsletter of Interbehavioral Psychology

ISSN 8755-612X

Published at the University of Kansas

Volume 15

1987

Number 1

EDITOR

Edward K. Morris
University of Kansas

ADVISORY BOARD

Sidney W. Bijou
University of Arizona
Donna M. Cone
State of Rhode Island
Dennis J. Delprato
Eastern Michigan University
Sandy Hobbs (Scotland)
Paisley College of Technology
Paul T. Mountjoy
Western Michigan University
Linda J. Parrott (Canada)
St. Mary's University
N. H. Pronko
Wichita State University
Roger D. Ray
Rollins College
Emilio Ribes (Mexico)
Escuela Nacional de Estudios
Douglas H. Ruben
Eastern Michigan University
Robert G. Wahler
University of Tennessee

ASSISTANT EDITORS

Lisa M. Johnson
Bryan D. Midgley
Susan M. Schneider
James T. Todd

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUOTATION

Some purported scientific procedures that reject the mind, mentalism, consciousness, etc., still reflect some of the consequences of dualistic and spiritistic assumptions. Some forms of American behaviorism fall into this category. Beginning with a Cartesian mind-body dualism, many behaviorists and materialists rejected the mental half of the dualism and constructed their methodologies on what was left, but without rejecting thoroughly the entire framework of the mind-body split. (For trenchant comments, see J. R. Kantor, The Logic of Modern Science).

• Handy and Harwood (1973)

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THE INTERBEHAVIORIST

A Quarterly Newsletter of
Interbehavioral Psychology

ISSN 8755-612X

Edward K. Morris, Editor
Department of Human Development
2035D Haworth Hall
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas 66045, U.S.A.
913-864-3684/4840

The Interbehaviorist is a quarterly publication of news, information, discussion, journal and book notes, book reviews, comments, and brief articles pertaining to interbehavioral psychology -- a contextualistic, integrated-field approach to the natural science of behavior.

The newsletter publishes professional communications that fall between informal correspondence and colloquia, and formal archival publication. As such, the newsletter supplements contemporary journals dedicated to basic and applied research, to the history and philosophy of the behavioral sciences, and to professional issues in the field. The newsletter strongly encourages submission of notes about current professional activities of its subscribers, news and observations about interbehavioral psychology and related perspectives, comments on journal articles and books of interest, more extended book reviews, and brief articles. All submissions should be sent in triplicate to the editor and should conform to the style described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (3rd edition).

Subscription Information

THE PRINCIPIA PRESS

Principia Press's list of currently available titles in interbehavioral psychology is presented below. Check your bookshelves, and those of your library and bookstore, for possible oversights. In addition, the books make excellent gifts for colleagues and for students, especially for the latter in honor of their completed degree requirements. The books may be purchased directly from Principia Press, 5743 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637. Handling charges are \$.75 per title; prepaid orders are postpaid. Any queries should also be directed to the address above.

Principles of Psychology (2 vols.)
\$20.00

Psychology and Logic (2 vols.)
\$25.00

Interbehavioral Psychology
\$15.00

The Logic of Modern Science
\$15.00

An Objective Psychology of Grammar
\$13.00

The Scientific Evolution of Psychology
(2 vols.) \$40.00

The Science of Psychology: An
Interbehavioral Survey \$20.00

Psychological Linguistics
\$15.00

Interbehavioral Philosophy
\$27.50

Cultural Psychology
\$16.00

Tragedy and the Event Continuum
\$15.00

Selected Writings, 1929-1983
\$20.00

Psychological Comments and Queries
\$20.00

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THE AGORA

We apologize for the delays in the past two issues of the newsletter. They do not bespeak of weakness in the newsletter, but rather of an overburdened "editorial office." We will be caught up shortly; the next issue is coming along well.

As for the newsletter's health, last year's final count on the mailing list was 117, 110 of whom were paid subscribers -- 44 of whom have thus far resubscribed. If you have not yet resubscribed, this issue contains the last notice. The seven unpaid subscriptions represent complementary copies of the newsletter sent to the offices of several behavioral associations. Financially, the newsletter is on solid footing for another year, in large part due to past contributions to the Kantor Memorial Fund. Those are very much appreciated.

The present issue contains a slight change in format. In an effort to keep the available titles from Principia Press to the fore, we have begun publishing Principia's booklist on the inside front cover where "Notes from the Field" had been appearing; the latter will now be found towards the end of The Agora.

As for the contents of this issue, we should make one note: In light of the Mountjoy and Hansor obituary for Professor Kantor that appeared in the American Psychologist, (see "Notes for the Field"), we thought we would conclude this issue with a Memorial Resolution regarding Professor Kantor from the Indiana University Department of Psychology.

Psychological Comments and Queries

In reviewing and analyzing "Observer's" (1984) Psychological Comments and Queries, Harry C. Mahan (Project Socrates) has become curious about how the book might best be used in the classroom, how much background in interbehavioral psychology students need before using the book, and how the individual comments and queries might best be sequenced.

He would appreciate hearing from those who have read or have used the book. If you would write him about your reactions, he will try to integrate the responses with his own analysis of the text for a brief article to be published in The Interbehaviorist. Please write him at 811 Leonard Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92054 (619-722-9341).

Ninth Mexican Congress on Behavior Analysis

The Ninth Mexican Congress on Behavior Analysis will be held in Puebla City, Mexico, October 5-7, 1987. The meeting will cover theoretical, research, and applied contributions to human and nonhuman behavior. The paper submission deadline is August 26, 1987.

Papers should be submitted to: Hector Martinez Sanchez, Coordinator Organizing Committee, Coordinacion de Psicologia, ENPN Iztacala, Apartado Postale 314, Tlalnepantla, Edo. de Mexico, C.P. 54000. Phone: 565-22-33 (Ext. 133).

Papers to be presented in English should be submitted in their final form so that short translations may be prepared ahead of time for meeting attendees. Presented papers should not exceed twenty minutes.

Kantor Memorial Fund

We would like to thank those who have contributed to the Kantor Memorial Fund for the newsletter over the past several years. The fund serves for our long-term financial stability and for special publication and promotional events. Past giving has come from Richard Amado, Don Bloomquist, William Gardner, Dennis Delprato, Helene Kantor, Louise Kent-Udolf, Harry Mahan, Ed Morris, Henry Pronko, and Doug Ruben.

Notes from the Field

William H. Brown, William Bryson-Brockman, and James J. Fox (George Peabody College) published "The Usefulness of J. R. Kantor's Setting Event Concept for Research on Children's Social Behavior" in Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 1986, 8(2), 15-25.

Sandy Hobbs (Paisley College of Technology) and David Cornwell (Jordanhall College) published "Child Labour: An Underdeveloped Topic in Psychology" in the International Journal of Psychology, 1986, 21, 225-234. Their two papers from the 1985 Amsterdam International Symposium on "Play, Play Therapy, and Play Research" are now available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service. Abstracts appear in ERIC's Resources in Education, 1986 (April), 21(4), 109.

Paul T. Mountjoy and Jay D. Hansor's (Western Michigan University) obituary for Professor Kantor has finally appeared in

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the American Psychologist (1986, 41, 1296-1297). It is an excellent and sensitive piece of writing.

The Fall, 1986 issue of The Psychological Record was replete with material from newsletter subscribers. Sidney W. Bijou and Patrick M. Ghezzi (University of Arizona) were authors on a "Manual of Instructions for Identifying and Analyzing Referential Interactions," and William Stephenson (University of Missouri) published back-to-back articles on "William James, Neils Bohr, and

Complimentarity." In addition, Parker E. Lichtenstein (Newark, OH) and Harry C. Mahan (Oceanside, CA) prepared book reviews and book notes.

Quotation

The quotation printed in the last issue of the newsletter was submitted by Bryan D. Midgley. In this issue, the quotation comes from Handy, R., & Harwood, E. C. (1973). A Current Appraisal of the Behavioral Sciences. Great Barrington, MA: Behavioral Research Council.

A Report on

An Interbehavioral Symposium in Scotland

Noel W. Smith and Edward Blewitt

SUNY-Plattsburgh and United Kingdom

A symposium on "Kantor and the Behaviourist Tradition" was held at St. Andrews University, Scotland, as part of the Annual Conference of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Group, April 2-4, 1986; the symposium was organized and moderated by Ed Blewitt. Papers were presented by (1) Noel Smith (SUNY-Plattsburgh), "The Interbehavioral Postulate System"; (2) Sandy Hobbs (Paisley College of Technology, Scotland) and David Cornwell (Jordanhill College of Education, Scotland), "An Interbehavioral Perspective on Applied Behavior Analysis"; and (3) Cornwell and Hobbs, "What Interbehavioral Psychology Has to Offer Education."

Smith's paper dealt with the postulates of interbehavioral psychology and compared them with the implicit postulates of cognitive psychology. Hobbs and Cornwell's paper described trends in applied behavior analysis that move it towards an interbehavioral perspective, and then emphasized the benefits this move would provide if more explicitly emphasized. Cornwell and Hobbs' paper reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of J. M. Thyne's (1966) The Psychology of Learning and Techniques of Teaching, which presents a behavioral approach to classroom learning that incorporates some distinctly interbehavioral principles.

In their paper, Cornwell and Hobbs also describe their EXRIB (Example, Rule

Indicator, Behaviour) educational program, which draws on behavioristic principles in analyzing statements about teaching and making observations of its actual occurrence. A few excerpts presented below illustrate the importance of the interbehavioral perspective for their project and related disciplines.

After the model was devised, we became aware of the possibility of re-conceptualizing it in interbehavioral terms, whereby the Rule Indicator elicits a particular stimulus function from the stimulus object. The EXRIB system also includes a category "Contextual Stimuli" and a category "Contextual Responses" to allow for the treatment of other significant stimulus and response features. Here too, it can be argued that the model incorporated features which were aimed at the more effective handling of certain practical issues, but which nevertheless also had the additional effect of moving it in the direction of an interbehavioral field model.

Galton (1979) has correctly noted that EXRIB was the only one of over forty British classroom observation schedules he surveyed that was aimed specifically at comparing classroom behaviour with stated objectives, despite the fact that this is clearly

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one of the most obvious reasons for undertaking observational studies.... If we are correct in suggesting that there is a need for behaviourists to devote more attention to developing persuasive verbalizations about education, then the experience of Thyne and, more particularly, of those who developed EXRIB throws a favorable light on interbehavioral psychology. If they found themselves moving towards an interbehavioral perspective, that augurs well for a fullblooded attempt at developing an interbehavioral analysis of education.

The application of the EXRIB program has appeared in educational publications. Those who are interested in either of the two Hobbs and Cornwell papers or with the EXRIB application should write to the authors at the Department of Social Studies, Paisley College of Technology, 67 High Street, Paisley, PA1 2BE, Scotland.

After the papers were presented, discussion was opened up to the audience; after that, the participants met among themselves still further. In these latter discussions, they discussed several means by which interbehavioral psychology might gain greater attention.

First, interbehavioral psychologists need to place undergraduate students interested in the approach into good graduate programs. This will allow the students to obtain professional positions enabling them to promote the approach through research and the training of other students. (Those interbehavioral psychologists who are already teaching in graduate programs could have a more direct effect.) Second, interbehavioral psychologists need to undertake more research and demonstration programs, such as the EXRIB. Third, books on topics of current interest should be written that better explain the application of the interbehavioral system. And fourth, an international organization of interbehavioral psychologists should be established that would allow its supporters to meet, present papers, and encourage each others' efforts.

The last two recommendations need further elaboration. As to the writing of textbooks, we concluded that an introductory text that was not too obviously interbehavioral, but that presented the approach as an alternative,

would be a useful undertaking, although it would face strong competition from other texts and might only influence a few people, even if successful. In contrast, a book that dealt more directly with the currently fashionable topic of cognition and physiology might gain a more influential audience; it could be written as a group project through carefully integrated contributions by several authors. (Kantor had considered writing a book called Brainology.) This project would require soliciting papers, making the round of inquiries among publishers, and some diligent editing. Whether anyone has the time and inclination to undertake such a project, we do not know.

As to an international interbehavioral organization, interbehavioral psychologists are now scattered throughout several countries in ways that reduce our influence. An international society of interbehaviorists (ISIB?) would give us more visibility, even if we were few in number. We could align our meetings with those of other organizations, just as we have already been doing. An official organization, however, would encourage us further to meet for our own paper presentations. Moreover, the organization could invite scholars with allied viewpoints to be speakers and discussants. In addition, we might find ways to use an international organization to introduce still other scholars to interbehavioral psychology. Such a society could have separate chapters on each side of the Atlantic, and regional ones where needed. Occasionally, some of us could cross the Atlantic to join with colleagues on the other side. We already have The Interbehaviorist as a medium to keep us informed and coordinated. Ed Blewitt has offered to organize in Britain. Perhaps Roger Ray's group, which arose from the meeting on May 27, 1985 in Columbus, OH, could consider another such organization (see The Interbehaviorist, 1985, 13(3), 19).

References

Galton, M. (1979). Systematic classroom observation: British research. Educational Research, 21, 109-115.

Thyne, J. M. (1966). The psychology of learning and the techniques of teaching (2nd ed.). London: University of London Press.

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COMMENTEthical Analysis in Practice: Expansion on Parrott's Analysis

Douglas H. Ruben

Eastern Michigan University

Parrott's (1986) article, "Ethical Situations in Interbehavioral Perspective," nicely conceptualized the role of voluntary interbehavior in choice situations. Her distinction between meaning and final reaction systems clarified the role of a stimulus object's "value" which, in relation to anticipatory consequences and cultural influences, determines choice. Complications among field factors involving stimulus objects, properties of objects, multiple responses, and setting events create legitimate ethical conflicts, as in her example of the use of animals in scientific research. In this comment, I offer an interpretation of a real-life problem in medical ethics, reported by Fraser Snowden (1983), philosopher-in-residence at a parish hospital in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Snowden's mission was simple: Following recent trends in philosophical thinking (cf. Ruben, 1985), he tried to broaden philosophy's impact on a medical staff's understanding of the moral, psychological, sociocultural, and religious needs of patients. He conducted workshops on "Human Values in Nursing" and "Health and Humanity," and consulted on "truth-telling," "death and dying," and "existential advocacy." In doing so, he was able to offer care providers with means for resolving their daily dilemmas, at least until he discovered the hazards of applied philosophy in the hospital.

His "philosophical counseling" encountered unexpected repercussions of sizeable proportion. From outside the hospital, the "moral majority" depicted Snowden as a moral reprobate, calling his pragmatic personalism a threat to

social balance; he became a "witch-doctor-in-residence." In addition to protest letters from local Methodist Sunday School programs, came in-house harrassment: Nurses, aides, and physicians cornered Snowden in the halls and challenged him with such questions as "Do you believe in God?" and "Are your values in order?" Risking his status, he asked the hospital administration and an attorney for redirection.

Snowden also overlooked the relevant cultural contingencies in the interbehavioral histories of the medical staff members themselves. Snowden's moral lessons proposed values of health and illness that, although humanistic, were at odds with common concerns with cost-efficiency, scientific technology, and demonstrable risk-benefit ratios. These were values of common interest, and codified in daily practice. Bioethical issues stirring the greatest controversy (e.g., transplantation, living will, test-tube birth, abortion, etc.) left listeners even more confused, frustrated, and prone to altercation.

The stimulus objects to which Snowden attributed certain values were medically relevant, but his values were derived from a meaning reaction system incompatible with that of the hospital personnel. Snowden, however, accused the medical establishment of antipathy toward philosophy -- not realizing that an approach to ethical inquiry is not unlike an approach to scientific psychology. Clarification depends more on the awareness of integrated-field factors, than on underlying concepts of humanization.

References

Parrott, L. J. (1986). Ethical situations in interbehavioral perspective. The Interbehaviorist, 14, 38-44.

Ruben, D. H. (1985). Philosophy journals and serials: An analytical guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Snowden, F. (1983). Bringing philosophy into the hospital: Notes of a philosopher-in-residence. The International Journal of Applied Philosophy, 1, 67-81.

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JOURNAL AND BOOK NOTES

Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1986). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (pp. v-221; \$10.95).

Bakeman and Gottman's Observing Interaction: An Introduction to Sequential Analysis is an important and excellent introduction to a research methodology of increasing interest to many researchers. Investigators examining such diverse topics as mother-infant communication interactions (e.g., Rosenfeld, 1986), clinician-client verbal interactions (e.g., Russell & Trull, 1986), and the behavior of killer whales in captivity (e.g., Ray & Upson, 1977) have all profited from applications of sequential-analytic methods. In addition to these immediately practical benefits, sequential analysis is also valuable for its potential in advancing behavioral science onto higher methodological and theoretical planes.

Sequential analysis has itself become incorporated into a larger methodological framework, referred to as "Behavioral Systems Methodology" (Ray & Delprato, in press). In Ray's words, this methodology represents a "paradigm for a new psychology." It allows us to look at old problems in new ways and therefore points to improved conceptualizations and descriptions of behavioral phenomena.

A ready example of this is seen in the independent-dependent variable controversy. Some behaviorists, for instance, hold (a) that a full explanation of behavioral phenomena rests in tracing its causes back to independent environmental event(s) and (b) that behavior itself cannot serve as an independent variable. Data derived from sequential-analytic investigations, though, refute this notion (Henton & Iversen, 1978; cf. Delprato, 1986). These analyses have shown responding to be partially and probabilistically dependent upon prior responding in the ongoing stream of behavior. Conceptually and practically, little is gained by insisting that the stream of behavior be traced back to environmental contingencies, as seems inherent in the "absolutistic" doctrine of response chaining (Delprato, 1986; Ray & Delprato, in press).

Globally, Bakeman and Gottman offer behavioral science a fine contribution worthy of attention. The authors take the reader through every stage of a sequential analysis of data, as the book's chapter titles suggest: Developing a coding scheme; recording behavioral sequences; assessing observer agreement; representing observational data; analyzing sequential data: first steps; analyzing event sequences; analyzing time sequences; and analyzing cross-classified events. This book is highly recommended. (Bryan D. Midgley, University of Kansas)

References

Delprato, D. J. (1986). Response patterns. In H. W. Reese & L. J. Parrott (Eds.), Behavior science: Philosophical, methodological, and empirical advances (pp. 61-113). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Henton, W. W., & Iversen, I. H. (1978). Classical conditioning and operant conditioning: A response pattern analysis. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Ray, R. D. (1986). Structural, functional, and operational analysis of interbehavioral systems: Paradigm for a new psychology. Unpublished manuscript, Rollins College, College Park, FL.

Ray, R. D., & Delprato, D. J. (in press). Behavioral systems methodology: Investigating continuity and organization in developmental interactions. In S. H. Cohen & H. W. Reese (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology: Methodological innovations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Ray, R. D., & Upson, J. D. (1977). A systems approach to behavior III: Organismic pace and complexity in time-space fields. The Psychological Record, 27, 649-682.

Rosenfeld, H. M. (1986). Sequential analysis of naturalistic communication. In R. L. Schiefelbusch (Ed.), Language competence: Assessment and intervention (pp. 131-184). San Diego: Hill Press.

Russell, R. L., & Trull, T. J. (1986). Sequential analysis of language variables in psychotherapy process research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 16-21.

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Bolles, R. C. (1970). Species-specific defense reactions and avoidance learning. Psychological Review, 77, 32-48.

The fable presented below -- "The Little Bird and the Big, Bad Hawk" -- was prepared as part of a critical review of hereditary determinants of fears and phobias (Delprato, 1980). The editor of the journal in which it was to appear found the fable unduly harsh, however, and it was struck from the manuscript. It is reprinted as follows, with commentary afterwards.

Let us recall a little fable. It is a very familiar fable. It was already part of our lore when Tinbergen gave his version of it in 1948, and the story has been told again many times since then. It goes something like this: Once upon a time there was a little bird who had recently hatched. One day, while he was sitting in his nest, our hero spied a goose-like figure sailing against the background of a lovely blue sky. He was not the least disturbed. Soon thereafter, however, our feathered friend saw a different object sailing in the sky. Alas! Its short neck indicated it to be a hawk. Hawks are wont to eat little birds, but our friend had not been informed of this alarming fact by his erudite elders. In fact, he had never before seen, smelled, felt, or heard a hawk. Clearly, his very survival was in the gravest of danger. Suddenly, our hero ran to safety to escape the threat to his life! From that day hence the little animal who sat in his nest continued to avoid hawks because the precariousness of his situation prevented, somehow, his becoming careless.

The moral of this tale, so we might be told, is that little birds survive in nature because they have an innate ("hawk") schema in their heads which, when activated, causes them to run away from big, bad hawks. This capacity to avoid hawks has such obviously great survival value that we should surely expect birds to have evolved to where all members of the species carry the trait in their genes. We might also be told to expect birds to avoid innately the other

predators their ancestors faced, and that we should expand our theories of behavior to encompass such biological determinants.

This fable was inspired by an earlier one presented in Bolles (1970), an oft-cited paper in support of alternatives to environmentalism. Bolles presented an argument that behavioral ontogeny could be explained in one of two ways: (a) as a function of environmental conditions, with an emphasis on classical conditioning and other principles of learning and (b) as a function of heredity x environment (H x E) interactionism, with an emphasis on both learned and unlearned (innate) behavior.

Bolles raised this issue, in part, because of discoveries that raised serious questions about the environmentalistic-learning approach to behavioral development, a view seemingly advocated in the pre-eminent learning theories of the 1930s through the 1950s. This environmentalistic thinking was challenged during the 1950s, in large part by the ethological movement as epitomized in the work of Lorenz and Tinbergen. Ethological research, for example, appeared to show that certain behavior patterns were inherited. The subject of the fable presented above -- the hawk-goose effect -- is a prototypical case of apparently innate behavior. Environmentalism, then, had to make way for hereditary determinants, out of which H x E interactionism emerged.

H x E interactionism is a compelling position, though misguided in its own way. We are told that learned behaviors (effects of experience) are usually intertwined with innate (or genetically determined) behaviors. Accordingly, if we carefully analyze what we initially think are learned behavior patterns, some of their elements will turn out to be innate and others will be identified as learned. For example, consider the frequently discussed case of the familiar operant chain: discriminative stimulus (e.g., light on) -- operant response (e.g., lever press) -- reinforcer (e.g., food) -- response to reinforcer (e.g., eating). Is it not the case that increases in the probability of learned lever pressing is dependent on its inclusion in the chain of the innate response of eating food? The trainer trained the learned lever pressing, but did not have to train the innate behavior of eating. All normal members of the species eat -- it is necessary for

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survival, so the argument goes.

In applying H x E thinking to defensive behavior, Bolles (1970, p. 32) presented the environmentalistic-learning approach as a fable -- but H x E interactionism is just as much a fable. Although mainstream psychologists may not realize it, an alternative exists to these two classic choices regarding behavioral ontogeny. The alternative rejects the distinction of unlearned and learned, not only as a dichotomy, but also as a meaningful dimension of behavior in the first place. This nonreductionistic alternative takes an authentic developmental perspective, versions of which have been presented by Lehrman (1953), Schneirla (1957), Kuo (1967), and Kantor and Smith (1975).

Tinbergen (1963) himself unequivocally moved away from the H x E position to which he made great such contributions. Unfortunately, too few behavioral scientists seem to have noticed this. (Dennis J. Delprato, Eastern Michigan University)

References

Delprato, D. J. (1980). Hereditary determinants of fears and phobias. Behavior Therapy, 11, 79-103.

Kantor, J. R., & Smith, N. W. (1975). The science of psychology: An interbehavioral survey. Chicago: Principia Press.

Kuo, Z.-Y. (1967). The dynamics of behavior development: An epigenetic view. New York: Random House.

Lehrman, D. S. (1953). A critique of Konrad Lorenz's theory of instinctive behavior. Quarterly Review of Biology, 28, 337-363.

Schneirla, T. C. (1957). The concept of development in comparative psychology. In D. B. Harris (Ed.), The concept of development: An issue in the study of human behavior (pp. 78-108). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Tinbergen, N. (1948). Social releasers and the experimental method required for their study. The Wilson Bulletin, 60, 6-51.

Tinbergen, N. (1963). On aims and methods of ethology. Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie, 20, 410-433.

Harris, M. (1986). Investigating the unexplained New York: Prometheus Books.

Harris is a broadcaster and researcher for the BBC who investigates studies for accuracy, including those of the paranormal. He began his investigation of paranormal claims with no particular persuasion one way or the other and traced stories back to their primary sources. The result, as he states in the Preface, was that "in the end I was able to say over and over again with authority: 'Sorry -- you've been duped!'" (p. 7).

People who believe in these stories, he holds, have never developed critical reasoning ability and "stand crippled by fears, phantoms, cruel superstitions, and distorted values picked up during their vulnerable childhoods" (p. 9). Beliefs are usually more complex than this, but lack of critical reasoning is undoubtedly often a factor. These duped people are, he notes, prey for those peddling books for high profit. One might add that they are also prey for those involved in even greater chicanery -- the faith healers, the mediums, and others who fleece people out of their life savings and, in the worst cases, their lives -- witness the more than 900 lives lost in the Jonesville cult.

Harris presents each case by first giving a colorful account of the tale as it typically appears, and then taking it apart piece by piece by citing source documents. Some of these tales -- for example, the Amityville Horror and the prophecies of Nostradamus -- have previously been exposed in the Skeptical Inquirer and in recent books, many of them by the same publisher as Harris's -- Prometheus Books. The present book provides independent refutation. Most of the tales, however, have not (to my knowledge) been previously exposed. Harris provides an important service in doing so, and accomplishes it with an enjoyable style of writing. The twenty-two pages of chapter notes at the end add useful information, much of it almost as interesting as the text. This book is a welcome addition to the important and growing list of Prometheus Books that bring rationality and objective investigation to irresponsible claims. (Noel W. Smith, State University of New York at Plattsburgh)

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Watson, J. B. (1924). Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.

The details of John B. Watson's behaviorism are almost completely unknown to a generation of psychologists who have read only brief and sometimes inaccurate descriptions of his work in introductory textbooks and histories of psychology. Because most of these descriptions characterize him as a promoter and polemicist, the scientific content of his work might come as a surprise to contemporary psychologists. I present below some statements of interest to interbehavioral psychologists that indicate Watson's concern with "setting factors."

It is obvious that if this formulation is to fit the facts, the general condition of the organism must be such that the stimulus can produce its effect. A child alone in a house on a stormy night with only a dim candle burning may display the reaction of fear at the mournful hoot of an owl. If the parents are at hand and the room is well lighted, the stimulus may pass unreacted to. Stimulus then in this sense is used in a broad way to refer not only to the exciting object but also to the general setting. (p. 215)

In view of the fact that there are many responses possible, the question as to which will appear upon the instance of a given stimulus becomes one which we must consider. We can answer this in only a general way and in probable terms. (1) The response most likely to appear is the one which was most recently called out by the object. (2) When recency is not pertinent the act which has been most frequently connected with the object is the one most likely to be called out. (3) The act called out is likely to be one which is most closely connected with the general setting of the situation as a whole. For example, one taking an ocean voyage with agreeable men and women companions might begin to hop about and dance at the sight of a man with a violin. But if earlier in the morning several conventional ladies had remarked that "to-day is Sunday, no dancing will be tolerated," the sight

of the man with the violin may lead merely to verbal railing against the blue laws enforced beyond the three mile limit. We are expected to display churchly behavior, funeral behavior and wedding behavior upon certain occasions. The situation as a whole envelops us and each object in that situation can call out for the time being only a narrowly appropriate and conventional type of act. (4) The most important determiners are the situations which the individual has had to come up against during the hours preceding the incidence of the stimulus to which he must now react, and the amount of emotional tension those previous activities have aroused. The usual reactions to a revolver lying on the dresser are possibly to polish and clean it periodically, but if some one has been rifling your cash drawer or safe from day to day you may, on reaching home, pick up the weapon, load it, return to your office and lie in wait for the intruder. (5) Temporary intra-organic factors tremendously influence our reactions. The onset of toothache, headache, or indigestion or the beginning of seasickness may temporarily make out of an ordinarily cheerful individual one from whom normal reactions cannot be obtained. (6) The most important determiner, of course, is the life history of the individual in the sense that his general and special training, illnesses, disappointments, hobbies, family training and the like develop within him definite attitudes, trends, or slants -- to the religious man each new discovery in science is a direct evidence of the beneficence of the Creator; to the scientific man it is an evidence of the keenness and assiduity of the research worker; to the downtrodden each new thing is an added burden which will merely serve to overtax him further. (pp. 320-321).

Watson was not an interbehavioral psychologist, but he was also not the naive S-R psychologist he is sometimes depicted as being. When the dualism of his times and his lack of data on behavior are considered, the sophisticated and modern tone of some of Watson's views becomes even more surprising. (James T. Todd, University of Kansas)

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Memorial Resolution

PROFESSOR EMERITUS JACOB ROBERT KANTOR

(August 8, 1888 - February 2, 1984)

Jacob Robert Kantor was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on August 8, 1888, the eldest son of recent German immigrants. He entered the University of Chicago in 1910, earning a Ph.B. in 1914 and a Ph.D. in psychology in 1917. Chicago's Department of Psychology, under the direction of James R. Angell, was a leading center of research and training in functional psychology. Kantor was a member of the largest Ph.D. class in American psychology up to that date: Ten others graduated with him, notably L. L. Thurstone and Beardsley Rumel. Kantor began his teaching career as an instructor at the University of Minnesota, remained there from 1915 to 1917, and continued as an instructor at the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1920.

When Kantor came to Indiana University in 1920 he joined a small but established Department of Psychology and Philosophy with a strong tradition of empirical investigation. Here Kantor began his long career as a psychological theorist and system-builder. The dominant motif in his varied work was a passionate belief in the possibility of a truly objective science of behavior. To this end he developed a comprehensive analytical framework, termed interbehaviorism, first published in his two-volume Principles of Psychology (1924-26).

Kantor's interbehaviorism was one among many forms of behaviorism that emerged during the 1910s and 1920s and was perhaps the most ambitious in scope, dealing not only with relatively simple motor behavior, but also with complex cognitive and emotional processes. His work, while centering on the psychology of learning, encompassed most of the major subfields of psychology, including sensory, abnormal, physiological, and social psychology. In the last-named areas he contributed to critiques of Instinct Theory, which was essentially discredited by 1930. A representative collection of his papers is gathered in The Aim and Progress of Psychology and Other Sciences (1971).

In addition to his general theoretical framework, Kantor devoted major efforts to logic and to linguistics. In Psychology

and Logic (1945-50) and in The Logic of Modern Science (1953) he sought to develop a thoroughly naturalistic, nonmathematical conception of logic that was based on actual human behavior rather than on ideal or formal prescriptions. Likewise, linguistics was analyzed as a complex interaction between the performer of linguistic actions and the controlling environment in An Objective Psychology of Grammar (1936) and Psychological Linguistics (1977). In a related vein, his massive and erudite Scientific Evolution of Psychology (1963-69) was aimed toward salvaging useful materials for the reform of modern psychology rather than toward the goal of understanding past ideas in their context.

Kantor's productivity did not falter even into his tenth decade: In the 1980s, he published Interbehavioral Philosophy (1981), Cultural Psychology (1982), and Tragedy and the Event Continuum (1983). He was also a frequent editorial contributor to The Psychological Record, a journal he established in 1937. Finally, as a fitting tribute to his long and continuing influence, his friends and followers published a Festschrift, Reassessment in Psychology, last year.

Kantor's scholarly work was complemented by his teaching. He had a stimulating effect on generations of graduate students, particularly after World War II, and inspired some to disseminate and to extend his ideas in a formal way. After his retirement in 1959, he returned to Chicago, living near the University where he could pursue his studies. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Akron in 1971. He made his last visit to the Bloomington Campus in 1978, when he gave a colloquium in the Psychology Department.

A gentle and dedicated man, who argued strongly for his beliefs, J. R. Kantor will be remembered as a scholar and teacher with a clear vision of psychology as a natural science and with a lifetime commitment to revealing that vision to others through forceful analysis and critical exposition. His bibliographic legacy will allow future students to

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ponder the significance of his work and to assess this outstanding individual for themselves.

With the certainty that Indiana University has benefited by its close ties with this psychologist, be it resolved that the faculty pay its deepest respect to the memory of Jacob Robert Kantor; that this resolution be recorded in the minutes of the Bloomington Faculty Council; and that a copy be sent to his daughter, Dr. Helene J. Kantor.

Douglas G. Ellison, co-chairman
James H. Capshew, co-chairman
Richard N. Berry
Eliot S. Hearst
Harry G. Yamaguchi
    with assistance from
    Herman B. Wells and
    Cornelia Christenson

Commemorated by the Bloomington
Faculty Council: October 2, 1984

THE INTERBEHAVIORIST

Edward K. Morris, Ph.D.
Department of Human Development
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045-2133