|
Showing 1 - 1 of
1 matches in All Departments
A year before his death, B.F. Skinner wrote that "There are two
unavoidable gaps in any behavioral account: one between the
stimulating action of the environment and the response of the
organism and one between consequences and the resulting change in
behavior. Only brain science can fill those gaps. In doing so, it
completes the account; it does not give a different account of the
same thing." This declaration ended the epoch of radical
behaviorism to the extent that it was based on the doctrine of the
"empty organism," the doctrine that a behavioral science must be
constructed purely on its own level of investigation. However,
Skinner was not completely correct in his assessment. Brain science
on its own can no more fill the gaps than can single level
behavioral science. It is the relation between data and
formulations developed in the brain and the behavioral sciences
that is needed. This volume is the result of The Fourth Appalachian
Conference on Behavioral Neurodynamics, the first three of which
were aimed at filling Skinner's first gap. Taking the series in a
new direction, the aim of the fourth and subsequent conferences is
to explore the second of the gaps in the behavioral account noted
by Skinner. The aim of this conference was to explore the aphorism:
The motivation for learning is self organization. In keeping with
this aim and in the spirit of previous events, this conference's
mission was to acquaint scientists working in one discipline with
the work going on in other disciplines that is relevant to both. As
a result, it brought together those who are making advances on the
behavioral level -- mainly working in the tradition of operant
conditioning -- and those working with brains -- mainly amygdala,
hippocampus, and far frontal cortex.
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.