Should we essentially ignore the role of stimuli in a general account of operant selection?

Authors

Rick A. Bevins, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

October 2001

Comments

Published in BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2001) 24, 511–573. Copyright 2001 Cambridge University Press. Used by permission.

Abstract

An "Open Peer Commentary" on the article "A general account of selection: Biology, immunology, and behavior," by David L. Hull, Rodney E. Langman, and Sigrid S. Glenn.

The selectionist account of behavior is actually a focused discussion of operant selection. To this end, the authors essentially exclude stimuli from their analysis. This exclusion is inconsistent with the importance placed on environmental interaction in their general account. Further, this exclusion limits the generality of their account by missing important sources of stimulus-elicited behavior (e.g., classical conditioning).