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Editorial
. 2014 Nov 4;38(1):109-14.
doi: 10.1007/s40614-014-0020-3. eCollection 2015 May.

Commentary on Malone: Who Founded Behaviorism?

Hayne W Reese  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Commentary on Malone: Who Founded Behaviorism?

Hayne W Reese. Behav Anal. .

Abstract

Malone (The Behavior Analyst, 37, 1-12 2014) argued that the emergence of behaviorism was inevitable with or without Watson's participation, mainly because protobehavioral ideas and dissatisfaction with classical structuralism were already widespread. However, the first premise is questionable because many of the ideas Malone cited were consistent with structuralism rather than behaviorism, and even if both premises were true they would not make the emergence of behaviorism-or anything else-inevitable. Historical evidence for inevitability is always retrospective and therefore always allows the logical fallacy of "after this, therefore because of this." In the relevant real world Watson existed, he was a psychologist, he was the first to publish an article that described a "behaviorism," and he promoted his behaviorism in later works. Stories about what would have happened without Watson's participation are therefore counterfactual and this lack of historicity makes the stories fictional rather than scientific. In the real world, Watson founded behaviorism.

Keywords: Behaviorism; History; John B. Watson.

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