Pavlov And Methodological Behaviorism

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Pavlov03.doc

The Spanish Journal of Psychology 2003, Vol. 6, No. 2, 133-146


Copyright 2003 by The Spanish Journal of Psychology
1138-7416
Pavlov's Methodological Behaviorism as a Pre-Socratic Contribution of the Melding of theDifferential and Experimental Psychology

John J. Furedy

University of Toronto

The differential/experimental distinction that Cronbach specified is important because any adequate account of psychological phenomena requires the recognition of the validity of both approaches, and a meaningful melding of the two. This paper suggests that Pavlov's work in psychology, based on earliertraditions of inquiry that can be traced back to the pre-Socratics, provides a potential way of achieving this melding, although such features as systematic rather than anecdotal methods of observation need to be added. Pavlov's methodological behaviorist approach is contrasted with metaphysical behaviorism (as exemplified explicitly in Watson and Skinner, and implicitly in the computer-metaphorical,information-processing explanations employed by current "cognitive" psychology). A common feature of the metaphysical approach is that individual-differences variables like sex are essentially ignored, or relegated to ideological categories such as the treatment of sex as merely a "social construction." Examples of research both before and after the "cognitive revolution" are presented whereexperimental and differential methods are melded, and individual differences are treated as phenomena worthy of investigation rather than as nuisance factors that merely add to experimental error.
Keywords: Pavlov, melding of experimental and differential psychology, methodological vs. metaphysical behaviorism, individual differences, sex differences, computer metaphor in current "cognitive "psychology

La distinción diferencial/experimental que especificó Cronbach es importante porque una explicación adecuada del fenómeno psicológico requiere que reconozcamos la validez de los dos enfoques, a la par que una combinación de los mismos. Este trabajo trata de mostrar que la obra de Pavlov en psicología, basada en las primeras tradiciones investigadoras que se remontan hasta lospresocráticos, proporciona una posible forma de conseguir esta combinación, aunque se deban añadir métodos de observación sistemática frente a la meramente anecdótica. Se contrasta el enfoque conductual metodológico de Pavlov con el conductismo metafísico, ejemplificado explícitamente en Watson y Skinner e implícitamente en las explicaciones del procesamiento de la información o de la metáforacomputacional, empleadas por la psicología "cognitiva" actual. Una característica del enfoque metafísico es que variables diferenciales individuales como el sexo son básicamente ignoradas o relegadas a categorías ideológicas, como ocurre cuando se considera el sexo como mera "construcción social". Se presentan ejemplos de investigaciones, antes y después de la "revolución cognitiva", en los que losmétodos experimental y diferencial se combinan, apareciendo las diferencias individuales como fenómenos dignos de investigación más que como factores molestos que meramente acrecientan el error experimental.
Palabras clave: Pavlov, unión complementaria de psicología diferencial y experimental, conductismo metodológico frente a metafísico, diferencias individuales, diferencias según el sexo,la metáfora computacional en la actual psicología "cognitiva"

I am indebted to Christine Furedy for clarification of earlier versions of this paper. I am also grateful to collaborating colleagues cited in this paper who carried out research in the Ege and Alberta laboratories on sex differences in animals and humans. They are not in full agreement with my interpretations of these results,...