The teleological science of self-control

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Rachlin
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Complex Patterns ◽  
The Mind

In response to Ainslie & Gault: The value of a temporally extended behavioral pattern depends on relationships inherent in the pattern itself. It is not possible to express that value as the simple sum of the discounted present values of the pattern's component acts.In response to Leiber: Teleological behaviorism may be deemed unscientific because it has not yet succeeded to the required degree in predicting and controlling the highly complex patterns of human behavior that comprise our mental lives. However teleological behaviorism is not unscientific because it is teleological or “noncausal;” nor is teleological behaviorism unscientific because it is not reducible to neurophysiology. Nothing in principle bars the development of a teleological science of the mind.

AUTONOMY FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF TELEOLOGICAL BEHAVIORISM

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Rachlin
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
The Other ◽  
Temporal Context ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Social Concept ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

I will argue that the autonomy of a particular act of a particular person depends on the pattern of behavior in which it is embedded. I call this conditional autonomy. A person's act is conditionally autonomous or not, relative to other acts at other times. Consider an example of a person crossing the street. On the one hand, this act might not be done for its own sake, but may fit into some ongoing long-term behavioral pattern that is personally beneficial to the person crossing the street—such as regularly buying groceries in the supermarket (which happens to be across the street). On the other hand, crossing the street might be done simply for its own sake. If such an act were considered to be autonomous, regardless of its temporal context, its autonomy would be unconditional. However, I will argue that whereas conditional autonomy is a highly useful social concept, indeed a necessary concept, for any human society, unconditional autonomy is a useless concept that actually impedes our efforts to understand and explain human behavior.

When is a pattern a pattern?

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-124
Author(s):  
Marc N. Branch
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Controlling Variables

AbstractRachlin argues that according to “teleological” behaviorism self-control is evident in instances where an act is contrasted with an element of a temporally extended behavioral pattern. A strength of the argument is that it incorporates an important role for temporally extended context in identifying self-control. Weaknesses of this viewpoint are that it de-emphasizes the identification of manipulable controlling variables in defining and accounting for the origins of patterns.

Some Tears in Achilles Tatius (Achilles 6.7.3–7)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
First Person ◽  
Achilles Tatius ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Mind

Another novelist provides in some respects a point in between Chariton and Heliodorus. His elaborate expatiation on tears and the lover put rhythm at the service of an intricate treatment of the mind and body, and a shrewd depiction of amorous self-control and manipulation. The first-person narrative adds a further stratum of sophistication to this handling of the speaker’s rival and enemy. Achilles Tatius demonstrates further, in contrast with Chariton, the range of possibilities for the exploitation of rhythm seen already in the difference of Chariton and Plutarch. Comparison with Heliodorus brings out Achilles’ elegance.

Pattern proliferation in teleological behaviorism

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-146
Author(s):  
Bruce N. Waller
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
Behavioral Patterns ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Controlling Behavior

AbstractRachlin's teleological behaviorist account shows promise for extending our behavioral understanding of many aspects of self-control, particularly when self-control involves controlling behavior through larger behavioral patterns. However, it may face special challenges in dealing with instances of self-control that involve pattern breaking.

scholarly journals DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF AGGRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH MILD MENTAL RETARDATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-258
Author(s):  
L. A. Samoylyuk ◽  
◽  
K. G. Logunova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Retardation ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Character Trait ◽  
Expert Assessment ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Mild Mental Retardation ◽  
Organic Brain Syndrome ◽  
Organic Brain

Introduction. This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of aggressive behavior in adolescents suffering from mild mental retardation given its nature of origin, which could either be a character trait and/or a behavioral pattern, or result from organic brain syndrome. Materials and Methods. The methods used in the study are the method of expert assessment (pedagogic assessment of disordered behavior with the Teacher questionnaire for identifying children with disordered behavior (E. L. Indenbaum); monitoring; psychological diagnostic method (the projective technique Children’s Apperceptive Test (S. Bellak) (Fig.7); analysis of medical history and documents regarding the micro-social environment of the adolescent development; and the mathematical statistics method. Results. Aggressive behavior in adolescents with organic brain syndrome is characterized by a severe disorder of emotional self-control, inadequate responses to an irritator of a certain degree, affective rigidity, and a long time necessary to return to a normal state. Distinctive characteristics of aggressive behavior in adolescents with aggression as an inherent character trait suggest that aggression occurs based on a specific situation and could be self-regulated or managed by exterior regulation. Conclusion. The findings indicate that adolescents with mild mental retardation show aggression differently depending on the nature of its origin. Keyword: aggressive behavior, aggression, adolescents with mental retardation, aggression as a character trait, aggression as a result of organic brain syndrome

Self-Control as a Coordination Problem

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Asael Y. Sklar ◽  
Kentaro Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Coordination Problem ◽  
New Model ◽  
The Mind

This chapter presents an analysis of self-control from a motivational perspective, modeling it as the resolution of a conflict between proximal and distal concerns. It briefly reviews “divided-mind” models that suggest that self-control entails competition between opposing elements of the mind, and discusses some of the empirical and conceptual challenges to these conceptual frameworks. The authors then propose an alternative account that addresses these challenges, suggesting that coordination of (rather than competition between) elements of the mind is key to self-control. They review empirical evidence for the new model, and then conclude by outlining some of its implications for future research and theory.

Can teleological behaviorism account for the effects of instructions on self-control without invoking cognition?

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-135
Author(s):  
Kristi Lemm ◽  
Yuichi Shoda ◽  
Walter Mischel
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
Temporal Patterning ◽  
Control Behavior ◽  
Verbal Instructions ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Experimental Findings

AbstractIn its commitment to eschewing internal causes, the teleological behavioristic analysis endeavors to explain self-control through the temporal patterning of behavior, but it leaves unanswered the most challenging questions. It fails to account convincingly for experimental findings in which self-control behavior was predictably changed by verbal instructions to think about and imagine the rewards in different ways.

Cognitive Issues in Bible Translation: The Biblical Text in the Context of Human Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-56
Author(s):  
R. Daniel Shaw ◽  
Danny DeLoach ◽  
Jonathan Grimes ◽  
John O. Luchivia ◽  
Sheryl Silzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Behavior ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Interactive Environments ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

Cognitive studies affect all disciplines that reflect the connection between the mind–brain and human behavior. To state the obvious, Bible translation is a multidisciplinary task influenced by cognitive processes. What, then, do Bible translators need to know about the intended communication of a biblical text on one hand and a people’s context-based inferences on the other? Can these disparate, but necessarily interactive, environments blend to reflect a totality of knowledge from the content of the biblical text? Together, the coauthors explore a variety of cognitive processes that reflect on the relationship between translation and human behavior. Our objective is to show how translated biblical text interfaces with human cognition to affect behavior in specific contexts.

The role of negative reinforcement; or: Is there an altruist in the house?

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund J. Fantino ◽  
Stephanie J. Stolarz-Fantino
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Reinforcement ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Behavioral Analysis ◽  
Behavioral Patterns ◽  
Teleological Behaviorism ◽  
Rule Governed Behavior

We agree with Rachlin's argument that altruism is best understood as a case of self-control, and that a behavioral analysis is appropriate. However, the appeal to teleological behaviorism and the value of behavioral patterns may be unnecessary. Instead, we argue that altruism can generally be explained with traditional behavioral principles such as negative reinforcement, conditioned reinforcement, and rule-governed behavior.

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