To a greater extent than any other behavioral formulation, Radical Behaviorism has abandoned mechanistic explanation. Like Darwin, B.F. Skinner adopted selection as a causal mode. He applied that mode himself to the behavior of the individual, pointing out but leaving it to others to unravel the causal role of selection in the behavior of a social culture.
Also, Radical Behaviorism parts company with traditional behaviorists who pronounce private experience and thinking to be outside the domain of science. Misconceptions, misinterpretations, and misrepresentations have kept the humanity and the promise of this approach to behavioral science from those who would have welcomed and used it if they had been properly informed.
From the Author's Preface:
This book is my attempt to bring together and to articulate radical behaviorism's position on issues relating to how we ask questions about behavior and how it can be explained within a scientific framework. Some may disagree with my interpretation, others may find aspects of it helpful to their own understanding. Above all, I hope that this book will do for other students and practitioners of psychology what writing it has done for me: provide an integrative theme for evaluating the multiplicity of theoretical approaches in psychology today.
