CU Psychology Mentalism and Behaviorism Approaches Essay

Overview

As a future ABA professional, understanding how the field of behavior analysis differs from other psychology fields is important. Behavior analysts use objective and behavioristic statements to describe phenomena they observe. At this point in your studies, it is important to start eliminating mentalistic statements from your vocabulary to help you to begin thinking like a behavior analyst.

Instructions

Use the Mentalism and Radical Behaviorism Template [DOCX] to complete the following:

• Identify whether the statement provides a mentalistic or a behavioristic explanation for a behavior for the 10 phrases or sentences provided in the template.
• Write a summary explaining the reasoning behind your choices. You are not required to provide an individual explanation for each statement.
• Provide a behavioristic explanation as an alternative for each of the mentalistic explanations you identify.
• Analyze how the behavioristic approach is different from most other psychology fields.
  • How does a behavior analytic approach differ from the other fields of psychology? 
  • How would a mentalistic approach inform one’s practice?
  • How would a behavior analytic approach inform one’s practice?