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Mentalism & Radical Behaviorism
Jorgelyn Mateo Guerrero
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Capella University
PSY 7708: Basic Foundations in Applied Behavior Analysis
Prof. Faith Joiner
April 16, 2023
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Mentalism and Radical Behaviorism
Phrases
Mentalistic or
behavioristic
Explanation (use
source here; your
texts are fine)
If mentalistic,
provide an
alternative
behavioral
statement
Kayla was very sad
at school today. Her
teacher stated that
she cried while
playing with other
children at school.
Mentalistic
This statement
contains a
hypothetical
construct using the
term “sad.” The
assumption that she
is crying while
playing with others
isn’t giving us the
cause of what
happened to make
her cry.
Kayla engaged in
crying during
playtime when her
classmates didn’t
want to play the
same game as her.
Michael fell to the
floor every time his
teacher placed a
worksheet on his
desk.
Behavioristic
This statement
acknowledges
understanding the
direct observation of
stimuli and response
p.9
Martin calls to make
an appointment at his
dentist’s office,
because he knows
needs a root canal.
Mentalistic
This statement
contains explanatory
fictions as its not
contributing an actual
gain to a behavior
Shawnia ate cake
after having a long
day to uplift her
emotions after her
boyfriend broke up
with her.
Behavioristic
This statement
recognizes operant
behavior p.10
Every time the
instructor asks
Johnny to clean his
plate, he walks to the
sink, turns the water
on, and washes his
plate.
Behavioristic
This statement
recognizes effective
action behavior p.12
Since Martin needs a
root canal, he calls
his dentist's office to
set up an
appointment.
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Phrases
Mentalistic or
behavioristic
Explanation (use
source here; your
texts are fine)
If mentalistic,
provide an
alternative
behavioral
statement
Meredith does what
her mother tells her
to do, because she
knows she will be
rewarded for
appropriate behavior
when she does.
Mentalistic
This statement has
contains circular
reasoning. We cant
assume that
everytime she is
asked to do
something she is
rewarded. We aren’t
gaining anything from
the explanation.
When Meredith
cleans her room, she
is rewarded with a
snack of her
choosing.
Marcus threw his
math book, because
he was frustrated
with the questions on
his math homework.
Mentalistic
Circular reasoning as
this is a fictious
variable and doesn’t
contribute to
understanding the
behavior.
Marcus engages in
property destruction
when he doesn’t
know an answer to a
math question on his
homework.
Each time the buzzer
sounds, the rat
approaches the lever
and presses it. When
this occurs, a food
pellet is produced.
Behavioristic
Can be categorized
under respondent
behavior p.10
It is observed that
each time the light is
on, the rat presses
the lever and a food
pellet is delivered.
Behavioristic
Can be categorized
under respondent
behavior p.10
Janice is so smart
that she got a 100
percent on her exam.
Mentalistic
We are making the
assumption of
intelligence, instead
of finding out what
was done prior to the
testing to get said
grade.
Whenever Janice
studies for an exam,
she is more than
likely to get a 100%.
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Mentalism & Behaviorism
Within psychology, mentalism and behaviorism are the main concepts we utilize but each
is equally different in approaching behaviors. Moore (2003) states that mentalism is a concept
that studies behaviors based on a fictitious dimension. A mentalist will view one's behavior
through an “inner” dimension, the mind. Behaviorism is how the environment can influence an
individual's behaviors by acknowledging the state of mind. Phrases can be either mentalistic or
behavioristic, and reasoning will be provided within each example given, as well as why the
behavioristic approach is different from other fields in psychology will be discussed.
Mentalistic
Based on my table, I would like to dissect three phrases that I consider mentalistic. The
first phrase is 1. “Kayla was very sad at school today. Her teacher stated that she cried while
playing with other children at school.”. This is a mentalistic phrase because although there is an
environmental variable, it consists of verbal behavior, which cannot be observable (Moore,
2003). Rewriting this phrase to reflect a behavioristic approach would be, “Kayla engaged in
crying during playtime when her classmates didn’t want to play the same game as her.”. The
following mentalistic phrase is 2. “Meredith does what her mother tells her to do because she
knows she will be rewarded for appropriate behavior when she does.”. To then make this a
behavioristic phrase, we need to remove the fact that she is rewarded for “appropriate behaviors”
as that is elusive and can mean many different actions; “When Meredith cleans her room, she is
rewarded with a snack of her choosing.” should be the correct phrase (Moore, 2003).
Lastly, 3. “Janice is so smart that she got a 100 percent on her exam.”. If we were to
convert this phrase to consist of action as opposed to an assumption of her solely being smart, we
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would be able to change the approach and explain how she achieved the score she achieved.
“Whenever Janice studies for an exam, she is more than likely to get a 100%.”.
Behavioristic
Behavioristic phrases seek to understand all behaviors and, unlike mentalistic phrases, do
not need to be explained and rewritten. The following examples will consist of phrases and their
explanations. The following statement acknowledges direct observation and stimuli response 1.
“Michael fell to the floor every time his teacher placed a worksheet on his desk.” (Cooper et al.,
2019, p.9). 2. “Shawnia ate cake after having a long day to uplift her emotions after her
boyfriend broke up with her.” This statement indicates operant behavior as her behavior is being
influenced by something within her past (Cooper et al., 2019, p.10). 3. “Every time the instructor
asks Johnny to clean his plate, he walks to the sink, turns the water on, and washes his plate.”
This statement recognizes an effective action as Johnny can now associate cleaning his plate with
following the steps to cleaning a dish (Cooper et al., 2019, p.12).
Behaviorism differs from other fields in psychology as other fields fail to understand
what behaviorism is. According to Moore (2003), areas within psychology take more of a
mentalistic approach, mainly applied in fields such as education, social work, and medicine.
Since the licensing board of psychology does not oversee analysts, this is another reason why a
behavioristic approach differs from a psychological field.
Conclusion
Mentalism and behaviorism are equally used in psychology, but both have very different
approaches to behavior. Based on the phrases above, mentalism is defined as explaining behavior
through a fictitious dimension, while behaviorism is set out to observe and understand the
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behavior (Thyer, 2014). Behaviorism sets out to make a relationship between the environment
and where the behavior has occurred. Mentalism relies on variables that can not be experimented
with as they are not observable.
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References
Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2019). Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.
Moore, J. (2003). Behavior analysis, mentalism, and the path to social justice. The Behavior
Analyst, 26(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03392075
Thyer, B. A. (2014). The Divergent Paths of Behavior Analysis and Psychology: Vive la
Différence! The Behavior Analyst, 38(1), 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-0140024-z