"Suppose that an engineer is presented with a device whose functioning he does not understand, and suppose that through experiment he can obtain information about input-output relations of this device. He would not hesitate, if rational, to construct a theory of the internal states of the device and to test it against further evidence. ... By objecting, a priori, to this research strategy, Skinner merely condemns his strange variety of “behavioral science” to continued ineptitude."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Noam Chomsky, "The Case Against B. F. Skinner", The New York Review of Books, December 30, 1971
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Behaviorism
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Behaviorism
7 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Behaviorism →
Related Quotes
"According to Mr. Walter Lippmann, the belief the modern man has lost is "that there is an immortal essence presiding …"
"[American] optimism is a national strength and is connected with our original project of mastering of nature. But tha…"
"Granting, I say that competition has hitherto been the universal law, the last word, of nature, still if only one man…"
"If men were the automatons that behaviorists claim they are, the behaviorist psychologists could not have invented th…"
"Freudian concepts exposed the fraud of the existence of the “individual.” To be absolutely clear here: the Freudian c…"
"According to the general postulate of psychology just referred to, there is not a single one of our states of mind, h…"
"Respect is the foundation of a stable way of life and the basis of a code of conduct."
"Institutions are the humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic, and social interaction. They con…"
"We see morality in speeches and writings. We do not find it in practice. We are having different regulations for the …"