Author’s Reply To The Comments Made On “Successive Approximations To Selectionism: Skinner’s Framework For Behavior In The 1930s And 1940s”

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Monalisa de Fátima Freitas Carneiro Leão
Marcus Bentes de Carvalho Neto

Abstract

The comments made to our article “Successive approximations to selectionism: Skinner’s framework for behavior in the 1930s and 1940s” suggest that the terms ‘selection by consequences’ or ‘selectionism’ require clarification. This response to the commenters will reiterate some crucial aspects in the characterization of selection by consequences as an explanatory mode, alternative to those traditional explanations of the psychological phenomenon, such as those mechanistic.  Thus, these comments attempt to clear up the defining historical aspect of selectionism, as well as to elaborate some of the nuances that contribute to the concepts of variation and probability in Skinner’s writings. Finally, the central argument of the original article is iterated, namely that there are not enough indications to suggest that Skinner was already a selectionist in the initial decades of his scientific productivity.

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How to Cite
Freitas Carneiro Leão, M. de F., & de Carvalho Neto, M. B. (2019). Author’s Reply To The Comments Made On “Successive Approximations To Selectionism: Skinner’s Framework For Behavior In The 1930s And 1940s”. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 45(1). https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v45.i1.70874