Re: Discussion Question—Answer after May 23, 2024
by Ayoola Fadeyi - Tuesday, August 5, 2025, 8:48 PMDISCUSSION FORUM 3
Explanation of the Causes of Behavior
Radical Behaviorism is a philosophy entrenched in the assumption that behavior is a function of environmental variables, mainly past and present interactions between behavior and consequences (Cooper et al., 2020). This has to do with both observable behaviors (running and working) and inherent actions (beliefs and feelings) because all behaviors and actions are carried out using similar principles of learning. But it is noteworthy that all behaviors are caused by observable and external stimuli. Therefore, the principle of radical behaviour advocates that there is no behavior that the underlying cause is not attributed to external or environmental effects. However, mentalism advocates that the cause of behavior is attributed to internal, inherent and unobservable concepts such as willpower, desire, intention and other unnoticeable influences within an individual. The implication is that, the causes of behavior based on the perspective of mentalism is based on internal causes (Mayer et al., 2022) that are not really known or observed by other people. It is noteworthy that though others in the environment cannot ascribe the cause of behavior to a particular factor, but the person displaying the behavior will know the internal cause of such behavior.
How Radical Behaviorism and Mentalism Describe the Causes of Turning in an Assignment After the Due Date
The radical behaviorism will consider lots of factors or indicators around the student that can enable him/her to submit the assignment after the due date. It is possible such student is a single mother, who has to cater to the needs of the children, will have to go to work and do house chores. All these responsibilities might not allow the student to turn in the assignment before the due date. No matter how she tries, to finish the assignment on time, she finds it hard and therefore will always turn in the assignment after the due date.
However, the mentalism philosophy believes that the student has no internal drive to do the assignment. It is possible the student is feeling sad for reasons best known to her and therefore does not really see any reason for doing the assignment. There is no internal arousal or motivation to complete the task before deadline and therefore will always turn in the assignment after the due date.
Intervention for the Behavior
The intervention that could be possibly provided by the radical behaviorist will be to design a workable timeframe for the completion of all assignments. She could develop a to-do-list. This list will contain all the assignments, time allotted for completion, expected due date for submission and the progress recorded thus far. This will help to put the student on the red alert, to be prompt in the responsibility in completing the task before the due date. However, in mentalism, the intervention to be able to turn in assignment before the due date could be to self-motivate. The individual could look inward, have a view of the inherent benefits of acquiring the certificate such as improved status, raised financial status and good and sustainable living conditions. All these are ways of self-motivation which could help to turn in the assignment before the due date
References
Cooper, J.O., Heron, T.E. & Heward, W.L., (2020). Applied behavior analysis. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson. Available at chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?acc... (Accessed: August 06 2025)
Mayer, G.R., Sulzer-Azaroff, B., Wallace, M. and Montoya, L., (2022). Behavior analysis for lasting change. 5th ed. Sloan Publishing. Available at https://www.scribd.com/document/628825796/Behavior-Analysis-for-Lasting-Change-G-Roy-Mayer-Beth-Sulzer-Azaroff-Etc-Z-lib-org (Accessed: August 06 2025)
Re: Discussion Question—Answer after May 23, 2024
by Leonel Bravo - Monday, August 4, 2025, 6:22 PMRADICAL BEHAVIORISM vs. MENTALISM ________________________________________ 1. Where Each Philosophy Looks to Explain the Causes of Behavior Radical Behaviorism Radical behaviorism, as founded by B.F. Skinner seeks to explain behavior in terms of observable environmental variables, including both external stimuli and the individual's history of reinforcement. This philosophy encompasses private events, such as thoughts and feelings, as behaviors, but does not consider them the causes of behavior. Instead, private events are seen as subject to the same environmental influences as overt behaviors. Mentalism Mentalism, on the other hand, explains behavior in terms of internal, unobservable mental states or processes. Examples of these are desires, feelings, beliefs, intentions, or even intelligence. Mentalistic explanations often propose that behavior is caused by what a person "wants," "knows," or "feels," without identifying measurable, observable factors that can be manipulated or verified. ________________________________________ 2. How Each Philosophy THEN Would Describe the Causes of “Turning in an Assignment After the Due Date” in the following manner: Radical Behaviorism From this perspective, the behavior of turning in an assignment late could be explained by analyzing the individual's learning history and environmental contingencies. For example: • A history of reinforcement for late submission (e.g., no penalty from instructors). • Lack of effective consequences for timeliness. • Competing reinforcers (e.g., social media, work) that were more immediately rewarding. • Weak stimulus control (e.g., the due date reminder was not salient or consistent). Mentalism A mentalist explanation might attribute the behavior to internal states such as: • “He was unmotivated.” • “She didn’t feel like doing it.” • “He procrastinated because he lacked the willpower.” • “She didn’t care about the class.” These causes are inferred, assumed, or supposed, but they are often not observable or measurable, making the testing process a difficult task in a scientific framework. ________________________________________ 3. How Each Philosophy Might Propose an Intervention Based on Its Assumptions Radical Behaviorism Intervention would focus on modifying the environmental variables that influence the behavior. For example: • Introduce clear, immediate consequences for late submissions (e.g., point deduction). • Increase reinforcement for on-time submissions (e.g., praise, bonus points). • Implement prompts or reminders that bring the due date under stimulus control. • Teach time management skills through shaping and reinforcement. These strategies aim to change observable contingencies to support behavior change. Mentalism A mentalistic approach might propose interventions targeting inferred internal causes: • Try to "increase motivation" through pep talks or appeals to values. • Focus on “changing attitudes” or “instilling responsibility.” • Encourage the student to “want to do better” or “feel more confident.” These approaches are often less specific and harder to evaluate, as they depend on changes in unobservable internal states. ________________________________________ Conclusion: Both philosophies aim to explain behavior in particularly different ways. Radical Behaviorism focuses on measurable and manipulable environmental variables, making it more suitable for designing effective interventions. Mentalism, on the other hand, is intuitively appealing and often relies on subjective and unobservable causes, which limit its practical utility in behavior change efforts.
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