Philosophy of Psychology

328 Pages·1987·16.493 MB·English

by  Mario Bunge, Rubén Ardila (auth.)

Philosophy of Psychology
Mario Bunge and Ruben Ardila
Philosophy of Psychology
With 33 Illustrations
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg
London Paris Tokyo
Mario Bunge Ruben Ardila
Foundations and Philosophy Departamento de Psicologia
of Science Unit Universidad Nacional de Colombia
McGill University Bogota
Montreal H3A lW7 Colombia
Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bunge, Mario Augusto.
Philosophy of psychology.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
I. Psychology-Philosophy. I. Ardila, Ruben,
1942- II. Title.
BF38.B85 1987 150'.1 86-26124
© 1987 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Typeset by TCSystems, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
987654321
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-9118-3 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-4696-1
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-4696-1
Preface
This book is about some topical philosophical and methodological prob
lems that arise in the study of behavior and mind, as well as in the
treatment of behavioral and mental disorders. It deals with such questions
as 'What is behavior a manifestation of?', 'What is mind, and how is it
related to matter?', 'Which are the positive legacies, if any, of the major
psychological schools?', 'How can behavior and mind best be studied?',
and 'Which are the most effective ways of modifying behavioral and
mental processes?'
These questions and their kin cannot be avoided in the long run because
they fuel the daily search for better hypotheses, experimental designs,
techniques, and treatments. They also occur in the critical examination of
data and theories, as well as methods for the treatment of behavioral and
mental disorders.
All students of human or animal, normal or abnormal behavior and
mind, whether their main concern is basic or applied, theoretical or em
pirical, admit more or less tacitly to a large number of general philosophi
cal and methodological principles. For example, they presuppose that
mind is (or is not) distinct from brain function; that understanding the
nervous system is (or is not) necessary to explain behavior and mind; that
animal research is (or is not) necessary to advance the understanding of
human behavior and mind; that statistics are (or are not) indispensable to
assess the efficacy of treatments of behavioral and mental disorders; that
psychology is (or is not) an autonomous discipline; that psychology has
much (or little) to learn from artificial intelligence-and more.
Some of these strategic principles guide research or practice, whereas
others mislead them. As long as they remain tacit they are mere dogmas.
Whereas some such dogmas may be fertile, others are bound to be barren
or even harmful to the search for truth and efficacy. A principle used in
scientific research or in professional practice becomes a hypothesis the
moment it is rendered explicit. From then on it can be subjected to exami
nation and evaluation, whereas before that it was out of consciousness,
hence beyond criticism.
Preface
VI
Explicit principles, in short, are not only guides to research and prac
tice. They can also become objects of research, in particular of concep
tual analysis, theoretical systematization, and empirical checking. A goal
of the present study is to ferret out and examine some of the philosophical
hypotheses and methodological rules held or used more or less tacitly by
contemporary psychologists.
Our exercise is not one in academic futility: it should be of some help to
psychologists as well as philosophers. To the former because bad princi
ples, particularly when hidden, are roadblocks, whereas good ones expe
dite research and praxis, and they can occasionally reorient them in prom
ising directions. Our exercise should be useful to philosophers because
the philosophy of mind will continue to be obsolete, boring, and barren, as
long as it remains out of touch with the forefront of research and practice.
Our book, then, is not one of philosophical or armchair psychology but
a work in the philosophy and methodology of psychology. We do not wish
to usurp the job of psychologists but to study it from a certain viewpoint.
In fact, our task will be to analyze psychological research and practice in
the light of philosophy and methodology, and with the hope that such
examination will in turn enrich both philosophY and psychology. We
agree that philosophical psychology is at best the precursor and at worst
the enemy of scientific psychology, but submit that the philosophy of
psychology can be its ally.
This work is the outcome of the joint effort of a research psychologist
(R.A.) and a physicist turned philosopher (M.B.). The former wrote chap
ters 10 and 12, and the senior author wrote the rest. Each author takes full
responsibility for his own contribution, and neither endorses fully that of
his partner.
The authors undertook this venture on the strength of five beliefs. (1)
Psychology has an extremely rich but largely untapped philosophical and
methodological problematics. (2) Some of the philosophical and method
ological principles at work in psychology are tacit, and hence are held
somewhat uncritically. (3) All the principles that guide or misguide re
search and practice in any field should be subjected to thorough investiga
tion. (4) Because such investigation bears on norms that concern both
research and practice, it should be taken seriously by all students of
behavior, mind, and mental health. (5) Psychologists can make solid con
tributions to such philosophical and methodological studies provided they
become reasonably well acquainted with contemporary philosophy, and
philosophers can do as much as long as they become reasonably conver
sant with contemporary psychology. This being a tall order, it is best for
psychologists and philosophers to cooperate with one another.
Mario Bunge Ruben Ardila
Foundations and Philosophy Departamento de Psicologia,
of Science Unit, Universidad Nacional de Colombia,
McGill University Bogota, Columbia
Montreal, Canada
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada for a research grant in support of this project. I thank the follow
ing persons for having supplied valuable information, comments, or criti
cisms on a variety of psychological or neuroscientific problems over the
last few years: Ruben Ardila (Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Co
lombia), the late Dalbir Bindra (Psychology, McGill University), David
Blitz (Philosophy, Concordia University), Bernard Dubrovsky (Psychia
try, McGill University), Mike Dillinger (Educational Psychology, McGill
University), Hans Flohr (Neurobiology, Universitat Bremen), Lluis
Garcia i Sevilla (Psychology, Universidad de Barcelona), the late Donald
o. Hebb (Psychology, McGill University), Rodolfo Llinas (Physiology
and Biophysics, New York University), Peter M. Milner (Psychology,
McGill University), Mortimer Mishkin (Neurobiology, National Institute
of Health, Bethesda), Meinrad Perrez (Psychology, U niversite de Fri
bourg), Ernst Poppel (Medical Psychology, U niversitat Munchen), Viktor
Sarris (Psychology, J.W. Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt), and Endel
Tulving (Psychology, University of Toronto).
M.B.
Contents
Preface..................................................... v
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vll
I PRELIMINARIES
WHY PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Influence of Philosophy on Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Philosophies of Mind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 The Identity Hypotheses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 Philosophical Presuppositions of Scientific Research. . . 17
1.5 Philosophies of Psychology ......................... 21
1.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2 WHAT PSYCHOLOGY IS ABOUT.. ... ... .. .. ... . .. . ... . 25
2.1 Definitions of Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2 Referents of Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 The Fragmentation of Psychology and How to Remedy It 30
2.4 Unification in Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.5 Aims of Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
II APPROACH AND METHOD
3 APPROACHES TO BEHAVIOR AND MIND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.1 Approach......................................... 44
3.2 Atomism, Holism, and Systemism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3 Nonscientific Approaches to Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.4 Toward a Scientific Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
x Contents
3.5 Scientific Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4 METHODOLOGy....................................... 62
4.1 Method........................................... 63
4.2 Observation ....................................... ·· 66
4.3 Measurement...................................... 71
4.4 Experiment........................................ 76
4.5 Inference.......................................... 81
4.6 Summing Up . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . .. . ... . 85
III BRAINLESS PSYCHOLOGY
5 MENTALISM.......................................... 89
5.1 Subjective Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.2 Classical Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.3 Gestalt Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 100
5.4 Information-Processing Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 105
5.5 Pop Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 111
5.6 Summing Up . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. .. . ... .. . .. . .. .. ... . .. 115
6 BEHAVIORISM........................................ 116
6.1 Phenomenalism (Black-Boxism) ..................... 117
6.2 Environmentalism.................................. 120
6.3 Operationism...................................... 125
6.4 Intervening Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 130
6.5 Hypothetical Constructs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 132
6.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 134
IV BIOPSYCHOLOGY
7 NEUROBIOLOGy...................................... 139
7.1 Brain & Co........................................ 141
7.2 Plasticity.......................................... 146
7.3 Development...................................... 151
7.4 Evolution......................................... 155
7.5 Functional Localization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 160
7.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 165
Contents xi
8 BASIC FUNCTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 166
8.1 Movement........................................ 167
8.2 Affect............................................ 169
8.3 Sensation......................................... 173
8.4 Attention.......................................... 177
8.5 Memory.......................................... 179
8.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 184
9 HIGHER FUNCTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 185
9.1 Learning.......................................... 186
9.2 Perception........................................ 194
9.3 Conception........................................ 201
9.4 Cognition......................................... 207
9.5 Intention.......................................... 215
9.6 Summing Up . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. .. .. . .. . .. . . . . . . .. 218
V THE SOCIAL ASPECT
10 THE SOCIAL MATRIX OF BEHAVIOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 221
10.1 Psychology: Natural Science or Social Science? . . . . . .. 223
10.2 Culture........................................... 224
10.3 Social Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 227
10.4 Socialization....................................... 228
10.5 Cultural Homogenization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 231
10.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 232
11 CONSCIOUSNESS...................................... 233
11.1 Distinctions....................................... 234
11.2 Definitions........................................ 235
11.3 Applications....................................... 239
11.4 Hypotheses....................................... 243
11.5 Experimental Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 247
11.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 250
12 PSYCHOTECHNOLOGY................................ 251
12.1 Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 252
12.2 Educational Psychology ............................ 255
12.3 Industrial and Organizational Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . .. 257
12.4 Designing Cultures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 258
xii . Contents
12.5 The Goals of Psychotechnology ..................... 260
12.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 261
VI CONCLUSION
13 CONCLUDING REMARKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 265
13.1 Reduction......................................... 265
13.2 Integration........................................ 270
13.3 Explanation....................................... 274
13.4 Prospects......................................... 280
13.5 Philosophical Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 282
13.6 Summing Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 284
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 287
Name Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 309
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 317