Given the popularity of behaviorism, especially half a century ago, it is not surprising that a large number of variants of this paradigm exist. Thus, we find classic models, such as the radical behaviorism of BF Skinner and the interbehaviorism of Kantor, along with more recent contributions, among which the functional contextualism of Hayes stands out.
In this article we will describe the main aspects of Howard Rachlin’s teleological behaviorism, which emphasizes the importance of human will and our ability to self-control behavior. We will also present the most significant criticisms that have been made towards this theoretical perspective.
Howard Rachlin is an American psychologist who was born in 1935. When she was 30 years old, in 1965, she received her doctorate in Psychology from Harvard University. Since then he has dedicated his life to research, teaching and writing articles and books, among which “Conduct and Mind” and “The Science of Self-Control” stand out.
Rachlin is considered one of the determining authors in the emergence of behavioral economics; Some of his research has examined phenomena such as pathological gambling or the prisoner’s dilemma. He is also known for teleological behaviorism, which this article focuses on.
During his professional career this author has mainly studied decision making and choice behavior. According to him, his main objective as a researcher is to understand the psychological and economic factors that explain phenomena such as self-control, social cooperation, altruism and addictions.
Rachlin is currently Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Science at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. His ongoing research focuses on analyzing choice patterns over time and their effects on interpersonal cooperation and individual self-control.
Principles of teleological behaviorism
Teleological behaviorism follows the fundamental principles of classical behavioral orientation. Rachlin defends that the object of study of psychology should be observable behavior and adheres to the theses that conceive mental contents (thoughts, emotions, etc.) as forms of behavior instead of as causal factors.
The central aspect that characterizes this discipline is its focus on voluntary or purposeful behavior. This principle leads Rachlin to emphasize the relevance of issues such as the free will of human beings, our capacity for self-control or collaboration between different individuals.
In this sense, Rachlin’s theory can be related to the contributions of authors such as Edward Tolman, whose proposals are known as “propositive behaviorism,” or Albert Bandura, who stated that people can control our own behavior through self-regulation processes ( which include self-observation or self-reinforcement).
Voluntary behavior, self-control and free will
With the popularization of Skinner’s radical behaviorism, which attempts to predict behavior exclusively through the manipulation of environmental stimuli, the old question of free will became central to scientific psychology. According to Rachlin, determining whether a behavior is voluntary or not is fundamental from a social point of view.
This author states that actions that most people consider voluntary are also motivated by environmental factors, but this is less obvious than with other types of behaviors. At this point the concept of self-control is introduced, which Rachlin defined as the individual’s ability to resist temptations by thinking long-term.
For Rachlin, for people with good self-control the objective of behavior is not always to satisfy a present need, but it can also be to seek reinforcement or avoid long-term punishment. This interest in delayed consequences and in the vision of the future is another of the most characteristic aspects of teleological behaviorism.
The capacity for self-control is understood as a skill that can be trained; Rachlin asserts that whether a person develops it adequately or not depends on the consistency of his efforts to guide his behavior in terms of long-term, rather than immediate, gratification. This can apply to problems such as addictions.
Criticisms of Rachlin’s theory
Rachlin’s teleological behaviorism defends that free will is a social construct whose definition depends exclusively on the context. This approach has received criticism for its relativistic nature.
MMany behaviorists believe that Rachlin’s contributions deviate from the path that this discipline should follow. A particularly criticized aspect has been its focus on self-control, which some equate with the phenomenon of self-help psychology, reviled for being considered to obviously seek economic benefit.
