Psychologists and philosophers have long been interested in two questions: (a) What do mental terms mean? and (b) what role do mental terms play in explanations of behavior? In the current sketch I review how mediational neobehaviorism, cognitive psychology, and the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner address these questions. In so doing, I seek…

The philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy that critically examines the foundations, assumptions, methods, products, and implications of the activity called science. The present sketch reviews the historical development of the philosophy of science, representative individuals in the field, and topics of long-standing interest. The…

Cognitivism has dominated mainstream psychology for decades, but lately its position has been weakened. It has been criticized not only by behavior analysts but also by social and evolutionary psychologists, neuroscientists, and authors who are or used to be cognitivists themselves. At the same time, psychologists and neuroscientists in several…