Keeping with scientific procedure, as many variables as can reasonably be considered must be taken into account in order to maintain the validity of the results. Therefore, a history of the subject must be obtained, for example, to provide knowledge of any cultural inhibitions that the subject may have against drinking that might supersede the neutral environmental factors. .
Behaviorism proposes the idea of a causal chain to behavior as having three links: an external operation performed upon the subject, an inner "psychic or physiological" condition, and a behavior itself. Each link determines the characteristics of the next. Since there is no way of verifying the second link (in the example of the water experiment, the thirst that the subject feels) focus should be paid to the first link, which in theory determines the second link anyway. This again reinforces the notion of the mental states being irrelevant to scientific or philosophical inquiry. Operant conditioning, or the process of manipulating a variable to elicit a certain response more frequently from a subject, is the basis for controlling behavior, so therefore, the reinforcers (the variables) are the major determining factors in producing behavior. The conclusion is also drawn that if reflexes .
develop because they increase the survival of the species, so do learned behaviors develop within the life of an organism because they have in the past produced beneficial results. .
I will now explore some of the flaws of Behaviorism using Putnam's article "Brains and Behavior" as a crutch. I do so not only for the reason that it is part of the requirements for this paper, but because upon reading Skinners article, I tended to agree with it, except for a few points that were addressed in Putnam's work as well. After reading the second article, however, I understood much more fully the flaws in the arguments. One thing that I had questioned was that Behaviorist theory doesn't seem to give credit to thought and the rational capabilities of the human mind as having the ability to override environmental stimuli in behavior choice.