Reddit reviews Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism

An explanatory fiction is Skinner's word for hypothetical construct. It's a little harder to make a distinction between what is testable and what isn't. For example, reinforcement, a construct, is testable because it is verifiable as a description of events we can observe; it is also an explanation for changes in behavior. Conversely, the brain as a computer is an explanatory fiction. As a hypothetical construct, it has heuristic value, as in, it leads a research agenda. But it isn't real. It is just useful. Skinner, specifically, wrote a lot about the follies of chasing hypotheticals. Since the brain isn't a computer, nor does it operate like one, attempts to prove that it is/does is a poor use of research resources. Now, personally, I don't wholly agree with Skinner here. Sometimes useful advances in science have occurred from hypothetical deduction; that doesn't mean that a lot of deductive research agendas are successful--probably more are not useful.

I recommend reading either of the below books, or both, as your question, while seemingly straight forward, takes one well into the philosophy of behavior analysis--radical behaviorism.

Radical Behaviorism: The Philosophy and the Science https://www.amazon.com/dp/0962331147/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_awd_kJTOwb9FZ7MCX

Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism https://www.amazon.com/dp/1597380113/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_awd_kHTOwbNG1KPZB


Also, I have no idea why they are so expensive. The Jay Moore book is more of a text, so the price might be what it is. The second, I think I paid $20 or so for it, not $600.