Abstract
J. R. Kantor had an exceptional career with great implications for the philosophy of science and science of psychology. The present commentary provides an overview of Kantor’s construction of psychological events as integrated fields. In doing so, specific attention is given to constructs and events in general, and in the domain of psychology specifically. Related topics, such as the subject matters of the various sciences, are also considered. The unique, multi-factored field nature of Kantor’s psychological event construct is highlighted and contrasted with more common constructions in the field of behavior science. The implications of Kantor’s psychological event for scientific investigation are considered.
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Notes
Important to note here is that the “association” to which Kantor refers in this analysis is not an act of the organism. The organism does not associate or otherwise relate one thing with another. Rather, it is the conditions under which responding is occurring that are associated (Kantor, 1924, pp. 316–345).
Added to conditions of association among events giving rise to substitute stimulation are circumstances of partial similarity among stimuli (Kantor, 1924). This is to say, partial similarity between stimuli currently and previously encountered may permit the actualization of functions inhering in the latter to be actualized in the former. This is the principle of “stimulus generalization” in other behavioral perspectives (e.g., Skinner, 1953).
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Hayes, L.J., Fryling, M.J. Psychological Events as Integrated Fields. Psychol Rec 68, 273–277 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0274-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-018-0274-3