Choice and the Language of Free Will

In a message dated 04/14/2002 8:32:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:

<< An entire area of the experimental analysis of behavior concerns
 so-called "choice behavior" (a term invented, I think, by a
 behaviorist).  In fact, all behavior can probably be conceptualized
 as "choice behavior" in that when one does something, one is doing
 that thing to the exclusion of all the other things one could
 conceivably be doing. >>

That's a good point.  Having it all conceptualized as "choice" at
best, I think*, signifies the different strengths of whatever controlling
variables select and determine action.

The other side of the coin, however, is that in common parlance --
the language of the culture if you will -- both "choice" and "electing"
are the language of free will.  They imply agency.  As such they
are terms that work against a selectionist view of behavior, in
my estimation.  This becomes even more evident when a person
says "I chose," or "I elected," or similar such constructions.
"I decided" represents another, similar sort of construction. When
a person says these, or writes them, they are verbal responses.
As written or audiblized they then become response products
that can, in turn, function as verbal stimuli for further verbal behavior.
In any case, with any such term, the controlling relationship is put
into the person, and this defines control then by an inner agency.

While the use of these terms COULD allude to that experimental
analysis literature, it is not clear that they do refer to it unless
there is specific indication of such.  At best any such reference
would be ambiguous or uncertain. Moreover, a reader who did
not have a verbal repertoire with respect to that experimental
analytic literature would be unlikely, I think, to respond to it from
such a behavioral perspective.  In your case, since you do have
that verbal repertoire, the terminology can, and evidently did,
evoke an intraverbal response in relation to that literature.
For most people however, there would be no such intraverbal
control producing the same results. They would not see "elected"
and then think or say "experimental analysis of behavior literature
on choice." Indeed, many behaviorists reading such terms
might not exhibit that same sort of intraverbal responses you had.

Any intraverbal control from such a word as "chose" or "elected"
would evoke other responses, quite possibly those coherent
with and verifying of one's beliefs in agency.  Or, quite probably,
the word would not even be a verbal stimulus with respect to
any intraverbals, evoking no intraverbal at all, because it is
simply language common and coherent with an existing repertoire.
This means there may be no intraverbal response at all by a
nonbehaviorist reading "I elected." (Remember, an intraverbal
is evoked by a verbal stimulus, but has no "point to point"
correspondene to it.) In that case, probably the only verbal
behavior occasioned by such a stimulus would be the textuals
that may occur when reading it.

The word "choice" represents at best a mixed blessing. It's unclear
that it adds anything of value.  It does seem clear that it bears
a sizeable potential for misleading people. It is a small step from
"choice" in the experimental analytic sense to "I chose" or "he chose."
Once that step's been taken, so to speak, one has crossed from
a selectionist perspective to an agency perspective.  Given that
our culture is already heavily imbued with agency as explanation
for behavior, the potential also becomes one of simply strengthening
that perspective, while not really doing anything that advances
a behavioral perspective. Not that any of that previous discussion
itself advanced anything at all!  ;-)

I thank you for your comments, and for the the verbal stimuli
they functioned as to evoke various sequelic intraverbals.

FWIW, the "flamefest" is over.  -- JE

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* "I think."  This kind of construction, as a product of a verbal
response, probably suggests some autoclitic control. The
actual thinking, such as it is, is recorded in this case in the
response products produced.