Abstract
The title of this paper is an adaptation of the title of a classic paper by Lee J. Cronbach (1957). In “The Two Disciplines of Scientific Psychology” Cronbach analyzed two distinct and often antagonistic conceptual and methodological disciplines within psychology: correlational and experimental psychology. He argued for a rapproachment which would produce a stronger and more complete science by combining the advantages of both disciplines. Similarly, this paper analyzes two often antagonistic conceptual and methodological disciplines within behavior therapy: cognitive behavior therapy and the more traditional behavior therapy based on radical behaviorism. This analysis is based upon each approach’s use of research methodology and mediating variables. A literature analysis of a cognitive behavioral journal (Cognitive Therapy and Research) and a more traditional, radical behavioral journal (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis) is presented in order to determine more fully the nature and extent of the methodological differences between the two disciplines. A major thesis of this paper is that theory and methodology are interdependent. Therefore, differences in the use of mediating variables in the conceptual frameworks of the two approaches that are possibly supported by these methodological differences are examined. Finally, a suggestion for a methodological rapproachment between the two disciplines is presented.
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O’Donohue, W.T., Houts, A.C. The Two Disciplines of Behavior Therapy: Research Methods and Mediating Variables. Psychol Rec 35, 155–163 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394919
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394919