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Toward the unification of molecular and molar analyses

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Abstract

Three categories of behavior analysis may be called molecular, molar, and unified. Molecular analyses focus on how manual shaping segments moment-to-moment behaving into new, unified, hierarchically organized patterns. Manual shaping is largely atheoretical, qualitative, and practical. Molar analyses aggregate behaviors and then compute a numerical average for the aggregate. Typical molar analyses involve average rate of, or average time allocated to, the aggregated behaviors. Some molar analyses have no known relation to any behavior stream. Molar analyses are usually quantitative and often theoretical. Unified analyses combine automated shaping of moment-to-moment behaving and molar aggregates of the shaped patterns. Unified controlling relations suggest that molar controlling relations like matching confound shaping and strengthening effects of reinforcement. If a molecular analysis is about how reinforcement organizes individual behavior moment by moment, and a molar analysis is about how reinforcement encourages more or less of an activity aggregated over time, then a unified analysis handles both kinds of analyses. Only theories engendered by computer simulation appear to be able to unify all three categories of behavior analysis.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Room 502, University of Utah, 80 South 1530 East, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112, USA

    Charles P. Shimp

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Correspondence to Charles P. Shimp.

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Shimp, C.P. Toward the unification of molecular and molar analyses. BEHAV ANALYST 36, 295–312 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392316

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