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The Relationship Between Systems Theory And Behavior Analysis, Michael B. Oberlin

Dissertations

This paper provides a conceptual framework which clarifies the relationship between General Systems Theory and Behavior Analysis. This framework is supplied by a theoretical notion borrowed from Simon (1962), the notion of "dynamics of interaction." "Interaction" refers to interaction between the units of analysis of science, e.g., in the analysis of behavior, stimuli, responses, and consequences in economics, units of supply and demand. The paradigm of Behavior Analysis is seen to accommodate a "higher-frequency dynamics" found in subsystems; and General Systems Theory, along with disciplines like Economics and Organizational Analysis, accommodates a "lower-frequency dynamics" found in systems. Argument is based …

An Application Of Performance Analysis In A Food Cooperative, Lone Milani

Dissertations

A performance systems analysis was applied in a small business to diagnose problems and direct decisions in order to solve performance deficiencies of that organization. A "performance audit," as the approach is called, consists of analyzing an operating system from the most general to the most specific levels of vantage (i.e., levels at which a system operates). The levels of vantage for any system are: philosophical, cultural, policy, strategic, tactical, and logistic. At each level the actual performance was compared to predetermined standards called "exemplary performance." This comparison facilitated the diagnosis of the organization's deficiencies.

The study attempted to design …

Complex Behavior: A Systematic Reformulation Of Radical Behavioral Analyses, Linda J. Parrott

Dissertations

Mentalistic psychology thrives in the absence of a satisfactory, naturalistic account of complex human behavior. Inadequacies in the radical behavioral position with respect to complex events are of two sorts. First, the complexity of such events is undermined, either by reducing the latter; or, by providing only a very superficial treatment of events at their own level of complexity. The former procedure applies to Skinner's treatment of verbal behavior; the latter to his distinction between rule governed and contingency shaped behavior. Second, the analyses made of some classes of complex phenomena indicate a commerce with metaphysical philosophy, and they thereby …