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Emergence & Metacontingency: Points of Contact and Departure

Behavior and Social Issues

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Field Value
 
Title Emergence & Metacontingency: Points of Contact and Departure
 
Creator Houmanfar, Ramona
Rodrigues, Nischal Joe
Ward, Todd A.
 
Subject Behavior Analysis, Cultural Analysis
emergence, metacontingency, interdisciplinary interaction, levels of analysis
 
Description The behavioral contingency and the metacontingency describe pheThe behavioral contingency and the metacontingency describe phenomena at different levels of analysis, the former at the individual level, the latter at the group level. The relationship between these levels is similar to the relationship between the physiological and the psychological levels of analysis. Simply stated, behavior is not simply the sum of physiological activity, but is rather more than or qualitatively different from physiological activity. We believe this emergent relationship may be crucial to distinguishing phenomena at different levels of analyses. The term ‘emergence’ is used in several ways within behavior analysis. Some uses suggest that novel behavior or more complex behavior is emergent upon simpler behavior. The term is also used to suggest that molar patterns of behavior emerge from molecular contingencies of reinforcement. For others, the term is reserved for describing connections between levels of analysis. Our aim in this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the phenomenon of emergence in the interdisciplinary interaction between behavior analysis and sociology. In presenting this analysis, we examine the utility of an interdisciplinary concept of metacontingency and discuss the points of contact and departures between behavior analysis and cultural analysis throughout this process.
 
Publisher University of Illinois at Chicago Library
 
Date 2010-10-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/view/3065
10.5210/bsi.v19i0.3065
 
Source Behavior and Social Issues; Volume 19 (2010); 53-78
1064-9506
 
Language eng
 
Relation https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/view/3065/2676