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Cited by 61Behavioral and Psychological StudiesAcademic and Historical Perspectives in PsychologyDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Establishing operations, cognition, and emotion

Open access
Dougher, Michael J., Hackbert, Lucianne·2000·The Behavior Analyst
DOI 10.1007/bf03391996PMC PMC2731379
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Abstract

In this paper we argue that behavior analysts have tended to neglect the study of important aspects of complex human behavior, including cognition and emotion. This relative neglect has been costly in terms of mainstream psychology's perception of the field of behavior analysis and in terms of our ability to provide a more thorough account of human behavior. Observations and findings from the clinical context are offered as examples of behavior that are not readily explained by the three-term contingency, and we argue that an adequate account of these behaviors must include principles derived from recent behavior-analytic work, in particular a better understanding of the short- and long-term effects of establishing operations. The concept of the establishing operation and its implications for understanding complex human behavior are discussed.

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Authors
Dougher, M. J., & Hackbert, L.
Affiliations
University of New Mexico (US)
ORCID
Dougher, Michael J.
Venue
The Behavior Analyst
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2000-04
Volume
23
Issue
1
Pages
11-24
ISSN
  • 0738-6729 (ISSN-L)
  • 2196-8918
DOI
10.1007/bf03391996
PMC
PMC2731379
OpenAlex
W2184601693
Cited by
61
References
56
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
FWCI
6.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Behavior Analyst (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Keywords
establishing operations, cognition, emotions, three-term contingency, clinical behavior, short-term and long-term effects, behavior analysis

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