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Integrating PsychologicalNeurobiological Levels in Contextual Behavioral Science

Steven C. Hayes, University of Nevada

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The Psychological Level

The study of whole organisms acting in and with a context considered historically and situationally

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The Neurobiological Level

The study of the nervous system of organisms in reaction to external and internal events and in relation to behavior

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Defining Our Levels of Analysis

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Contextual Behavioral Science

The dangers of moving across levels without care:

Hiding ignorance in concrete knowledge at other levels of analysis

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Contextual Behavioral Science

The dangers of moving across levels without care:

The appeal of reductionism

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Contextual Behavioral Science

The possibilities of research across levels of analysis:

Seeing consistent processes

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Contextual Behavioral Science

The possibilities of research across levels of analysis:

An integrated fabric of science

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Contextual Behavioral Science

Depth means that no unit that is fully adequate at the psychological level can be fully inadequate at the neurobiological level and vice versa

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Contextual Behavioral Science

If we claim we are modeling well understood units, the brain has to agree or our model is incorrect

Example: metaphor

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Specifying the Challenges of Higher Levels of Organization

“The contribution that a science of behavior makes to neurology is a rigorous and quantitative statement of the program before it.” (Skinner, 1938, p. 432)

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The Vision of Contextual Neuroscience

Place neurobiological evidence inside a larger effort to understand the situated actions of whole organisms, focusing on the depth of psychological processes known to be important