ARE THOUGHTS PRIVATE?

Resumen

Based on the radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner, behavior analysts largely assume a dichotomy between public and private behavior. Thoughts, for example, are assumed to be something that occurs within the skin of the individual. This paper presents an interbehavioral alternative to this dichotomy. We conclude that thoughts are not private, but, instead, like all behavior, consist of interactions taking place in the only place they could - the public domain, the natural world. Implications of adopting this analysis for the science of behavior are considered.