Speaker

• Jan De Houwer, Ghent University (Belgium)

Scientific Coordinator: Barbara Treccani

Abstract

Scientists from many different sciences have examined many different behavioral phenomena (e.g., memorizing, learning, attending) in many different ways (e.g., descriptively, functionally, mechanistically) for many different systems (e.g., humans, animals, cells, plants, robots, AIs, planets, metals). I am attempting to develop a framework for behavioral science that can be applied to all behaving systems and allows all scientists who study behavior to communicate about their work using the same concepts. I start by discussing the nature of science, the different aims of science, and different criteria for evaluating progress in science. Next I discuss the nature of behavior and behavioral phenomena. The third part provides a taxonomy of different ways to study behavior. Finally, I discuss the heuristic value of the framework by situating existing behavioral sciences within the framework (i.e., I discuss their similarities and differences) and illustrate the generative value of the framework by speculating about how these approaches could be expanded to different types of systems.