Behavioral Psychology

Isn't a behavioral psychologist a guy that has to ring a bell whenever his dog salivates?

(......check out Eddie Izzard 'Pavlov's Cat' if you haven't seen it !)

All the 'insight' you need can be found in elementary psychology textbooks.
(My favorite authors used to be Kretch and Crutchfield for comedic reasons.)

. yes
not entirely sure what you mean here. What do you plan to study?

it seems unpredictable because we are largely unaware of the history of consequences to which someone has been exposed. However, behavior can be brought under specific control and shown to be highly predictable. One kind of molar example is the behavioral patterns of criminals as revealed by detectives. Under surveillance the detective can observe predictable patterns of behavior of the criminal, build a case, and plan a sting operation.

. This gets to methodology. We would first need to know the specifics of what you wish to observe/operate on. For example, if I was interested in knowing why a person would hit himself, I might measure the number of self hits in 15 minute intervals when there is nothing to do, or when I cease asking difficult questions, or when I provide attention by saying "why are you doing that?", or when I give the person something stimulating with which to engage. By repeating these conditions a picture can appear fairly quickly as to which condition can bring about more of the problem.



That it has developed into a field that has solved actual human problems (reducing pedestrian accidents, child-rearing, smoking cessation, piloting airplanes, accuracy of mammography, treating people with autism, etc. ).

. The environment selects behavior through contingencies of reinforcement. There are stimuli present at the time that reinforcing consequences occur, and they will continue to occasion behavior in the future.

societies help to organize behavior. Cultures also evolve and the practices of members of the culture get pulled along (generally speaking)

. I don't have one. It is not a useful construct for behavioral psychology. We can talk about the phenomena of contradictory thoughts without imposing possibly circular descriptions.

. Yes

My hearing isn't good enough for that one, but the audience clearly ate it up.

Pavlovian psychology associated neutral stimuli with reflexes. Through the repeated pairings those reflexes were brought about by the stimulus that was previously neutral. These types of examples are very limited compared to the overwhelming number of examples of Operant psychology

Good one

You'll find a text version on Izzard Wikiquote.

In the interim I see Brian has taken it upon himself to 'put you straight' !