Characterizations of behavioral relationships attributed to the term labor in B. F. Skinner's work

• Grant number: 19/26390-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Nilza Micheletto
• Grantee: Samanta Florenci Tibério
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e da Saúde. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Behavior Analysis (BA), a science proposed by B. F. Skinner, has largely addressed social issues in the study of human behavior. Bringing up the individual, anti-mentalism, and functional relationships in their theorizing, BA has produced important contributions to the exchange with other areas of knowledge, such as the Social Sciences. In this perspective, it is emphasized the BA's potentiality for the study of a relevant social and scientific issue: labor is understood as a central activity in the relations established in society. Not coincidentally, this theme was approached by Skinner throughout his work, although literature lacks systematization on it. Thus, it is pertinent to investigate it, such that the aim of this research is to characterize the behavioral relationships attributed to the term "labor" described and prescribed by Skinner. The procedure for selecting the texts for analysis was performed in two stages: in the first, all the author's books (except autobiographies and co-authored books) and texts pertinent to the theme were located; in the second, we searched for the words "labor" and "worker" in the English language in the material obtained (PDF), totalizing 28 texts in the final sample. It is intended to employ an analysis composed of five steps: I) reading of the texts; II) systematic recording of the relevant sections; III) creation of categories of analysis based on this recording, according to the "prescription" and "description" classes; IV) regrouping of these categories into broader new ones, and V) systematization, indicating origin, regularities, and transformations in their studies on the subject. (AU)