Behavior therapy and the philosophy of science: Commentary on “behavior therapy at century close”

G. T. Wilson (1997) describes how behavior therapy altered the field of psychotherapy by dominating controlled outcome research in Europe and in the United States, and by relating clinical science to clinical practice. Wilson maintains that behavior therapy has grown with continued scientific advanc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBehavior therapy Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 459 - 463
Main Authors Plaud, Joseph J., Vogeltanz, Nancy D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Orlando Elsevier Ltd 1997
Academic Press
Subjects
Behavior modification
Philosophy
Psychology
Science
Therapy
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Summary:G. T. Wilson (1997) describes how behavior therapy altered the field of psychotherapy by dominating controlled outcome research in Europe and in the United States, and by relating clinical science to clinical practice. Wilson maintains that behavior therapy has grown with continued scientific advances in experimental psychology, and concludes that the relation between behavior therapy and scientific formulations has, in fact, contributed to behavior therapy's record of success. In this commentary, we expand upon Wilson's points by relating the success of the behavior therapy movement with features of the evolutionary and problem-focused philosophy of science espoused by Laudan (1977). We conclude that behavior therapy's commitment to maximize problem-solving effectiveness accounts for its success in the domain of clinical science.
ISSN:0005-7894
1878-1888
DOI:10.1016/S0005-7894(97)80095-0