How to Explain Behavior

Sam S. Rakover is professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Haifa.

Scientific domains are sometimes categorized as hard and soft, with psychology falling in the latter grouping. Another characterization could be the hard sciences and the difficult sciences. As Rakover (Univ. of Haifa, Israel) has compellingly illustrated in How to Explain Behavior, psychology clearly falls in the difficult category. This book deals with the philosophy of science as it relates to psychological explanation. As such, a solid background in philosophy and the philosophy of science will enable readers to evaluate Rakover’s complex arguments. That the issues of causal explanation remain unresolved indicates the complexity of the endeavor. He lays out the varied philosophical approaches to understanding phenomena as they unfold in the natural and in the social/behavioral sciences, showing that scientists are still far from coming up with explanatory models of behavior. He makes it clear that explanations and understanding are intimately tied to measurement, which constitutes a problem with respect to modeling experiential, mental states. He develops his model, called the "general explanation procedure," to account for psychological constructs, suggesting that psychologists can use it to carve a methodological path leading in the direction of the truth. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers.

• Chapter 1: Understanding and ExplanationChapter 2: Models of Explanation (I): Natural Sciences Chapter 3: Models of Explanation (II): Natural and Social Sciences Chapter 4: Reflections on Models of ExplanationChapter 5: Methodological Dualism (MD) and the Multi-Explanation Framework (MEF) (I) Theoretical and Empirical Basis Chapter 6: Methodological Dualism (MD) and the Multi-Explanation Framework (MEF) (II): Setting UpChapter 7: A Proposed General Explanation Procedure (GEP) for Understanding an Individual’s Behavior