An intentional interpretive perspective

Abstract

To the extent that the concept of intention has been addressed within behavior analysis, descriptions of intention have been general and have not specifically included important distinctions that differentiate a behavior-analytic approach from vernacular definitions of intention. A fundamental difference between a behavior-analytic approach and most other psychological approaches is that other approaches focus on the necessity of intentions to explain behavior, whereas a behavior-analytic approach is directed at understanding the interplay between behavior and environment. Behavior-analytic interpretations include the relations between the observer's behavior and the environment. From a behavior-analytic perspective, an analysis of the observer's interpretations of an individual's behavior is inherent in the subsequent attribution of intention. The present agenda is to provide a behavior-analytic account of attributing intention that identifies the establishing conditions for speaking of intention. Also addressed is the extent to which we speak of intentions when the observed individual's behavior is contingency shaped or under instructional control.