ABSTRACT
This chapter is addressed to the question of whether or not operant research conforms to the basic characteristics of the operant paradigm. First, these characteristics are briefly elaborated, showing that the operant paradigm implies an active organism and a reciprocal relation between behavior and environment. Next, the operant concepts of the active organism and reciprocal relation are analyzed and found to be consistent with the mechanistic world view. Finally, the characteristics of operant research are discussed, and are shown also to be consistent with the mechanistic world view. Consequently, there is no basic conflict between operant research and the operant paradigm. However, neither operant research nor the operant paradigm deals directly with active organisms and reciprocal interactions as conceptualized within the organismic world view. This conceptual dilemma extends to nonoperant mechanistic approaches dealing with dynamic organism-environment interactions, and is not limited to the operant approach.
