The Behavior of the Scientist: Epistemological Tools Science-Makers Use and Games They Play
Irene Grote
University of Kansas
ABSTRACT: Because making science is inescapably a special class of behaviors by
people thereby called scientists, then a science of science inevitably will involve behaviorism.
Behaviorism advises us always to look for the relevant reinforcers; and science behaviors
apparently are often reinforced by the discovery of truth–as scientists define it, and often by
the accomplishment of usefulness–as society defines it. This paper discusses some responses that
scientists have in common, and some contingencies which control the behavior of scientists.
Key words: Behavior of scientists; behavior analysis; experimental proof; knowledge;
unification of technology; unification of science; language of scientists;
diversity and evolutionary niches; economics.
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