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‘After‐the‐fact causality’: a different direction for cultural geography
Author(s) -
Norton William
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/j.0004-0894.2003.00191.x
Subject(s) - causality (physics) , interpretation (philosophy) , argument (complex analysis) , epistemology , settlement (finance) , objectivism , sociology , cultural geography , human geography , social psychology , psychology , social science , philosophy , computer science , biochemistry , physics , chemistry , quantum mechanics , world wide web , payment , linguistics
Cultural geography might benefit from consideration of radical behaviourism and from interpretation and application of the concepts of behaviour analysis. The basic concept is that of operant conditioning, referring to the environment reinforcing behaviours that are most adaptive and effective in achieving reinforcers and avoiding aversive stimuli. The concept of rule‐governed behaviour facilitates incorporation of cognition into behaviour analyses, accommodating the fact that many consequences are delayed. These concepts are applied in an analysis of nineteenth‐century Mormon settlement in the American West. This argument for an objectivist approach is laden with social scientific baggage not favoured in contemporary cultural geography.