WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FROM A DEBATE ABOUT COGNITION, BEHAVIOR, AND CAUSALITY

Some authors have argued that the debate about whether or not self-eff icacy can be legitimately viewed as a cause of behavior is futile due to incommensurability between underlying philosophies. Nevertheless, t he debate provides a valuable case study of comparative paradigms in p sychology for teaching purposes. It also stimulates a secondary debate about whether clinical utility is a sufficient criterion in clinical decision making. Another consequence of the debate has been a reminder of the negative consequences of the focus on the individual in contem porary psychology. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd