Why it is crucial to understand thinking and feeling: An analysis and application to drug abuse

Behavior analysis has long accepted the legitimacy of the analysis of priva te events in a natural science of behavior. However the topic has languishe d as a focus of empirical research in either applied or basic arenas. We ar gue that recent empirical work examining the bidirectional nature of verbal relations may shed light on the role of private events in complex human be havior. Skinner argued that although it would be possible to analyze privat e events, we need nor, because thoughts and feelings were viewed as co-occu ring products of the same contingencies that are responsible for changes in overt responses. However, the bidirectional transformation of stimulus fun ction inherent in verbal behavior changes the way that private events parti cipate in complex behavioral episodes for verbal organisms. We examine why we have reached such a conclusion, with special emphasis on the role of sel f-awareness. Finally, we conclude with an application of our analysis to th e problem of substance abuse.