“Methodological behaviorism” is a term that frequently appears in the behavioristic literature, but one accompanied by considerable semantic confusion: the term is used to denote very different theoretical positions and the authors classified as methodological behaviorists are many and various. In order to understand the polysemic character of this term, we propose a historical analysis of its origins and development in the literature from the 50 years following its first appearance in 1923. The results reveal that it has been used by authors as diverse as Karl Lashley, B. F. Skinner, Herbert Feigl, and Gustav Bergmann. Moreover, it has been defined in terms of two central features (one a methodological assumption and the other a metaphysical one) and used to demarcate positive and negative forms of behaviorism, depending on how each author has understood those features and forms. We conclude that the term’s polysemic character and different uses can be traced back to its roots in the 1920s, which helps us to understand the semantic confusion in the contemporary literature.

中文翻译：

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方法论行为主义：问题概念的历史渊源（1923-1973年）。

“方法论行为主义”是一个在行为主义文献中经常出现的术语，但伴随着相当大的语义混乱：该术语用于表示非常不同的理论立场，被归类为方法论行为主义的作者很多。为了理解该术语的多义性特征，我们提出了对其在1923年首次出现后的50年中文献的起源和发展的历史分析。结果表明，卡尔·拉什利（Karl Lashley）等作家已使用了该术语。 ，BF Skinner，Herbert Feigl和Gustav Bergmann。此外，它是根据两个主要特征（一个方法论假设，另一个是形而上学的假设）定义的，用于划定行为主义的积极形式和消极形式，取决于每个作者如何理解这些功能和形式。我们得出的结论是，该术语的多义性特征和不同用途可以追溯到1920年代，这有助于我们理解当代文学中的语义混乱。