자극에 반응하고 조절되는 인간:행동과학과 인간공학의 인간관

초록

Modern Behavioral Science and Human Engineering model the human as an entity that responds to specific stimulus in some predictable behavioral patterns. This implies that if we are able to discover these patterns in controlled experimental settings, we can employ at least some of this knowledge to modify human behavior in a particular environment. Studies in behavioral science and human engineering have generated some successful results this respect. Still this model of understanding human behavior obviously conflicts with more commonly accepted view of human as an autonomous subject capable of free choice and who are thus fully responsible for their own actions This paper examines how this particular model has evolved historically, specifically from the point of view of research methodology. As a prime example of this model, Pavlov’s research on conditioning shows that this model of the human have developed as a result of methodological extension from a specific explanation of rather narrow human capabilities such as learning. As long as this extension is consistent with current empirical knowledge and productive in scientific knowledge production, scientists are methodologically and epistemologically justified to employ this model in their research. The ontological acceptability of this model however is another matter. The legitimacy of this model does not contradict with the existence of other equally legitimate models from different perspectives.

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