Private behavioral events are an important topic in the theoretical, philosophical, and conceptual orientation of radical behaviorism. This presentation makes the case for private behavioral events by addressing such questions as the following: (a) Of what are we speaking when we speak of private behavioral events? (b) What are two types of private behavioral events? (c) What is the nature and causal status of private behavioral events? (d) Are private behavioral events necessarily related functionally to public behavior? (e) How does the present view of private behavioral events compare with explanations in traditional psychology that appeal to internal, unobservable phenomena? In sum, the presentation argues that we can most effectively understand behavior, and bar the door to mentalism, when our interpretations of behavior recognize that events currently inaccessible to others, but nonetheless from the behavioral dimension, can influence behavior.

Review Jay Moore’s biographical statement.