Abstract

LEITE, Felipe Lustosa  and  ALVES DE SOUZA, Carlos Barbosa. Metacontingencies, Cultural Selection and Social/Verbal. rev.latinoam.psicol. [online]. 2012, vol.44, n.1, pp.35-42. ISSN 0120-0534.

In the last decades, Sigrid Glenn, from the proposition of the concept of 'metacontingency', has developed a behavioral-analytic proposal that seeks to amplify the Skinnerian treatment given to cultural selection/evolution processes. This paper initially presents a description of the conceptual development of this proposal. Afterwards, considering the importance that has been assigned to verbal repertoire in the cultural selection process, proposals from anthropologists Terrence Deacon and Marvis Harris, who approach the relationship between the evolution of social/verbal environments and the selection/evolution of cultural practices, are presented. Finally, based on these propositions, forms in which the control of individual behavior by the group - and by their controlling agencies - seems to denote an increasing development in verbal/ social control mechanisms are discussed, indicating the importance to go more deeply into the study of relationships between the evolution of social/verbal environments and the selection/evolution of cultural practices.

Keywords : Metacontingency; cultural selection; social/verbal practices.

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