Explanatory Fictions and Hypothetical Constructs

In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), hypothetical constructs are terms that refer to presumed but unobservable processes or entities used to explain behavior, such as "memory storage" or "cognitive maps." These constructs suggest that something inside the individual exists to account for behavior, even though it cannot be directly observed or measured.

Example: If a student forgets their homework, one might say it's because their "short-term memory failed." While this may sound like a solid scientific explanation, the problem is that "short-term memory" is not directly observable and cannot be objectively measured in the same way that behavior can, making it an unreliable explanation for behavior.

Explanatory fictions, on the other hand, are circular explanations where the description of behavior is restated as the cause of the behavior but offer no real clarification. For instance, saying a child "doesn't complete tasks because they're lazy" is an example of explanatory fiction—the behavior (not completing tasks) is attributed to an unmeasurable label ("laziness"), which does not actually explain why the behavior happened.

Example: Explaining a person's frequent social interactions by saying they are "outgoing" creates a circular reasoning loop. The label is inferred from the behavior itself and then used as the supposed cause for that behavior, rather than providing a true, functional understanding of behavior.