It summarizes
It compresses a pattern of behaviour into one word.
Conceptual analysis
From label to analysis.
This is not a verdict on whether stubbornness is real or fake. It is a guided look at what the word does, what it reveals, what it hides, and how it can be translated into behaviour, context, history, contingencies, and function.
A label may summarize a pattern. It should not become the explanation.
beforeAntecedent
afterConsequence
whyFunction
01
The everyday use of "stubborn"
In ordinary language, "stubborn" often means that someone keeps doing something, refuses to do something, or does not change behaviour when another person wants them to.
"The dog is stubborn."
"The child is stubborn."
"I am stubborn and keep avoiding the task."
Everyday words are useful. In analysis, we still need to ask: what is the individual doing. What does it look like?
02
What does the word do?
A single label can perform several kinds of behavioural work at once. It can be efficient, meaningful, and risky.
It interprets
It adds a judgement or meaning to the behaviour.
It can stop analysis
It can sound like an explanation, even when it only renames the behaviour.
03
The circular explanation trap
The label becomes a loop when the behaviour is used as evidence for the label, and the label is then used as the cause of the behaviour.
Why will not the dog let go?
Because he is stubborn.
QuestionWhy won't the dog let go?
AnswerBecause he is stubborn.
QuestionHow do we know he is stubborn?
AnswerBecause he will not let go.
AnalysisThis is circular. The label has not explained the behaviour. It has only renamed it.
04
Translate the label
Choose a scenario. The machine does not decide whether the label is true. It turns the label into observations, possible variables, and better questions.
05
Radical behaviourist lens
Radical behaviourism does not deny thoughts and feelings. It simply does not use them as the final stop in the analysis.
"I do not want to."
"This feels wrong."
"I will not give in."
"This is too hard."
Private events count
Thinking and feeling are part of the behaviour stream. They can matter without becoming final explanations.
Look at relations
What happened before? What happened after? What has worked in the past?
Ask about variables
Antecedents, motivating operations, consequences, and learning history shape behaviour.
Keep moving
Do not stop at "because they are stubborn." Ask what variables are influencing this behaviour.
06
Mini activity
A tiny decision point: which question opens the analysis?
"She is stubborn."
07
The ethical point
Labels are not always harmless. "Stubborn" can move the problem inside the individual and make the environment invisible.
A behavioural analysis does not replace one kind of blame with another. It shifts the focus from traits to relations:
- behaviour and context
- history and consequences
- function and alternatives
- what the environment teaches and maintains
Stubbornness is often persistence described by the person who is not getting what they want.
08
From label to analysis
The practical move is simple, but not always easy: translate the trait word into behaviour and relations.
Instead of
"Why are they so stubborn?"
Ask
- What is the behaviour?
- When does it happen?
- What happens before?
- What happens after?
- What has this behaviour achieved before?
- What function might it serve?
- What could we change?
The word "stubborn" can be useful in everyday conversation, but it is not enough for behaviour analysis. It tells us that a behaviour is inconvenient, persistent, or resistant to change. It does not tell us why the behaviour continues. For that, we need context, history, contingencies, and function.