What Does It Mean To Be Mistaken About Behavior Potential

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Presenters	Ian Newby-Clark, Ph.D.
	Grace C. Colp, B.A.
Date	October 1, 2023
Abstract	In this talk, we explore the powerful, complex, and fascinating concept ‘behavior potential.’ We first consider aspects of behavior potential—including the idea of a person’s behavioral possibilities, the correlative of Reality (reality constraints), and a person’s status. We then introduce the usefulness of considering the ‘thinness’ and ‘thickness’ of behavioral possibilities. Next, we explicate the utility of tautologies in science—a foreign idea to many—before going on to illustrate the utility of the behavior potential tautology, “a person will always choose more behavior potential over less behavior potential.” We then consider what it might mean to say that someone is mistaken about his/her or another’s behavior potential. In particular, we discuss the difference between ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns.’ In that context, we explore the different kinds of mistakes about behavior potential that actors, observers, and critics could or do make. Along the way, we tie in relevant findings from work in social psychology, and judgement and decision-making, including the problem of bystander intervention, the Sunk Costs Fallacy, and the Planning Fallacy.d
Related Papers	1. Bergner, R. M. (2016). What is behavior? And why is it not reducible to biological states of affairs? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 36(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/teo0000026 2. Strough, J., Schlosnagle, L., Karns, T., Lemaster, P., & Pichayayothin, N. (2014). No Time to Waste: Restricting Life-Span Temporal Horizons Decreases the Sunk-Cost Fallacy. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 27(1), 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.1781 3. Tait, V., & Miller, H. L. (2019). Loss Aversion as a Potential Factor in the Sunk- Cost Fallacy. International Journal of Psychological Research, 12(2), 8–16. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.3951 4. Huang, M. (2021). Unpacking Planning Fallacy. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 13(2), 84–. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v13n2p8 Orchowski LM, Berkowitz A, Boggis J, Oesterle D. Bystander Intervention Among College Men: The Role of Alcohol and Correlates of Sexual Aggression. J Interpers Violence. 2016 Oct;31(17):2824-46. doi: 10.1177/0886260515581904. Epub 2015May 5. PMID: 25944836; PMCID: PMC8922526.