Behaviorism is a current of psychology that has accompanied and deeply marked the history of psychology, science and Western social history of the 20th century, based on the concept that only behavior, as a measurable phenomenon, can be studied. An orientation that has expressed a therapeutic model based on the solution of symptoms and behavior modification, building therapies on conditioning and defrosting techniques, where positive behavior is associated with positive reinforcement and vice versa. In this Psychology-Online article we will see together what is behaviorism in psychologyits theoretical definition, its main authors, the most important theories and some examples of behavioral psychology.
Definition of behaviorism in psychology
At the beginning of the 20th century, psychologists’ attempts to examine the structure of the mind and the nature of consciousness were based on introspection, that is, on the verbalization of their thoughts and sensations, a methodology considered unsatisfactory by the American John Watsonand which led in 1913 to his “declaration of behavioralism”: a controversial advertisement where stated that the goal of psychology should be to predict and control overt behaviorand not describe and explain states of consciousness (Miller, 1983).
In this way, Watson redefined the field of psychology research, deeply influencing its studies and revolutionizing it, totally rejecting introspectionism (Macchi Cassi, Valenza and Simion, 2012). This behavioral psychologist rejected limited the object of study of behavior to what is observable, thus excluding the mind from scientific research activity, a black box within which it is impossible to see and verify what is happening. To make the study of psychology scientific, therefore, it is necessary to limit ourselves to analyzing the sequence stimulus-responsethe only observable and verifiable one, consequently restricting the scope of research to the study of learning: studying learning means investigating the changes that manifest in the individual as a consequence of individual experience, that is, as a consequence of exposure to the characteristics specific to the environment in which each individual is immersed (Macchi Cassi, Valenza and Simion, 2012).
Therefore, behaviorism in psychology can be defined as a psychological current that studies observable behavior experimentally, objectively and naturally.
The methodology adopted in the field of behaviorism in the study of learning can be said to be based on the principles of:
- reductionism: Learning is based on associative principles and, therefore, complex behavior is the result of the association of simpler behaviors.
- Parsimony: A general explanation mechanism should be preferred to one that explains a limited range of phenomena (domain-specific learning is not assumed).
- Experimental control: The experiments are carried out in the laboratory and an attempt is made to minimize the influence of external variables.
The undoubted merit of the behaviorist approach has been to have first approached the study of human behavior from a Rigorous theoretical and methodological frameworkthrough objective research methods (Macchi Cassi, Valenza and Simion, 2012).
Authors of behaviorism
Behaviorism has never been a psychological school in the strict sense, like Gestalt for example: profoundly different positions coexist under the roof of behaviorism characterized by contradictory metatheoretical and theoretical options; think about the methodological behaviorism of Watson and the intention of Tolmanthe deductive and mediational behaviorism of Hull and the descriptive of skinnercognitive behaviorism Bandura and social behaviorism Staats (Moderato and Presti et al., 2013).
There are many behavioral psychologists. There is not a single, monolithic behaviorism, but as many behaviorisms as its most authorized representatives, linked in some way to this theoretical current (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019). Here is an overview of the three generations of the most relevant behaviorists:
First generation
Second generation
Third generation
Theories of behaviorism
The approach that more than the others coherently represents the positivist-derived thinking orientation is, without a doubt, behaviorism, which dominated the field of psychology for some decades, establishing itself as a reference scientific model (Mantovani et al., 2003). ). This approach, in which Thorndike’s indications and early intuitions come together, was developed into a complete psychological system, capable of accounting for all types of behaviors of authors such as Watson or Skinner (Mantovani et al., 2003).
Next we will see the main theories of behaviorism. can be highlighted three families of behaviorisms important:
- methodological behaviorism: This theory of behaviorism refers to the first behaviorism, that of Watson, based essentially on two premises: maintaining that psychology is a natural science comparable to biology, physiology, etc., and reject introspection as a psychological data analysis tool (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019). From this premise it follows that the only data of interest to psychologists should be behavior, and the study of mental phenomena would be considered superfluous and misleading, far from a correct scientific approach (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019).
- psychological behaviorism: aims to explain human and animal behavior using physical stimuli, internal and external responses to the organism, to the learning history experienced by the organism and to the intervention of reinforcement (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019). The psychologists who most identified with this form of behaviorism were Thorndike, Watson and Skinner (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019).
- Analytical or logical behaviorism: can be considered a philosophical theory, which has as its object the underlying semantics of mental terms or concepts; At its base is the conviction that the mind is just a metaphor, which adds nothing to the actions carried out by the person (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019). The most important philosophers who can be part of this behaviorist vision were Ryle, Wittgenstein, Russel Quine, etc. (Meazzini and Carnevali, 2019).
Here you will find more information about it.
Examples of behavioral psychology
Some practical examples of behaviorism are the experiments of behavioral psychology:
Little Albert
Much of Watson’s research referred to childhood conditioning and the acquisition of irrational fears, and the experiment carried out on his son Albert was famous, who was conditioned at an early age to be afraid of a white rat: Every time the boy tried to grab the rat, Watson made a very loud noise (a hammer blow on a steel bar), until (after replicating the experiment at weekly intervals) just by seeing the animal the boy showed signs of agitation (Rago, 2018).
Noise is an unconditional stimulus capable of provoking a fear response itself. By associating the noise with another stimulus (the white rat) the child is conditioned to be afraid of the animal (Rago, 2018).
Skinner’s box
Skinner’s long research activity consisted of laboratory experiments with animals (predominantly rats and pigeons) observed inside a cage of its construction, the Skinner Box, equipped with a food dispensing device, connected to a lever that allowed its activation (Rago, 2018). When the laboratory rat, free to move within the cage, encountered the lever, food appeared on a tray; The rat then learned to press the lever to get the food.: The compensated behavior was repeated, which Skinner defined as (Rago, 2018).
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Bibliography
- Macchi Cassia, V., Valenza, E., Simion, F., (2012). The sviluppo of the human mind. Give classical theories to new orientations. Bologna: Il Mulino.
- Mantovani, G., (et al.) (2003). Manual of Social Psychology. Florence: Giunti.
- Meazzini, P., Carnevali, F., (2019). Give behavioralism to the theory of behavior. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Miller, H. P., (1983). Theories of Developmental Psychology. New York and Oxford: WH Freeman and Co.
- Moderato, P., Presti, G., (et al.) (2013). Cent’anni di behavioralism. From Watson’s manifesto to the theory of mind, to BT all’ACT. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Rago, M., (2018). Gli experiments in social sciences. Milan: Franco Angeli.