Behaviorism

Today we can see how psychology includes a variety of different theoretical orientations. The types of psychological paradigms that exist include a series of behavioral guidelines that encourage us to practice professional practices in different ways. Behaviorism is one of the most common orientations in today's world among psychologists. Behaviorists perceive the living being as a "tabula rasa", in whom behavior is determined by the reinforcements and punishments they receive.

Related topics

Gestalt theory, cognitivism, neo behaviorism

What is behaviorism?

Behaviorism is a branch of psychology that studies the common laws that determine different human and even animal behaviors. It focuses on the behavior that can be observed, prioritizes for this reason the objective of the subjective.

What does behaviorism study?

It is responsible for studying the use of different experimental procedures with the aim of studying observable behavior, or behavior, considering the environment in which man develops and the set of stimuli and responses thereof. It then studies the interaction that occurs between living beings and the stimuli of the environment or external environment.

Characteristics

Its main features are as follows:

• It is based on classical conditioning.
• It associates initial stimuli with neutral events.
• It has operable conditioning.
• Particular actions are followed by something desirable or undesirable.
• It studies the different behaviors that are subject to the laws of behavior.
• It has physical monism, that is, it does not have a mind-body
• It denies the existence of the mind.
• Behaviors are treated as observable and not as an expression of a deep state.
• Behavior is a fruit of learned experiences not of innate factors.
• There is a constant association between stimuli and responses.

Backgrounds

The Behaviorism school was developed from different studies on animal behavior. For behaviorists, it was not important to think about what was thought or felt, and they focused more on what was really visible. For this reason, they studied what could be seen by replacing introspection as a research method with laboratory studies on conditioning as a type of learning.

History

The different studies carried out by Darwin at the end of the 19th century gave rise to the appearance of different ways of thinking with respect to the human sciences. Around the year 1913, the first theories about behaviorism began to appear. John Watson was the first to initiate the new school of behaviorism. He focused on what could be observed, studying only the facts and behaviors that were visible to the scholar’s eyes. Different laboratory tests were started, thinking that one could get to know the way in which a person or animal could react to a stimulus, to get to know what was in the mind. By the beginning of the 20th century, Watson argued that observable behavior as an object of study gave rise to behavior. Ivan Pavlov was one of the main forerunners who contributed ideas to Watson’s theory. By 1920, radical behaviorism flourished and was known worldwide. By the 1980s, there was an emergence of behaviorism, which became indispensable to solving some problems. Several behavioral theories emerged based on previous studies of behaviorism.

Representatives

Among the main representatives of behaviorism, we can mention the following:

• John B. Watson who is the founder of behaviorism.
• Skinner, creator of operative behaviorism.
• Kantor, who formulated the theory of inter behaviorism.
• Clark Hull and Edward C. Tolman, who together developed mediational behaviorism.
• Ribes and Josep Roca i Balasch, modern psychologists who created the theory of field behaviorism.
• Staats who developed psychological behaviorism.
• C. Hayes.
• Rachlin, founder of teleological behaviorism.
• Staddon located within radical behaviorism.

Principles of behaviorism

• Principle of frequency: This principle establishes that for a conditioning process to be effective, unconditional stimuli and conditional stimuli must be frequent. This means that, with only one conditioning or association of stimuli, it is not enough to achieve learning.
• Principle of recency explains that when a conditioned stimulus is applied it must be recent in time. The stimulus should never be presented after or after a long time.
• Principle of extinction explains that what is learned is forgotten if the conditioning does not occur repeatedly.
• Principle of spontaneous recovery: this principle is linked to the principle of extinction and then to the process of association of unconditioned and conditioned stimuli.
• Principle of generalization: Reactions are given to conditioned responses and to the presentation of similar, but not identical stimuli.
• Principle of discrimination: The opposite of generalization. Only one thing is recognized.

Contributions

It has collaborated greatly with psychology, on different investigations regarding the principles of learning, which have been systematized in the theory of classical and operative conditioning. It helps to modify behaviour and to elaborate therapies for it. Research on different teaching and training methods.

Applications

One of the applications in psychology is the behavioral therapy that tries to teach the person to emit answers before the stimuli that previously caused them maladaptive answers. It is used in programmed instruction and behavioral objectives within the branch of education.