Behaviourism
Behaviourism is a school of thought that emphasizes the study of observable behaviours as opposed to cognition, traits, or motives. Initially, the school came about in 1913 as John Watson set out to reject the idea of introspection, which was popular at the time, and focus instead on objective, observable behavior. By the 1920s, behaviourism had become the dominant perspective in psychology, and its proponents believed that learning and emotions could best be studied through behavioral observation and analysis.
Behaviourists rely on conditioning theories to explain the development, maintenance, and change of behavior. According to classical conditioning, a response is learned through the association of a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that naturally elicits that response. Operant conditioning, which was developed by B.F. Skinner, states that organisms learn to perform behaviors in order to gain rewards or avoid punishments. By understanding the connections between behavior and its consequences, behaviorism can explain how behaviors are formed, maintained, and changed—in both individuals and groups.
Behaviourists rejected the idea of an internal conscious mind and instead viewed behavior as the result of environmental stimuli. The approach, which is heavily atheoretical and geared toward laboratory experimentation and quantification, is based on the premise that behavior is controlled by external stimuli, not internal mental states. Since behavior is tangible and measurable, behaviourists believe that it is easier to study and understand.
Behaviourism has had a major impact on the field of psychology and on social sciences more generally. The basic tenets of behaviourism—that all behavior can be explained by environmental influences and that behavior can be modified through conditioning—were used not only to investigate psychological processes, but also to illustrate how education, therapy, and therapeutic interventions work. In addition, the school of thought played a major role in the field of artificial intelligence, as computers were used to model the learning processes of organisms.
Despite its impact, the school of thought has also been met with criticism. Many have argued that behaviorism only considers external behaviors and does not take into account the internal aspects of behavior, such as intentions and motives. Moreover, behaviorism has been accused of treating its subjects as objects, since the approach focuses on controlling behavior through reward and punishment. Finally, some have argued that its emphasis on external, scientific methods of behavior analysis overlook important aspects of behavior, such as emotion and subjective experience.
