What Is Behaviorism? Discover The Theories And Authors Of Behavioral Psychology
What is behaviorism in psychology? What is the behaviorist theory based on? Discover the most important concepts, theories and authors of the behaviorist model.
He behaviorism, also known as behavioral or behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Behavioral psychology points out that our interactions with the environment shape what we learn, who we are, and how we act. Does it really happen like this?
The behaviorist theory It can be defined as the study of observable behavior. Mainly, the idea of the behaviorist model is that all our actions are conditioned due to our experiences or conditioning processes.
The behaviorist school suggested that psychology should focus only on behavior that was observable. Instead of focusing on what’s going on inside our minds, behaviorism He believed that psychology and its research should focus on the environmental influences that cause our behaviors.
This behavioral psychology suggests that learning and behavior are primarily the result of stimulus-response associations. Behaviors, according to behavioral psychology, can be explained by observing these learned associations rather than focusing on internal events within the human mind.
The influence of the behavioral theories They were very relevant during the middle of the 20th century. Even so, its concepts continue to play a very relevant role in both education and psychotherapy.
How did the behaviorist theory appear?
He behaviorism was established as a theory when John B. Watson published the article “Psychology as the behaviorist sees it” In it, this psychologist expressed the following.
“Give me a dozen healthy, well-formed babies and my own specific world to raise them in and I guarantee that I will take anyone at random and train them to become any type of specialist I can select: doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief and, yes, even beggar and thief, regardless of their talents, inclinations, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of their ancestors.”
John B. Watson, psychologist
As we can see, according to the behavioral model More strictly, there was the belief that all behaviors were due to the result of an experience. That is, any person, regardless of their genetics, could be trained to act in a particular way with the proper conditioning.
Behaviorism was one of the currents of psychology that dominated this science during the 1950s. Many students establish that behaviorism and its authors became relevant because they fought to make psychology perceived as an objective and measurable science.
Types of behaviorism
Within behavioral psychology there are two types of conditioning the classic and the operant.
Classical conditioning: It is defined as a technique that uses behavioral training through a neutral stimulus that is paired with a natural stimulus. In the end, it is possible to evoke the same response to a stimulus that occurs naturally.
Operant conditioning: Through the operant, people establish an association between a behavior and the consequence of that behavior. According to these behavioral theories, when a desirable outcome follows an action, a behavior is more likely to occur again in the future. In contrast, when responses are followed by adverse outcomes, they are less likely to occur again.
Behavioral theories
Inside of the behavioral model There are different visions of behaviorism and its psychology. Among the most notable, we find the following.
Watson and methodological behaviorism: The psychologist John B. Watson was the first to defend the objective methods of behaviorism for the study of psychology. In many cases, Watson is known as the father of behaviorism, but in reality he was not the first to support behaviorist theories. The type of behaviorism defended by Watson is called methodological behaviorism and is based on the fact that all psychological research must be based on observation and experimentation of behavior.
Skinner and radical behaviorism: After Watson’s theories, one of the best-known behaviorist authors was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. The Skinner’s behavioral theory established that observable behaviors were external manifestations of invisible mental processes, but it was still more advisable to study the behaviors that we could observe.
Thorndike and the law of effect: Edward Thorndike introduced the psychological principle known as the law of effect. According to this behaviorist theory, responses that produce satisfaction are more likely to occur again in the future. In contrast, those responses that produced undesirable effects were less likely to occur in the future.
Hull and the impulse theory: According to behavioral theory of psychologist Clark Hull, deprivation creates needs and drives that lead to behavior. Since this behavior is goal-oriented, these types of actions are very important for our survival.
He behaviorism establishes that our behavior can change depending on stimuli. On many occasions, people want to change our way of acting. Therefore, we require an inner effort that can be learned through psychology.
