Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHistoryTypesClassical ConditioningOperant ConditioningUsesImpactCriticismsFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
History
Types
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Uses
Impact
Criticisms
Frequently Asked Questions
Close
In simple terms, according to this school of thought, also known as behavioral psychology, behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable manner regardless of internal mental states.Behavioral theory also says that only observable behavior should be studied, ascognition,emotions, and mood are far too subjective.
Strict behaviorists believe that any person—regardless of genetic background,personality traits, and internal thoughts— can be trained to perform any task, within the limits of their physical capabilities. It only requires the right conditioning.
Verywell / Jiaqi Zhou
History of Behaviorism
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”
Simply put, strict behaviorists believe that all behaviors are the result of experience. Any person, regardless of their background, can be trained to act in a particular manner given the right conditioning.
From about 1920 through the mid-1950s, behaviorism became the dominantschool of thought in psychology. Some suggest that the popularity of behavioral psychology grew out of the desire to establish psychology as an objective and measurable science.
During that time, researchers were interested in creating theories that could be clearly described and empirically measured, but also used to make contributions that might have an influence on the fabric of everyday human lives.
Types of Behaviorism
There are two main types of behaviorism used to describe how behavior is formed.
Methodological Behaviorism
Methodological behaviorism states that observable behavior should be studied scientifically and that mental states and cognitive processes don’t add to the understanding of behavior. Methodological behaviorism aligns with Watson’s ideologies and approach.
Radical Behaviorism
Classical conditioning is a technique frequently used in behavioral training in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus comes to evoke the same response as the naturally occurring stimulus, even without the naturally occurring stimulus presenting itself.
Throughout the course of three distinct phases of classical conditioning, the associated stimulus becomes known as theconditioned stimulusand the learned behavior is known as theconditioned response.
Learning Through Association
In physiologistIvan Pavlov’s classic experiments, dogs associated the presentation of food (something that naturally and automatically triggers a salivation response) at first with the sound of a bell, then with the sight of a lab assistant’s white coat. Eventually, the lab coat alone elicited a salivation response from the dogs.
Factors That Impact Conditioning
During the first part of the classical conditioning process, known asacquisition, a response is established and strengthened. Factors such as the prominence of the stimuli and the timing of the presentation can play an important role in how quickly an association is formed.
When an association disappears, this is known asextinction. It causes the behavior to weaken gradually or vanish. Factors such as the strength of the original response can play a role in how quickly extinction occurs. The longer a response has been conditioned, for example, the longer it may take for it to become extinct.
Classical Conditioning Overview
Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning that occurs throughreinforcementandpunishment. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.
Consequences Affect Learning
Behaviorist B.F. Skinner described operant conditioning as the process in which learning can occur through reinforcement and punishment.More specifically: By forming an association between a certain behavior and the consequences of that behavior, you learn.
For example, if a parent rewards their child with praise every time they pick up their toys, the desired behavior is consistently reinforced and the child will become more likely to clean up messes.
Timing Plays a Role
The process of operant conditioning seems fairly straightforward—simply observe a behavior, then offer a reward or punishment. However, Skinner discovered that the timing of these rewards and punishments has an important influence on how quickly a new behavior is acquired and the strength of the corresponding response.
This makesreinforcement schedulesimportant in operant conditioning. These can involve either continuous or partial reinforcement.
Operant Conditioning Overview
Uses for Behaviorism
The behaviorist perspective has a few different uses, including some related to education and mental health.
Education
Research
One of the greatest strengths of behavioral psychology is the ability to clearly observe and measure behaviors. Because behaviorism is based on observable behaviors, it is often easier to quantify and collect data when conducting research.
Mental Health
Effective therapeutic techniques such as intensive behavioral intervention, behavior analysis, token economies, and discrete trial training are all rooted in behaviorism. These approaches are often very useful in changing maladaptive or harmful behaviors in both children and adults.
Impact of Behaviorism
Several thinkers influenced behavioral psychology.Among these areEdward Thorndike, a pioneering psychologist who described the law of effect, andClark Hull, who proposed the drive theory of learning.
There are a number of therapeutic techniques rooted in behavioral psychology. Though behavioral psychology assumed more of a background position after 1950, its principles still remain important.
Even today,behavior analysisis often used as a therapeutic technique to help children with autism and developmental delays acquire new skills. It frequently involves processes such as shaping (rewarding closer approximations to the desired behavior) and chaining (breaking a task down into smaller parts, then teaching and chaining the subsequent steps together).
Other behavioral therapy techniques includeaversion therapy,systematic desensitization, token economies,behavior modeling, and contingency management.
Criticisms of Behaviorism
Many critics argue that behaviorism is a one-dimensional approach to understanding human behavior. They suggest that behavioral theories do not account for free will or internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings.
More recently,biological psychologyhas emphasized the role the brain and genetics play in determining and influencing human actions. Thecognitive approach to psychologyfocuses on mental processes such as thinking, decision-making, language, and problem-solving. In both cases, behaviorism neglects these processes and influences in favor of studying only observable behaviors.
Behavioral psychology also does not account for other types of learning that occur without the use of reinforcement and punishment. Moreover, people and animals can adapt their behavior when new information is introduced, even if that behavior was established through reinforcement.
A Word From Verywell
While the behavioral approach might not be the dominant force that it once was, it has still had a major impact on our understanding ofhuman psychology. The conditioning process alone has been used to understand many different types of behaviors, ranging from how people learn to how language develops.
But perhaps the greatest contributions of behavioral psychology lie in its practical applications. Its techniques can play a powerful role in modifying problematic behavior and encouraging more positive, helpful responses. Outside of psychology, parents, teachers, animal trainers, and many others make use of basic behavioral principles to help teach new behaviors and discourage unwanted ones.
John B. Watson is known as the founder of behaviorism. Though others had similar ideas in the early 1900s, when behavioral theory began, some suggest that Watson is credited as behavioral psychology’s founder due to being “an attractive, strong, scientifically accomplished, and forceful speaker and an engaging writer” who was willing to share this behavioral approach when other psychologists were less likely to speak up.
Other ways reinforcement-based behaviorism can be used in education include praising students for getting the right answer and providing prizes for those who do well. Using tests to measure performance enables teachers to measure observable behaviors and is, therefore, another behavioral approach.
Learn More:Overview of Psychoanalytic Therapy
Learn More:Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
17 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Krapfl JE.Behaviorism and society.Behav Anal.2016;39(1):123-9. doi:10.1007/s40614-016-0063-8Abramson CI.Problems of teaching the behaviorist perspective in the cognitive revolution.Behav Sci (Basel).2013;3(1):55-71. doi:10.3390/bs3010055Malone JC.Did John B. Watson really “found” behaviorism?.Behav Anal.2014;37(1):1-12. doi:10.1007/s40614-014-0004-3Penn State University.Introductory psychology blog (S14)_C.Moore J.Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist.Behav Anal.2013;36(2):197-208. doi:10.1007/bf03392306Rouleau N, Karbowski LM, Persinger MA.Experimental evidence of classical conditioning and microscopic engrams in an electroconductive material.PLoS ONE.2016;11(10):e0165269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165269Vanelzakker MB, Dahlgren MK, Davis FC, Dubois S, Shin LM.From Pavlov to PTSD: The extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders.Neurobiol Learn Mem.2014;113:3-18. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.014Kehoe EJ.Repeated acquisitions and extinctions in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.Learn Mem.2006;13(3):366-75. doi:10.1101/lm.169306Staddon JE, Cerutti DT.Operant conditioning.Annu Rev Psychol.2003;54:115-44. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124Kaplan D.Behaviorism in online teacher training.Psychol. 2018;9(4):83687. doi:10.4236/psych.2018.94035Stanford University.Behaviorism.Smith T.What is evidence-based behavior analysis?.Behav Anal.2013;36(1):7-33. doi:10.1007/bf03392290Morris EK, Altus DE, Smith NG.A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications.Behav Anal. 2013;36(1):73-107. doi:10.1007/bf03392293Schreibman L, Dawson G, Stahmer AC, et al.Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder.J Autism Dev Disord.2015;45(8):2411-28. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8Bower GH.The evolution of a cognitive psychologist: a journey from simple behaviors to complex mental acts.Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:1-27. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093722University of California Berkeley.Behaviorism.American Psychoanalytic Association.About psychoanalysis.Additional ReadingMills JA.Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology. New York University Press.Skinner BF.About Behaviorism. Alfred A. Knopf.Watson JB.Behaviorism. Transaction Publishers.
17 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Krapfl JE.Behaviorism and society.Behav Anal.2016;39(1):123-9. doi:10.1007/s40614-016-0063-8Abramson CI.Problems of teaching the behaviorist perspective in the cognitive revolution.Behav Sci (Basel).2013;3(1):55-71. doi:10.3390/bs3010055Malone JC.Did John B. Watson really “found” behaviorism?.Behav Anal.2014;37(1):1-12. doi:10.1007/s40614-014-0004-3Penn State University.Introductory psychology blog (S14)_C.Moore J.Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist.Behav Anal.2013;36(2):197-208. doi:10.1007/bf03392306Rouleau N, Karbowski LM, Persinger MA.Experimental evidence of classical conditioning and microscopic engrams in an electroconductive material.PLoS ONE.2016;11(10):e0165269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165269Vanelzakker MB, Dahlgren MK, Davis FC, Dubois S, Shin LM.From Pavlov to PTSD: The extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders.Neurobiol Learn Mem.2014;113:3-18. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.014Kehoe EJ.Repeated acquisitions and extinctions in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.Learn Mem.2006;13(3):366-75. doi:10.1101/lm.169306Staddon JE, Cerutti DT.Operant conditioning.Annu Rev Psychol.2003;54:115-44. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124Kaplan D.Behaviorism in online teacher training.Psychol. 2018;9(4):83687. doi:10.4236/psych.2018.94035Stanford University.Behaviorism.Smith T.What is evidence-based behavior analysis?.Behav Anal.2013;36(1):7-33. doi:10.1007/bf03392290Morris EK, Altus DE, Smith NG.A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications.Behav Anal. 2013;36(1):73-107. doi:10.1007/bf03392293Schreibman L, Dawson G, Stahmer AC, et al.Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder.J Autism Dev Disord.2015;45(8):2411-28. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8Bower GH.The evolution of a cognitive psychologist: a journey from simple behaviors to complex mental acts.Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:1-27. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093722University of California Berkeley.Behaviorism.American Psychoanalytic Association.About psychoanalysis.Additional ReadingMills JA.Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology. New York University Press.Skinner BF.About Behaviorism. Alfred A. Knopf.Watson JB.Behaviorism. Transaction Publishers.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Krapfl JE.Behaviorism and society.Behav Anal.2016;39(1):123-9. doi:10.1007/s40614-016-0063-8Abramson CI.Problems of teaching the behaviorist perspective in the cognitive revolution.Behav Sci (Basel).2013;3(1):55-71. doi:10.3390/bs3010055Malone JC.Did John B. Watson really “found” behaviorism?.Behav Anal.2014;37(1):1-12. doi:10.1007/s40614-014-0004-3Penn State University.Introductory psychology blog (S14)_C.Moore J.Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist.Behav Anal.2013;36(2):197-208. doi:10.1007/bf03392306Rouleau N, Karbowski LM, Persinger MA.Experimental evidence of classical conditioning and microscopic engrams in an electroconductive material.PLoS ONE.2016;11(10):e0165269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165269Vanelzakker MB, Dahlgren MK, Davis FC, Dubois S, Shin LM.From Pavlov to PTSD: The extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders.Neurobiol Learn Mem.2014;113:3-18. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.014Kehoe EJ.Repeated acquisitions and extinctions in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.Learn Mem.2006;13(3):366-75. doi:10.1101/lm.169306Staddon JE, Cerutti DT.Operant conditioning.Annu Rev Psychol.2003;54:115-44. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124Kaplan D.Behaviorism in online teacher training.Psychol. 2018;9(4):83687. doi:10.4236/psych.2018.94035Stanford University.Behaviorism.Smith T.What is evidence-based behavior analysis?.Behav Anal.2013;36(1):7-33. doi:10.1007/bf03392290Morris EK, Altus DE, Smith NG.A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications.Behav Anal. 2013;36(1):73-107. doi:10.1007/bf03392293Schreibman L, Dawson G, Stahmer AC, et al.Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder.J Autism Dev Disord.2015;45(8):2411-28. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8Bower GH.The evolution of a cognitive psychologist: a journey from simple behaviors to complex mental acts.Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:1-27. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093722University of California Berkeley.Behaviorism.American Psychoanalytic Association.About psychoanalysis.
Krapfl JE.Behaviorism and society.Behav Anal.2016;39(1):123-9. doi:10.1007/s40614-016-0063-8
Abramson CI.Problems of teaching the behaviorist perspective in the cognitive revolution.Behav Sci (Basel).2013;3(1):55-71. doi:10.3390/bs3010055
Malone JC.Did John B. Watson really “found” behaviorism?.Behav Anal.2014;37(1):1-12. doi:10.1007/s40614-014-0004-3
Penn State University.Introductory psychology blog (S14)_C.
Moore J.Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist.Behav Anal.2013;36(2):197-208. doi:10.1007/bf03392306
Rouleau N, Karbowski LM, Persinger MA.Experimental evidence of classical conditioning and microscopic engrams in an electroconductive material.PLoS ONE.2016;11(10):e0165269. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165269
Vanelzakker MB, Dahlgren MK, Davis FC, Dubois S, Shin LM.From Pavlov to PTSD: The extinction of conditioned fear in rodents, humans, and anxiety disorders.Neurobiol Learn Mem.2014;113:3-18. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.11.014
Kehoe EJ.Repeated acquisitions and extinctions in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response.Learn Mem.2006;13(3):366-75. doi:10.1101/lm.169306
Staddon JE, Cerutti DT.Operant conditioning.Annu Rev Psychol.2003;54:115-44. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124
Kaplan D.Behaviorism in online teacher training.Psychol. 2018;9(4):83687. doi:10.4236/psych.2018.94035
Stanford University.Behaviorism.
Smith T.What is evidence-based behavior analysis?.Behav Anal.2013;36(1):7-33. doi:10.1007/bf03392290
Morris EK, Altus DE, Smith NG.A study in the founding of applied behavior analysis through its publications.Behav Anal. 2013;36(1):73-107. doi:10.1007/bf03392293
Schreibman L, Dawson G, Stahmer AC, et al.Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism spectrum disorder.J Autism Dev Disord.2015;45(8):2411-28. doi:10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8
Bower GH.The evolution of a cognitive psychologist: a journey from simple behaviors to complex mental acts.Annu Rev Psychol. 2008;59:1-27. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093722
University of California Berkeley.Behaviorism.
American Psychoanalytic Association.About psychoanalysis.
Mills JA.Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology. New York University Press.Skinner BF.About Behaviorism. Alfred A. Knopf.Watson JB.Behaviorism. Transaction Publishers.
Mills JA.Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology. New York University Press.
Skinner BF.About Behaviorism. Alfred A. Knopf.
Watson JB.Behaviorism. Transaction Publishers.
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