Definition: Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning that posits all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment via a process called conditioning.
Key Concept: Behavior is seen as a response to specific stimuli.
Focus: Concerned only with observable stimulus-response behaviors that can be systematically studied.
Historical Background
Foundation: The behaviorist movement began in 1913 with John Watson's article "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It."
Assumptions: The article outlines several underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis.
Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism
Learning from Environment
All behavior is learned from the environment.
Emphasis on environmental factors over innate or inherited factors.
Focus on learning, specifically through classical or operant conditioning.
Tabula Rasa
Concept that the mind at birth is like a "blank slate" (tabula rasa).
New behaviors are acquired through experience.
Psychology as a Science
Behaviorism advocates for viewing psychology as a science.
Theories must be supported by empirical data obtained through controlled observation and measurement of behavior.
Watson's assertion: Psychology should be an objective experimental branch of natural science.
Goal: Prediction and control of behavior.
Operational Definitions
Theoretical components should be as simple as possible.
Use of operational definitions to define variables in terms of observable and measurable events.