Behaviorist Approach To

Psychology: Definition,
History, Concepts, And
Impact
By
Saul Mcleod, PhD
Updated on
June 27, 2023
Reviewed by
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

What is behaviorism in psychology?

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral learning theory, is a theoretical
perspective in psychology that emphasizes the role of learning and
observable behaviors in understanding human and animal actions.

Behaviorism is a theory of learning that states all behaviors are learned

through conditioned interaction with the environment. Thus, behavior is
simply a response to environmental stimuli.

The behaviorist theory is only concerned with observable stimulus-

response behaviors, as they can be studied in a systematic and observable
manner.

Some of the key figures of the behaviorist approach include B.F. Skinner,
known for his work on operant conditioning, and John B. Watson, who
established the psychological school of behaviorism.

Key Features

• Stimulus-Response
• Classical Conditioning
• Reinforcement & Punishment
• Objective Measurement
• Reductionism
• Nomothetic
 Key Features

• Law of Effect

Assumptions

• Behaviour should be studied scientifically using

experiments.
• Behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable
behavior
• The major influence on human behavior is learning
from the environment (e.g., conditioning)
• There is little difference between the learning that
takes place in humans and that in other animals.
Therefore research can be carried out on animals as
well as humans.
• Behaviour is the result of stimulus–response (i.e., all
behavior, no matter how complex, can be reduced to a
simple stimulus–response association).

Methodology / Studies

• Controlled Experiment
• Little Albert
• Thorndike
• Skinner box
• Pavlov’s Dogs
• Bandura Bobo Doll Study

Strengths

• Objective measurement, which can be replicated and

peer-reviewed
• Real-life applications (e.g., behavior therapies)
• Clear predictions that can be can be scientifically
tested
• Increased our understanding of the causes of phobias
and attachment
 Weaknesses

• Ignores mediational processes

• Reductionist – ignores biology
• Deterministic (little free will)
• Experiments – low ecological validity
• Humanism – can’t compare animals to humans
• Freud – people not born a blank slate

Table of Contents
 5 principles of Behaviorism
 Behaviorist Theory
 Historical Timeline
 Issues & Debates
 Critical Evaluation
 References
 FAQs

5 Principles Of Behaviorism
The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John B. Watson wrote an
article entitled Psychology as the behaviorist views it, which set out several
underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis:

All behavior is learned from the environment:

One assumption of the learning approach is that all behaviors are learned
from the environment. They can be learned through classical conditioning,
learning by association, or through operant conditioning, learning by
consequences.

Behaviorism emphasizes the role of environmental factors in influencing

behavior to the near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. This amounts
essentially to a focus on learning. Therefore, when born, our mind is
“tabula rasa” (a blank slate).
Classical conditioning refers to learning by association, and involves the
conditioning of innate bodily reflexes with new stimuli.

Pavlov’s Experiment
Ivan Pavlov showed that dogs could be classically conditioned to salivate at
the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented while they were
given food.

He first presented the dogs with the sound of a bell; they did not salivate so
this was a neutral stimulus. Then he presented them with food, they
salivated.

The food was an unconditioned stimulus and salivation was an

unconditioned (innate) response.

Pavlov then repeatedly presented the dogs with the sound of the bell first
and then the food (pairing) after a few repetitions, the dogs salivated when
they heard the sound of the bell.

The bell had become the conditioned stimulus and salivation had become
the conditioned response.

Examples of classical conditioning applied to real life include:

 taste aversion – using derivations of classical conditioning, it is
possible to explain how people develop aversions to particular foods

 learned emotions – such as love for parents, were explained as paired

associations with the stimulation they provide

 advertising – we readily associate attractive images with the products

they are selling

 phobias – classical conditioning is seen as the mechanism by which –

we acquire many of these irrational fears.

Skinner argued that learning is an active process and occurs

through operant conditioning. When humans and animals act on and in their
environmental consequences, follow these behaviors.

If the consequences are pleasant, they repeat the behavior, but if the
consequences are unpleasant, they do not.

Behavior is the result of stimulus-response:

Reductionism is the belief that human behavior can be explained by
breaking it down into smaller component parts.

Reductionists say that the best way to understand why we behave as we do

is to look closely at the very simplest parts that make up our systems, and
use the simplest explanations to understand how they work.

Watson described the purpose of psychology as: “To predict, given the
stimulus, what reaction will take place; or, given the reaction, state what
the situation or stimulus is that has caused the reaction.” (1930, p. 11).

All behavior, no matter how complex, can be reduced to a simple stimulus-

response association).

Stimulus refers to any feature of the environment that affects behavior. For
example, in Pavlov’s experiment, food was a stimulus.

A response is the behavior elicited by the stimulus. For example, in Pavlov’s

experiment, the dog’s salivation was a response.
Psychology should be seen as a science:

Theories need to be supported by empirical data obtained through careful

and controlled observation and measurement of behavior. Watson (1913)
stated:

“Psychology as a behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental

branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is … prediction and control.”
(p. 158).

The components of a theory should be as simple as possible. Behaviorists

propose using operational definitions (defining variables in terms of
observable, measurable events).

Behaviorism introduced scientific methods to psychology. Laboratory

experiments were used with high control of extraneous variables.

These experiments were replicable, and the data obtained was objective
(not influenced by an individual’s judgment or opinion) and measurable.
This gave psychology more credibility.

Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable

behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and
emotion:
The starting point for many behaviorists is a rejection of the introspection
(the attempts to “get inside people’s heads”) of the majority of mainstream
psychology.

While modern behaviorists often accept the existence of cognitions and

emotions, they prefer not to study them as only observable (i.e., external)
behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured.

Although theorists of this perspective accept that people have “minds”, they
argue that it is never possible to objectively observe people’s thoughts,
motives, and meanings – let alone their unconscious yearnings and desires.

Therefore, internal events, such as thinking should be explained through

behavioral terms (or eliminated altogether).
There is little difference between the learning that takes
place in humans and that in other animals:
There’s no fundamental (qualitative) distinction between human and
animal behavior. Therefore, research can be carried out on animals and
humans.

The underlying assumption is that to some degree the laws of behavior are
the same for all species and that therefore knowledge gained by studying
rats, dogs, cats and other animals can be generalized to humans.

Consequently, rats and pigeons became the primary data source for
behaviorists, as their environments could be easily controlled.

Types Of Behaviorist Theory

Historically, the most significant distinction between versions of
behaviorism is that between Watson’s original methodological behaviorism,
and forms of behaviorism later inspired by his work, known collectively as
neobehaviorism (e.g., radical behaviorism).

John B Watson: Methodological Behaviorism

As proposed by John B. Watson, methodological behaviorism is a school of
thought in psychology that maintains that psychologists should study only
observable, measurable behaviors and not internal mental processes.

According to Watson, since thoughts, feelings, and desires can’t be

observed directly, they should not be part of psychological study.

Watson proposed that behaviors can be studied in a systematic and

observable manner with no consideration of internal mental states.

He argued that all behaviors in animals or humans are learned, and the
environment shapes behavior.

Watson’s article “Psychology as the behaviorist views it” is often referred

to as the “behaviorist manifesto,” in which Watson (1913, p. 158) outlines
the principles of all behaviorists:
“Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental
branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of
behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the
scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend
themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness.”
In his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, the behaviorist
recognizes no dividing line between man and brute.

Man’s behavior, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part
of the behaviorist’s total scheme of investigation.

This behavioral perspective laid the groundwork for further behavioral

studies like B.F’s. Skinner who introduced the concept of operant
conditioning.

Radical Behaviorism
Radical behaviorism was founded by B.F Skinner, who agreed with the
assumption of methodological behaviorism that the goal of psychology
should be to predict and control behavior.

Radical Behaviorism expands upon earlier forms of behaviorism by

incorporating internal events such as thoughts, emotions, and feelings as
part of the behavioral process.

Unlike methodological behaviorism, which asserts that only observable

behaviors should be studied, radical behaviorism accepts that these internal
events occur and influence behavior.

However, it maintains that they should be considered part of the

environmental context and are subject to the same laws of learning and
adaptation as overt behaviors.

Another important distinction between methodological and radical

behaviorism concerns the extent to which environmental factors influence
behavior. Watson’s (1913) methodological behaviorism asserts the mind is a
tabula rasa (a blank slate) at birth.

In contrast, radical behaviorism accepts the view that organisms are born
with innate behaviors and thus recognizes the role of genes and biological
components in behavior.
 Social Learning
Behaviorism has undergone many transformations since John Watson
developed it in the early part of the twentieth century.

One more recent extension of this approach has been the development of
social learning theory, which emphasizes the role of plans and expectations
in people’s behavior.

Under social learning theory, people were no longer seen as passive victims of
the environment, but rather they were seen as self-reflecting and
thoughtful.

The theory is often called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive

learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and
motivation.

Historical Timeline
 Pavlov (1897) published the results of an experiment on conditioning
after originally studying digestion in dogs.

 Watson (1913) launches the behavioral school of psychology, publishing

an article, Psychology as the behaviorist views it.

 Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned an orphan called Albert B (aka

Little Albert) to fear a white rat.

 Thorndike (1905) formalized the Law of Effect.

 Skinner (1938) wrote The Behavior of Organisms and introduced the

concepts of operant conditioning and shaping.

 Clark Hull’s (1943) Principles of Behavior was published.

 B.F. Skinner (1948) published Walden Two, describing a utopian society

founded upon behaviorist principles.

 Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior began in 1958.

 Chomsky (1959) published his criticism of Skinner’s behaviorism,

“ Review of Verbal Behavior .”
 Bandura (1963) published a book called the Social Leaning Theory and
Personality development
which combines both cognitive and behavioral frameworks.

 B.F. Skinner (1971) published his book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, where
he argues that free will is an illusion.

Issues & Debates

Free will vs. Determinism
Strong determinism of the behavioral approach as all behavior is learned
from our environment through classical and operant conditioning. We are
the total sum of our previous conditioning.

Softer determinism of the social learning approach theory as it recognizes an

element of choice as to whether we imitate a behavior or not.

Nature vs. Nurture

Behaviorism is very much on the nurture side of the debate as it argues that
our behavior is learned from the environment.

The social learning theory is also on the nurture side because it argues that
we learn behavior from role models in our environment.

The behaviorist approach proposes that apart from a few innate reflexes
and the capacity for learning, all complex behavior is learned from the
environment.

Holism vs. Reductionism

The behaviorist approach and social learning are reductionist; they isolate
parts of complex behaviors to study.

Behaviorists believe that all behavior, no matter how complex, can be

broken down into the fundamental processes of conditioning.
Idiographic vs. Nomothetic
It is a nomothetic approach as it views all behavior governed by the same laws
of conditioning.

However, it does account for individual differences and explains them in

terms of differences in the history of conditioning.

Critical Evaluation
Behaviorism has experimental support: Pavlov showed that classical
conditioning leads to learning by association. Watson and Rayner showed
that phobias could be learned through classical conditioning in the “little
Albert” experiment.

An obvious advantage of behaviorism is its ability to define behavior clearly

and measure behavior changes. According to the law of parsimony, the
fewer assumptions a theory makes, the better and the more credible it is.
Therefore, behaviorism looks for simple explanations of human behavior
from a scientific standpoint.

Many of the experiments carried out were done on animals; we are

different cognitively and physiologically. Humans have different social
norms and moral values that mediate the effects of the environment.

Therefore people might behave differently from animals, so the laws and
principles derived from these experiments, might apply more to animals
than to humans.

Humanism rejects the nomothetic approach of behaviorism as they view

humans as being unique and believe humans cannot be compared with
animals (who aren’t susceptible to demand characteristics). This is known
as an idiographic approach.

In addition, humanism (e.g., Carl Rogers) rejects the scientific method of

using experiments to measure and control variables because it creates an
artificial environment and has low ecological validity.

Humanistic psychology also assumes that humans have free will (personal
agency) to make their own decisions in life and do not follow the
deterministic laws of science.
The behaviorist approach emphasis on single influences on behavior is a
simplification of circumstances where behavior is influenced by many
factors. When this is acknowledged, it becomes almost impossible to judge
the action of any single one.

This over-simplified view of the world has led to the development of ‘pop
behaviorism, the view that rewards and punishments can change almost
anything.

Therefore, behaviorism only provides a partial account of human behavior,

that which can be objectively viewed. Essential factors like emotions,
expectations, and higher-level motivation are not considered or explained.
Accepting a behaviorist explanation could prevent further research from
other perspectives that could uncover important factors.

For example, the psychodynamic approach (Freud) criticizes behaviorism as it

does not consider the unconscious mind’s influence on behavior and instead
focuses on externally observable behavior. Freud also rejects the idea that
people are born a blank slate (tabula rasa) and states that people are born
with instincts (e.g., eros and Thanatos).

Biological psychology states that all behavior has a physical/organic cause.

They emphasize the role of nature over nurture. For example,
chromosomes and hormones (testosterone) influence our behavior, too, in
addition to the environment.

Behaviorism might be seen as underestimating the importance of inborn

tendencies. It is clear from research on biological preparedness that the
ease with which something is learned is partly due to its links with an
organism’s potential survival.

Cognitive psychology states that mediational processes occur between

stimulus and response, such as memory, thinking, problem-solving, etc.

Despite these criticisms, behaviorism has made significant contributions to

psychology. These include insights into learning, language development,
and moral and gender development, which have all been explained in terms
of conditioning.

The contribution of behaviorism can be seen in some of its practical

applications. Behavior therapy and behavior modification represent one of
the major approaches to the treatment of abnormal behavior and are readily
used in clinical psychology.
The behaviorist approach has been used in the treatment of phobias,
and systematic desensitization.