Running Head: ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORISM

Origins of Behaviourism

Name

Institution
ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORISM

Origins of Behaviourism

Human behaviour is easily influenced by simple actions following no trail that

eventually leads it whichever destination. In no time the consequences of the actions are

realised. Behaviourism is a theory that stipulates that all forms of behaviour are acquired

following a conditioned setup. Behaviourism is also referred to as behavioural psychology.

Behaviourism is perceived to be as a result of environmental interaction, and behaviourists

conceptualize the responses to stimuli have an impact and shape behaviours. Psychology and

understanding have been enhanced by schools of thought which have impacted greatly, our

understanding of behaviourism. The widely regarded and perceived the earliest school is

based on structuralism and functionalism. Other schools include; behaviourism, Gestalt,

cognitive, psychoanalytic, and humanistic schools. Behaviourism is regarded the second

major force in psychology due to its immediate closeness to the actions as a response to

environmental stimulus its influence on every day’s behaviour of human, as well as shaping

their interactions. A lot of effort and resources have been put into research to sharpen our

understanding of psychology. In this regard, key research has become outstanding due to

their contributions toward the understanding of psychology. These are likes of Pavlov,

Watson, and Skinner whose theories and immense research cannot be underrated. A clear

understanding of psychology is driven by the understanding of the origin of behaviours, the

route to its development and the contribution of researchers such as Pavlov, Watson, and

Skinner in polishing grey areas of psychology to enhance understanding.

Origin and Development of Behaviourism

Schools of Though

Psychology emerged as a scientific field intending to research and describe the

exhaustively and deeply the function of human mind concerning behaviours. As a result,

schools of thoughts emerged in an attempt to resolve the underlying force influencing human
ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORISM

behaviours. The first school of thought, structuralism and functionalism, emerged trying to

explain the processes within the human mind in terms of their elemental components

(Calkins, 1923). Structuralism school of thought led to the development of the functionalism

in response to its theories. Functionalism, therefore, based its theory on the mental

functioning and the adaptations of the human mind. In response to the structural and

functionalism approach of psychology, emerged Gestalt. Gestalt school opposed the

structural school in view that the whole of the thought and behaviour should be considered

instead because the sum of individual elements is less than the whole. In contrary to the

preceding schools, behaviourism school of thought, which emerged around the 1950s,

postulated that all human behaviour is a result of external environmental factor rather than the

internal mental processes. Behaviourism rested upon the ideas behind the work of Pavlov,

Watson, and Skinner, and it became the most dominant school of thought. Then emerged the

psychoanalytic school of thought that emphasized on the influential ability on behaviour by

the unconscious mind. It was based on Psychoanalyst Freud who believed human mind to

consist of three components: id consisting of primary urges, ego representing the central brain

mediating between personality and environment, and superego conceptualizing learned ideals

and value from culture. The three were associated with the complexity of human behaviour

by Freud. There also emerged a humanistic school of thought that focussed on the free will of

human self-actualization and personal development. Lastly, of the schools, is cognitive,

which emerged partly to criticize behaviourism on its failure to account for the influence of

internal processes to behaviour.

Animal Psychology

As is the case with humans, non-human animals also exhibit a certain level of

behaviourism. This is exhibited due to their response and interaction with environmental
ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORISM

components. They have been found to possess cognitive abilities exhibited by their learning,

attentiveness, organization of principles, and symbolic thinking capabilities. Behaviourism is

as a result of conditioning due to interaction with the environment and may take either

classical conditioning or operational conditioning. Animals exhibit behaviourism in the

perspectives of natural selection where animals change their behaviour frequently over time

to survive in terms of shelter and predators (Maier & Schneirla, 1964). There have emerged

animal psychologists describing the mental processes of animals while ethologists study

animal behavioural traits under the natural conditions and their social-cultural interactions.

Animal psychology in comparison to human psychology, aids in the resolution between the

environmental and biological associated behaviours.

Introspection and Consciousness

A human being is limited in their introspection and study of consciousness in various

aspects. Introspection being the inward self-examination of thoughts and actions is limited by

human development, personality, learning and mental disorders (Watson, 1993). These result

in unconsciousness of thoughts and actions and the behaviour exhibited thereof.

Consciousness is not conceptualized if introspection is not optimally achieved.

Freud came up with the psychoanalytic theory that transformed the understanding of

personality. This theory postulated that human behaviour is driven by the components of id,

ego, and superego (Lapsley & Stey, 2011). This school of thought came to be the second

force of psychology which surpassed the first force that described the behaviour about

stimulus in a hypothetical deduction. The application of the first force of psychology has

been limited to solitarily-confined prisoners and persons under “Closed” Neuro-Psychiatric

Wards. This has deemed it ineffective thus behaviourism under psychoanalytic approach

surpassing it due to its applicability in revealing the unconscious nature of a person by

identifying areas of hurts, through free association and reconciling them for persons to realize
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their full potential. Psychoanalysis has gained wide applications in health care facilities

today.

Behaviourism

Behavioural psychology has some principles which have resulted in its outstanding

characteristic over the other psychological approaches. This is as a result of the two types of

conditioning: classical and operational conditioning. Furthermore, renown psychologists have

contributed greatly towards this school of thought and its wide applications. Behaviourism

has applications due to its modification nature to acquire desired results, is scientific and

replicable and does not account for biological influences. Behaviourism, unlike other schools

of thoughts, has measurable observations that can be quantified in research. Various

researchers, such as Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner, have contributed and impacted greatly to

behaviourism.

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian Physiologist, contributed to behaviourism through his

discovery of the classical conditioning aspect of behavioural psychology. He developed the

conditioning through the association of the salivating response by dogs whenever food was

presented to them (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). Other contributions to psychology included

the use of his work by other researchers in the development of the behavioural movement.

Conditioning was also recognized for learning and his technique of observation of

environmental reactions used as an objective scientific technique.

Watson pioneered the development of behaviourism through his experiment called the

Little Albert experiment. Watson working with a colleague condition fear in a little child

using a white rat that turned out to be fear of white. Watson did set the stage over which

behaviourism emerged to a dominant school of thought in psychology. Watson also invoked

more research concerning the condition of the child used in the experiment. The conditioning

of behaviours has found wide applications in the change of problematic behaviours.

Skinner contributed to behaviourism in the second aspect of operant conditioning. He

described operant behaviour as to induce consequences as a result of its action on the

environment. Skinner contributed to psychology through publications of articles and books

and being the most influential of the psychologists of the 20th century. His operant

conditioning technique is widely used by mental health professionals, teacher and animal

trainers. It is a technique of economic, social, and environmental importance.

Conclusion

The works of researchers have greatly contributed to the development of psychology

as a scientific field availing technique useful in the current world. Behaviourism has impacted

the field of mental health positively through the use of Watson and Pavlov’s conditioning

technique to change problematic behaviour, and the operant technique discovered by Skinner

influences action due to the consequences that will follow that action. It has found wide

applications in health, education and animal care and training. Research is one of the major

contributors to the growth of the psychology enhancing understanding of its origin and

proving the roadmap through its development and application in the world today. The

understanding of behaviours has also established the coexistence of human and environment

in a positive interdependence. Behaviourism is the most outstanding school of thought with

its applications in almost all spheres of human interactions. This has had it regarded the

second force of psychology. It has a great influence on human life and interaction with their

immediate surrounding.
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References

Calkins, M. W. (1923). The foundations of psychology. The Journal of Philosophy, 5-15.

Gormezano, I., & Moore, J. W. (1966). Classical conditioning. Experimental methods and

instrumentation in psychology, 1, 385-420.

Lapsley, D. K., & Stey, P. C. (2011). Id, ego, and superego. Encyclopedia of human

behavior, 1-9.

Maier, N. R. F., & Schneirla, T. C. (1964). Principles of animal psychology.

Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological review, 20(2),

158.