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Behaviorism (or behaviourism) is an approach to psychology based on the
proposition that behavior is interesting and worthy of scientific research.
It is a form of materialism, denying any independent significance for
mind. Its significance for psychological treatment has been profound,
being one of the pillars of pharmacological therapy.
One of the assumptions of behaviorist thought is that free will is illusory,
and that all behaviour is determined by the environment either through
association or reinforcement.
The behaviorist school of thought ran concurrent with the psychoanalysis
movement in psychology in the 20th century. Its main influences were Ivan
Pavlov, who investigated Classical conditioning, John B. Watson (1878-1958)
who rejected introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to
experimental laboratory methods. His disciple, B.F. Skinner, sought to
give ethical grounding to behaviorism, relating it to Pragmatism.
Approaches to behaviorism
Within that broad approach, there are different emphases. Some behaviorists
argue simply that the observation of behavior is the best or most convenient
way of investigating psychological and mental processes. Others believe
that it is in fact the only way of investigating such processes, while
still others argue that behavior itself is the only appropriate subject
of psychology, and that common psychological terms (belief, goals, etc.)
have no referents and/or only refer to behavior. Those taking this point
of view sometimes refer to their field of study as behavior analysis or
behavioral science rather than psychology.
Read more about the following Origins.
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