Behaviorism is a highly influential academic branch of psychology that dominated the field between the two world wars. Behaviorism concerns itself with the use of strict experimental procedures to study observable behavior in response to environmental stimuli. It excludes ideas, emotions and inner mental experience in general. According to behaviorist theory, an individual simply responds to stimuli in their environment. These responses are observable and measurable and can therefore be predicted and controlled.
Behaviorism was developed in the early twentieth century by American psychologist John B. Watson. Watson has written: "Behaviorism claims that 'consciousness' is neither a definable nor a usable concept; that it is merely another word for the 'soul' of more ancient times. The old psychology is thus dominated by a subtle kind of religious philosophy" (Behaviorism , 1924). Watson sought to make the study of psychology scientific by using only objective procedures that produced tangible results.
Much of Watson's work was based on the experiments of Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, who studied how animals respond to certain stimuli and conditions. In Pavlov's famous experiment, he rang a bell as he fed some dogs. Under normal conditions, a dog will salivate whenever food is in its mouth. This is called an unconditioned response to an unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov built on this naturally occurring situation to see if the dogs could be taught to change their normal response. Pavlov devised an experiment so that each time the dogs heard the bell, a small amount of food was placed in the mouth. After several times, the dogs would begin to salivate whenever they heard the bell because they had learned that food would follow. The bell was a conditioned stimulus. Pavlov then removed the food, the unconditioned stimulus, and only rang the bell, the conditioned stimulus. The dogs continued to salivate (i.e. make the conditioned response) as if the food were still being presented. They had learned to respond by salivating to the sound of a bell ringing. This type of controlled response to a stimulus has been labeled "classical conditioning."
More recently, another psychologist, B.F. Skinner began testing Watson's theories in the laboratory. Skinner's studies led him to expand Watson's views of how individuals respond to their environment. Skinner believed that even as people respond to stimuli in their environment, they also operate on or change their environment to obtain certain results.
Although Skinner is not the originator of the theory of "operant conditioning," he has been the leading proponent. Operant conditioning differs from classical conditioning in that a reinforcement occurs only after the subject executes a predesignated behavioral act. No unconditioned stimulus is used. Instead, a spontaneous behavior is rewarded, or reinforced. In order to test this theory, Skinner invented the "Skinner Box" in which a rat or pigeon is put in an environment that requires the pressing of a lever to obtain food. At first the animal may press the lever infrequently and receive the food reinforcement. After a time, the animal begins to press the lever more often and therefore receive more reinforcement. The animal "operates" on its environment in order to receive a reward. In this way, animals can "learn" to behave in a certain way in order to receive a reward, or to avoid punishment. Thus, both Skinner and Watson would deny that the mind or feelings play any part in determining behavior. Instead, only our experience of consequences (rewards or punishments), determine our behavior.
A natural outgrowth of behaviorism is behavior therapy; a type of intervention which focuses on modifying observable behavior as a means to alleviate psychological suffering. Behavior therapy techniques emphasize symptoms of emotional distress. Emotional problems are considered the consequences of faulty acquired behavior patterns or the failure to learn effective responses to one's environment. The aim of behavior therapy, also known as behavior modification, is therefore to change behavior patterns. One of the most prominent behavior techniques is systematic desensitization or counter-conditioning which has been used successfully to treat phobias and fears. Patients are asked to imagine anxiety-producing situations or be presented with actual feared objects. Gradually, exposure to the feared object is increased and the patient learns to control their reaction. Often relaxation training is employed simultaneously in order to reduce anxiety further. The theoretic basis of this type of therapy is that once the appropriate overt expressions of emotions are learned, practiced and reinforced, the correlated subjective feelings will be felt.
Education is another field that has been influenced by the theories and concepts of Behaviorism. For example, programmed learning is based on Skinner's theory that learning can best be accomplished in small, incremental steps with immediate reinforcement for the learner. It is a self-paced, self-administered educational technique in which instruction is presented in a logical sequence. This technique can be applied through texts or computer-aided instruction programs. No matter what the medium, the concept of immediately reinforcing the correct response is emphasized. Behaviorism forces us to examine the issue of control in education. In the behaviorist's view, there is no alternative to control. It is simply a matter of who is to control. One does not grant the child "freedom" merely by leaving him alone. To refuse to use scientific control to shape human behavior is, for the behaviorist, a failure in responsibility.
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