In 1913, John Broadus Watson (1878-1958) earned the distinctive title of "father of behaviorism" with his lecture "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It." Watson's lecture became the foundation for the school of behaviorism in psychology.
Although the behaviorist movement, which dominated American psychology from 1920 to 1960, has been highly criticized and subsequently subverted or diluted, its impact is still felt today in the areas of research methodology and behavior modification techniques.
Watson's Radical Behaviorism
In Watson's view, "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..." Introspective elements such as thoughts or emotions could not be considered in this method. Watson's purest views were labeled "radical behaviorism".
Key to Watson's view is the concept of introspection. By introspection, Watson meant reflection on having awareness of one's immediate experiences. So, while one could have an awareness of experiencing an impulse to run, one could not be aware of thinking about running. Further, an observer cannot find evidence of one's reflecting on one's experienced impulses, i.e., to run.
Commenting on Watson, Robert H. Wozniak writes that Watson, "urged psychologists to adopt behavior as their unit of analysis." The generally held view of psychologists, at that time, was that psychology is the "science of the mind or consciousness." In this view, trained observers could make observations and draw conclusions about the subject's thoughts based upon those observations.
Wozniak explains, "The rise of behaviorism is often portrayed as a revolution in method, and in many ways it was." In 1913, the method of research relied on by professional psychologists was "introspection under controlled conditions." Behaviorism wanted to shift the focus to learning and memory. "...And the methods of choice for the analysis of learning and memory involved purely objective observations of behavioral data varying as a function of the experimental manipulation of stimulus conditions (Woodworth, 1938)."
Watson's purest behaviorist views extended to all introspective activities, even mental activities such as language. In his "Introduction to: 'Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.'" Christopher Green notes, "In another well-known article (Watson, 1920), he argued that thinking — a mental activity that seems to involve no overt behavior — is nothing more than subvocal speaking." Clearly, Watson goes to the extreme in his insistence that all animal behavior may be explained in terms of stimulus and response.
Downfall of Behaviorism
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that it wasn't until Noam Chomsky "...charged that behaviorist models of language learning cannot explain various facts about language acquisition, such as the rapid acquisition of language by young children..." that sufficient damage to behaviorism had been done, causing its downfall as a movement.
Chomsky argued that it was not true that "language learning depends on the application of reinforcement....Language as such seems to be learned without, in a sense, being taught, and behaviorism doesn't offer an account of how this could be so." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy goes on to explain that, "...It appears to be a fundamental fact about human beings that our behavior and behavioral capacities often surpass the limitations of individual reinforcement histories."
Behaviorism in Retrospect
There is little doubt that the contributions of behaviorists to the field of psychological research, in terms of methodology, are invaluable. Much useful data has been gained through application of behaviorist technique. And, behaviorism's impact on the lives of individuals, in terms of applied behavior modification techniques, is significant; in many instances positive. For example, behavior modification works well when attempting to quit smoking or to overcome a specific fear, i.e., flying.
Yet, the theoretical goal of behaviorists, "to predict and control behavior," remains objectionable; in fact, when taken at face value, the implications of such a goal seem nothing less than alarming.
Chomsky's point is well taken: behaviorism fails to explain language acquisition, thinking, or the human capacity for overcoming limitations with respect to reinforcement histories. So, when emotion, thought and language, or other "introspective," "consciousness" elements are removed from the equation, any resulting knowledge of the natural behaviors of creatures may be fundamentally flawed.
In spite of behaviorism's inadequacies as an overall explanation of behavior, it remains a useful tool or mechanism for observing and manipulating that behavior.
References:
Christopher D. Green,Classics in the History of Psychology, Introduction to: "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It", 1997. Retrieved Jan. 4, 2010.
John B. Watson, Classics in the History of Psychology, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It , 1913. Retrieved Dec. 22, 2009
Robert H. Wozniak, Classics in the History of Psychology, C ommentary on "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It",1997. Retrieved Jan. 4, 2010
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Behaviorism, May 2006, Revised Jul. 2007. Retrieved Dec. 22, 2009.
Carol Baldwin - Carol Baldwin studied Philosophy at the University of Maryland, earning a BA in 1980. She attended Johns Hopkins University, where she ...
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