We explain what behaviorism is, the behaviorism of Watson and Skinner. Also, how behaviorism works in education.
What is behaviorism?
It is understood by behaviorism or behaviorism (from English behavioorr“behavior”) to a current of psychology that focuses his interest on the behavior of living beings and which understands it as a set of relationships between certain stimuli and responses.
In its most classical approach, it abandons any interest in the intrapsychic (such as emotions, reflections, imaginations) and focuses solely on observable behavior, i.e. values the objective over the subjective.
Behaviorism was a highly dominant psychological school since its emergence in the 20th century, especially in the interwar period, and It is considered a response to introspective psychology dominant in the era of structuralism and introspection as a study method. Its greatest exhibitors were the Americans John B. Watson (1878-1958) and BF Skinner (1904-1990), each in their own way.
In practice, there are numerous aspects of behaviorism, different from the one initially proposed by Watson, such as the school of Skinner, Tolman and Hull, or the interbehavioral psychology (interbehaviorism) of JR Kantor, the teleological behaviorism of Rachlin, the empirical behaviorism of Bijou. , and other authors such as Staddon, Timberlake or Hayes.
Broadly speaking, however, behaviorism tends to perceive the behavior of living beings as the result of conditioning imparted throughout their formation through external stimuli (such as punishments and rewards), rather than the result of internal mechanisms ( like instincts or thoughts). For this reason, behaviorism value the environment above all since learning cannot be separated from the context in which it took place.
Assuming this perspective, mental pathologies are not really such, unless there is a biological or physical basis, that is, an illness. The rest must be considered within the framework of their learning context, which is why they do not approve treatment using psychotropic drugs.
See also: Constructivism
Watson behaviorism
J.Watson was the one who inaugurated behaviorism as a psychological movement establishing itself in objective positions around the mind. He did not deny the existence of intrapsychic phenomena, but he did deny that these could be studied, since they are not observable; what, on the other hand, can be done with behavior.
In this sense, Watson He was heir to Ivan Pavlov's studies on classical conditioning. According to Watson, observation and behavior modification was the access route to the interior of the human mind, and not the other way around; Furthermore, only by aspiring to an objective nature in its approaches could psychology make its way among the Natural Sciences, adopting in some way the steps of the Scientific Method.
Skinner behaviorism
Burrhus F. Skinner took behaviorism one step further, embracing a radical aspect. Thanks to his contributions, psychology is today considered related to the field of Sciences and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy was developed, in which his studies are very influential.
Skinner's behaviorism was based on Watson's studies and Pavlov's simple conditioning, but rejected the idea that only external stimuli were responsible for our behavior. For Skinner, this was the product of a learned series of adaptive experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant, useful and useless, that shape learning.
This addition meant removing the focus of the study from the dynamics of stimuli and fixing them on the way in which they are incorporated into the psyche, that is, the adaptation process that he called operant conditioning. In this new scheme, the perception of what we do and the consequences that what we do has are the foundation of behavior.
Behaviorism in education
Behaviorism was so important as a psychological school that it also greatly influenced the way we understand learning. Hence there are behaviorist learning theories, and school approaches that seek to make the best use of what these theories propose.
In fact, the behaviorist approach to schooling is based on the use of reinforcements (positive and negative) to stimulate the desired behavior in children and young people, and discourage or eradicate the unwanted ones. In these models, the motivation to study is external to the student and the development of their memory is generally privileged, so other techniques are used today and theories more conducive to a participatory and less punishing education.
References
- “Behaviourism” in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
- “Behaviorism” in Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
