What was watsons theory about behaviorism

To conduct the experiment, Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner, placed the boy in a room where a white rat was allowed to roam around.

First, the boy showed no fear. Then, Rayner struck a steel bar with a hammer, every time Albert reached out to touch the rat, scaring Albert and causing him to cry. Eventually, Albert tried to get away from the rat, illustrating that he had been conditioned to fear the rat. Weeks later, Albert showed distress towards any furry object, showing that his conditioning had not only been sustained but also generalized.

Watson assumed that our behavior is either a reflex evoked by a stimulus, or a consequence of our individual history of earlier exposure to reinforcements and punishments paired with our current motivational states and stimuli. Unlike Freud and Jung, he was not interested in thoughts or the mind, because, in his opinion, the analysis of actions and reactions was the only way to apply the scientific method to psychology and get objective insight into human behavior. In his book, he advised parents not to touch their children too often and keep an emotional distance so as not to spoil them.

Playing with children, he warned, would interrupt their routines. His book became a bestseller and soon other scientists of his time advised against showing affection.

Some western governments started to hand out leaflets advising that parents should stop kissing their children. Parents developed the idea that children should be left to sit quietly during the day.

Watson, who had a difficult childhood, wanted to be a good father and applied his methods to his four children, John, Mary, James, and William. John complained throughout his entire life about intolerable headaches and died early in his 50s. Mary developed a drinking problem and attempted suicide, like her brother James. William took his own life at age Behaviourism stresses how environmental factors influence behaviour , virtually ignoring innate or inherited factors — which is essentially a learning perspective.

Humans are born with a blank-slate mind tabula rasa and learn new behaviours via classical or operant conditioning. Any theory must be supported by empirical data obtained via systematic observation and measurement of behaviour. Theoretical components should be as simple as possible. Though behaviourists largely accept the existence of cognitions and emotions, they prefer to study them only observable in the context of what can be objectively and scientifically measured.

This implies research can be conducted on animals as well as humans — what is known as comparative psychology. For behaviourists, animal research became the primary source of data simply because such environments could be easily controlled.

To what does Skinner attribute our behavior? He believed that genetics and the way a person is treated in society and the education he has determines the way he will behave. He thought that a person could be predicted through the laws of nature based on these facts.

Page 6. The quote stated by Lorraine Hansberry in the second prompt is basically an embodiment of B. You read books—to learn facts—to get grades—to pass the course—to get a degree. It has nothing to do with thoughts. These behaviors are called operant behaviors or voluntary.

Teaching My Cousin's Dog to Sit with a Clicker Operant Conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce of diminished by a punisher. Operant conditioning was first introduced when B. Skinner discovered, while he was studying the psychology of behaviorist movement, and the individual learns a particular behavior through interaction with the environment.

There are many ways to apply operant conditioning to everyday life. In the environment, the events or stimulus that occur would result in the individual changing their behavior when the individual interacts with the environment. For example, if the individuals' person performs a specific action, they get a positive reinforcement, such as a treat. IPL John B.

Watson's Theory Of Behaviorism. John B. Watson Theory of behaviorism: The term behaviorism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson based on the belief that behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. Behaviorism was established with the publication of Watson 's classic paper, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.

Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shapes our behaviors. John Watson believed that if he were given infants, then he would be able to make one a thei, …show more content… This school of thought suggests that only observable behaviors should be studied, since internal states such as cognitions, emotions and moods are too subjective.

There are two major types of conditioning: 1. Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioral training in which a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response.