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Behaviorism refers to a systematic approach to comprehending human and animal behavior (Staddon, 2014). The assumptions are that every behavior is a reflect created by responses to specific stimuli within any given environment. It can also be a consequence of a person’s history like punishment and reinforcement coupled with a person’s existing controlling stimuli as well as motivational state. The theory is weak in the sense that the focus is on environmental factors although behaviors do accept and understand the significance of inheritance in determining behavior. Skinner added another element to it further weakening the theoretical concept behind behaviorism. Essentially, he included private events (feelings and thoughts) to be subjected to the same examination as observable behavior generating the foundation for radical behaviorism (Staddon, 2014).
While Skinner devised a technique called operant conditioning by evaluating the controlling nature of consequences, the overall radical behaviorism stemming from his work has proven highly successful experimentally, demonstrating new methods can yield new phenomena. However, there is inherent bias in this kind of behaviorism. This is because of the attempt to show orderly connections between environment and behavior (Staddon, 2014). The reality is, these orderly connections may not be that orderly, especially taking into consideration the possibility of genetic inheritance.
The evolution of behavior is a complex manner involving three main sources of influence. These are socio-cultural context, genetic inheritance, and contingencies encountered during a lifetime (Staddon, 2014). Therefore, those criticizing radical behaviorism note how ‘wrong’ it is given the amount of modern cognitive research available. For example, learned helplessness cannot be explained through Skinner’s behaviorism or behaviorism in general. This is because radical behaviorism does not account for the overall complexity of the brain in both animals and humans.
References
Staddon, J. E. (2014). The new behaviourism: Mind, mechanism and society. Psychology Press.
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