The concept of mind in behaviorist theories: Pavlov, Watson, Tolman, and Skinner

¶ … Mind in Theories

Concept of the Mind in Behavioral Theories

How the mind works is a question that has been a driving force in psychological research for generations. It is the one element that is so intimate, yet so unfamiliar. We all see our overt behaviors, but describing how the mind operates to create the need for such behaviors is fair less obvious. Thus, many behavioral theories aim to understand how the concept of the mind works in terms of how it functions in creating and maintaining not only behavior, but learning as well.

Ivan Pavlov is often considered a precursor to the construction of more contemporary behavioral theories. His work set the stage to understand how condition the mind could result in particular reactions and behaviors. Classical conditioning occurs when a certain reflex is a product out of being exposed to a pattern of stimuli. Behavior is essentially created from this reflex, and thus particular behaviors are invoked at particular stimuli (Walker 1984). This then shows how the mind can be conditioned and trained as a result of being exposed to particular environmental stimuli.

John Watson actually named the term behaviorism. His model of behaviorism actually placed less emphasis on the concept of the mind as directing human behavior. Instead, he believed that behavior was more of a result from people's reactions in particular situations. Understanding reactions would then point theorists to a better understanding of the concept of the mind. Yet, many of Watson's contributions were seen as controversial, such as the Little Albert experiment, which created a conditioned response through the association of a rat with scary loud noises (Kazantzis et al. 2009). Essentially, the experiment showed that the concept of the mind retains information about certain stimuli and then uses it to categorize other stimuli the mind may encounter in its environment. Albert became afraid of not only the rats, but also of any furry animals, because of his association of fur to the unconditioned stimulus of the loud noises that frightened him.

Additionally, Edward C. Tolman was essentially aiming to understand cognitive processes through the implementation of behavioral methods. Through his experiments using rats, Tolman posited the idea that behavior was not simply a reaction to a particular stimulus (Walker 1984). Rather, he believed that the concept of the mind could make actual connections between various stimuli. His concept of latent learning illustrates how the mind can learn without having to express an explicit response to a present stimulus. Instead, the mind learns with less obvious reinforcement that can occur after the removal of the stimulus that triggered the learning in the first place. Essentially, the knowledge gained from latent learning is not always expressed immediately, and rather develops inside the mind through unconscious processes that are drawn upon only when the environment would require them. The mind holds on to these pieces of memory to assist in more overt learning later on.