The History of Psychology: Learn It 1—Behaviorism

  • Explain behaviorism
  • Describe humanism
  • Describe cognitive psychology
  • Describe multicultural and feminist psychology

The earliest approaches—structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, and Gestalt psychology—all focused on inner experience. But some psychologists argued that inner thoughts were too subjective to study scientifically. This concern gave rise to new schools of thought, including behaviorism, humanism, and cognitive psychology.

Behavioral Psychology (Behaviorism)

behaviorism

Behaviorism is the school of psychology that focuses on observable behavior rather than internal mental processes. Its goal is to understand how behavior can be observed, measured, and controlled.

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Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) discovered classical conditioning, a form of learning where a reflex becomes associated with a new stimulus.

You might be familiar with his most famous work—Pavlov’s dogs reflexively responded to food by salivating, but when the food became paired with the sound of a ringing bell, the dogs learned to salivate to the ringing bell, even without the food. Pavlov’s “classical conditioning” is only one form of learning behavior studied by behaviorists.

This showed that behaviors could be learned through association.

John B. Watson

John B. Watson (1878–1958) rejected the study of consciousness, arguing it was too subjective. He believed psychology should only study observable behaviors that could be measured and predicted. Watson helped establish behaviorism as a dominant approach, often relying on animal studies to investigate learning.

B. F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) expanded behaviorism by studying how consequences shape behavior. He introduced operant conditioning, which emphasized:

  • Reinforcement: increases the likelihood of behavior (e.g., food reward).
  • Punishment: decreases the likelihood of behavior (e.g., a loud noise).

Skinner created the operant conditioning chamber (Skinner box) to test these principles. In this controlled setting, animals could press a lever or button to receive reinforcement or punishment.

Photograph A shows B.F. Skinner. Illustration B shows a rat in a Skinner box: a chamber with a speaker, lights, a lever, and a food dispenser.
Figure 2. (a) B. F. Skinner is famous for his research on operant conditioning. (b) Modified versions of the operant conditioning chamber, or Skinner box, are still widely used in research settings today. (credit a: modification of work by “Silly rabbit”/Wikimedia Commons). The Skinner box is a chamber that isolates the subject from the external environment and has a behavior indicator such as a lever or a button. When the animal pushes the button or lever, the box is able to deliver a positive reinforcement of the behavior (such as food) or a punishment (such as a noise) or a token conditioner (such as a light) that is correlated with either the positive reinforcement or punishment.

 

Behaviorism shaped psychology for decades by emphasizing scientific rigor, learning, and environmental influences. While its dominance declined with the rise of cognitive psychology, behaviorist principles remain important in areas such as education, behavior therapy, and animal training.