Behaviorism after the founding

Behaviorism as the third force in psychology direct started out as a theoretical proposition of John B. Watson when he came out with Psychology as The Behaviorist Views It and own been known as the sortist manifesto (Benjamin, 1997). Watson proposed that psychology is the study of behavior and have put forth four major surmises that form the tenets of behaviouristic psychology as a school of thought. The graduation assumption is that of maturationary continuity which means that the laws of behavior are applicable to all living organisms. This assumption has substantiated the behaviorists use of animals in the study of human behavior.The second assumption is that of reductionism, this refers to the behaviorists belief that all behaviors have a physiological basis and that behavior is the bodys chemical reaction to a stimulus. The third assumption is determinism, behaviorists support the idea that animals respond to external stimuli in specific ship canal and are inherently prog rammed into ones brain from birth. The last assumption is empiricism which is one of the cornerstones of behaviorism and that it is the contention that only overt actions or behavior are measurable and observable and lend itself to the scientific method.Thus, to the behaviorist, psychology should be the study of overt behavior. B. F. Skinner was a self-confessed convert to behaviorism later on reading Watsons monograph he was also influenced by the experimental studies of Ivan Pavlov (Bjork, 1997). Skinner develop a theory that was based on the classical learn paradigm of Pavlov and integrated it with his own definition of behaviorism. Skinners major work is his theory of operant conditioning, wherein he said that behavior can be conditioned finished financial support and behavior diminishes when it is not reinforced.He borrowed from Pavlov the basic idea of conditioning, but instead of limiting it to a stimulus- response paradigm, he incorporated the importance of rewards an d punishment, which means that behavior is not only showinged as a response to a stimulus but also as a form of association between the reinforcement given after the behavior. Skinners theoretical position made it obvious that he deviated from Watsons substructure behaviorism, because conditioning a she defined it involves cognition which Watson has strongly eradicated from his propositions.Moreover, the emphasis given to reinforcements and punishments hint at the need to ac noesis mental processes in the study of behavior. Skinners work was well up certain by the academic community much even that Watsons initial paper was and this have turn down the interest of like minded psychologists who did support the methodological implications of behaviorism but was not receptive of the radical arguments of Watson. Skinners ideas made more sense because it did not advocated the idea that men are not thinking beings and were more able to capture how man behaves.Skinners kind of behavioris m somehow marry the opposing views of mind and behavior and also gave importance to how environmental experiences and influences shape human behavior. Moreover, operant conditioning was applicable in a number of areas most notably education, child rearing and animal teach (Skinner, 1966). Skinners behaviorism has also influenced other psychologists to study and conceptualize psychological phenomena using the principles of operant conditioning and indeed was the kind of behaviorism that has flourished for the last century or so in the knowledge domain of psychology.Contemporary behaviorism have been identified as the study of social learning, wherein a behavior is learned through socialization and socialization is the process by which behavior is rewarded or punished by society (Smith & Woodward, 1996). The evolution of behaviorism from Watson to Skinner and to the present has been made possible by the vast research and theoretical models developed by psychologists who adhere to c ontemporary behaviorism. One of the hallmarks of behaviorism is the use of animals to study human behavior.Animal research has prove to be useful in understanding how man learns or can be trained to exhibit a certain type of behavior (Benjamin, 1997). Although animal behavior is limited, it nonetheless becomes indispensable for behavioral scientists because honourable considerations in using a human subject in risky experiments are not permitted. For example, doing a research on the effect of light illumination to sleep deprivation is probably unethical to do on world.Although animals are not exactly anatomically similar to humans, animal physiology and anatomy have been well studied and documented that tracing the reactions of mice to light will be easier and scientifically sound. The generalizations made based on this study is however limited but is an acceptable margin of error. Moreover, animals can be easily manipulated and subjected to experiments than humans because they operate on an instinctual level and do not have to process the tuition given to them.The knowledge gained in studying animals is numerous but especially have been concentrated on learning and behavior and to some extent how drugs affect the brain or the body. Animal research can help us understand human behavior better because to some degree we share with them basic drives that are necessary for our existence and hence, learning how animals react to stress or hunger can give us the information needed to adequately explain behavior. Animals exhibit simple behaviors which humans share and have grown in complexity over the years but if analyzed is based still on simple behaviors.References Benjamin, L. (1997) A History of Psychology Original Sources and Contemporary Research 2nd ed. New York McGraw Hill. Bjork, D. (1997) B. F. Skinner A Life. uppercase American Psychological Association. Skinner, B. F. (1966). The Behavior of Organisms An Experimental Analysis. 7th printing. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts. Smith, L. & Woodward, W. (1996). B. F Skinner and Behaviorism in American Culture. London Lehigh University Press