What is Behaviorism?
Behaviorism is a doctrine, or set of doctrines, about human and nonhuman animal behavior. It has sometimes been said that "behave is what organisms do." Behaviorism describes learning as an appropriate response to some specific environmental stimulus and learning is reinforced by repeat occurrences of the stimulus. Behaviorism emphasizes behavior as the basic subject matter of psychology. However, there are varying degrees in which behaviorists emphasize this. Behaviorists argue that the observation of behavior is the best or most convenient way of investigating psychological and mental processes. John B. Watson introduced the concept of behaviorism into American psychology in 1913. Mr. Watson taught that psychology should concern itself with the objective data of behavior and not with consciousness or the workings of the mind.
Key Behaviorists
Criticism of Behaviorism:
There are many that criticize the Behaviorist theory. The main criticism is that the theory fails to include intrinsic motivation of the subject and the theory does not take into account the environment the learning takes place in or the past experiences of the learner (schema).