Perspectives Paper

Perspectives Paper (Behaviorists)
Human beings by nature are inquisitive. Knowing where one comes from and what aspects separates one from another individual has been in our nature since humans discovered having five toes on each foot. The approach of psychology basing the study on the fact that behavior can be researched without consideration of the inner state of the mind is known as behaviorism. This paper will look at three men and contrast and compare their thoughts.
Radical Behaviorism
Early in the 20th century, behaviorism initiated with the objectives of John B. Watson, a psychologist in America. The objective of his study was to base behavior on no mental life and no internal speech. He studied the adjustment of human beings and organisms to their respective environments. Therefore, it made sense to him that men could be studied objectively, like rats and apes. His approach put an emphasis on physiology in addition to the role of stimuli and this made him a stimulus-response psychologist (O'Donohue, Ferguson 2001). For example in the experimental study of "Little Albert", Watson conditioned the little boy to fear rats. At first, Albert was not afraid of the rat and the other animals, but Watson made a loud noise by hitting a steal bar with a hammer every time Albert touched the rats. Watson was able to show that emotional responses could be conditioned, or learned.
B. F. Skinner is a true radical behaviorist who referred to his philosophy of science as radical behaviorism. His contributions to psychology have had a profound effect on how we learn. According to him, psychology should be the study of behavior that would be anything a human being or an organism is a part of. His theory is based upon the idea that a function of changing is learning in behavior that is obvious. Consequences are the results of a response such as hitting a ball, defining a word, or solving a math problem (O’Donohue, Ferguson 2001). According to his study and research, B.F....