Psychology as the behaviorist views it.

Abstract

Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness. The behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing line between man and brute. The behavior of man, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a part of the behaviorist's total scheme of investigation.It has been maintained by its followers generally that psychology is a study of the science of the phenomena of consciousness. It has taken as its problem, on the one hand, the' analysis of complex mental states (or processes) into simple elementary constituents, and on the other the construction of complex states when the elementary constituents are given. The world of physical objects (stimuli, including here anything which may excite activity in a receptor), which forms the total phenomena of the natural scientist, is looked upon merely as means to an end. That end is the production of mental states that may be 'inspected' or 'observed.' The psychological object of observation in the case of an emotion, for example, is the mental state itself. The problem in emotion is the determination of the number and kind of elementary constituents present, their loci, intensity, order of appearance, etc. It is agreed that introspection is the method par excellence by means of which mental states may be manipulated for purposes of psychology. On this assumption, behavior data (including under this term everything which goes under the name of comparative psychology) have no value per se. They possess 158

Realism, Instrumentalism, and Scientific Symbiosis: Psychological Theory as a Search for Truth and the Discovery of Solutions.

“…Early theoreticians in psychology adopted the position of scientific realism in part because of the laudable goal of building legitimate scientific theories of psychological phenomena by emulating what they thought physical scientists did (e.g., Watson, 1913;Wundt, 1909Wundt, /1912. Scientific realism received additional impetus in psychology when a group of philosophers known as the Vienna Circle adopted positivism (or what came to be termed logical positivism) in the 1920s as the formula to follow if psychology were to become an acceptable science (see Ayer, 1936;Bergmann, 1957).…”

“…Thus, the statements "Operant performance established by higher reinforcement-ratio schedules extinguishes more rapidly than those established by lower ratio schedules" and "The hippocampus plays a crucial role in spatial learning" are meaningful theoretical statements because we can measure the stimuli and responses and test the proposed relation between them, whereas statements such as "Happiness is a measure of national well-being" and "Stress leads to allostatic load" were thought not to be meaningful because the concepts are vague and therefore difficult to verify. Positivism represented fertile ground for the growth of behaviorism, which argued that a science of psychology should focus only on that which could be observed because only phenomena that could be observed John T. Cacioppo could be measured objectively and reliably (Watson, 1913). Movements were viewed as appropriate subject matter for theories in psychology, but feelings and mentation were not.…”

Exploring the Problems of Teaching Translation Theories and Practice at Saudi Universities: A Case Study of Jazan University in Saudi Arabia

“…While Gouadec (2000) claims that a new instructor, he or she should expend at least one month working in a translation establishment either as a reviewer or a translator. There are various types of research on education styles, teaching styles and personality types which shows that not each person likes to learn in the same way Watson (1913) shows that not each person likes to learn in the same way being taught in a unique style which can be inconvenient at first, and that can lead to the lack of flexibility. Frank (2005) affirms that for learning to take place, students must be dynamically building the experience in their minds.…”

Using a Multifaceted Approach to Working With Children Who Have Differences in Sensory Processing and Integration

“…Behavioral approaches are primarily concerned with modifying observable behaviors that can be recorded and measured (Skinner, 1938;Watson, 1913). Children with differences in sensory processing and integration may exhibit aggressive, avoidance, or seeking behaviors as a result of sensory modulation problems; have difficulty learning new skills or expanding play schemas because they struggle with praxis; or may choose not to engage in tasks that are perceived to be too difficult secondary to postural or motor challenges.…”