Theorist

B.F. Skinner

1904-1990

Skinner was an American psychologist who pioneered the field of behavior analysis and developed the philosophy of radical behaviorism. Skinner is widely known for his experimental work with rats and pigeons, the technologies that he developed (e.g., the operant conditioning chamber or Skinner box, schedules of reinforcement), and the philosophy of radical behaviorism, which underlies and unifies the basic and applied work of behavior analysts. He expanded the scope of his science and philosophy to issues of human culture and survival, spawning the application of his behavioral science to improve the human condition (Diller, 2021).

Ivan Pavlov

1849-1936

Early work in the field of behavior was conducted by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov studied a form of learning behavior called a conditioned reflex, in which an animal or human produced a reflex (unconscious) response to a stimulus and, over time, was conditioned to produce the response to a different stimulus that the experimenter associated with the original stimulus. The reflex Pavlov worked with was salivation in response to the presence of food. The salivation reflex could be elicited using a second stimulus, such as a specific sound, that was presented in association with the initial food stimulus several times. Once the response to the second stimulus was “learned,” the food stimulus could be omitted. Pavlov’s “classical conditioning” is only one form of learning behavior studied by behaviorists (Votaw, n.d.).

John B. Watson

1878-1958

John B. Watson was an influential American psychologist whose most famous work occurred during the early twentieth century at Johns Hopkins University . While Wundt and James were concerned with under- standing conscious experience, Watson thought that the study of consciousness was flawed. Because he believed that objective analysis of the mind was impossible, Watson preferred to focus directly on observable behavior and try to bring that behavior under control. Watson was a major proponent of shifting the focus of psychology from the mind to behavior, and this approach of observing and controlling behavior came to be known as behaviorism. A major object of study by behaviorists was learned behavior and its interaction with inborn qualities of the organism. Behaviorism commonly used animals in experiments under the assumption that what was learned using animal models could, to some degree, be applied to human behavior (Votaw, n.d.).

References

Diller, James W. (2021). B. F. Skinner and Behaviorism. Springer Link. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1306

Votaw, Kate. (n.d.). 1.6: Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, And Behaviorism. LibreTexts Social Sciences. Retrieved from https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Psychology/Book%3A_General_Psychology_for_Honors_Students_(Votaw)/01%3A_History_of_Psychology/1.06%3A_Pavlov_Watson_Skinner_And_Behaviorism

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