Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a human psychology theory that asserts that characters are obtained as a result of conditioning. Majorly, it implies that an individual’s actions or characters are as a result of the surroundings of the person. The paper will discuss the basic tenets of behavioral psychology as delineated by John B Watson and also the antecedents of the development of psychoanalysis.

There exist various basic tenets of behaviorism psychology as delineated by John Watson. Firstly, Watson asserts that psychology needs to be the science of observable behavior (Cherry, 2018). He believed that instead of focusing on what is inside the mind, psychology should look at the environmental factors which contribute to an individual’s behaviors. Secondly, he believes that learning and behavior are the outcomes of stimulus-response relations. Indeed, this is whereby, one focuses on the learned relationships instead of looking at the internal occurrences inside the human mind.

According to Watson, he saw the primary goal of psychology is to predict and control behavior. Essentially, this is whereby a person’s characters can be predicted early and controlled through adjustment of the environment. With this, an individual’s characters can be enhanced through psychology.
Freud first used the term psychoanalysis in 1896 after it was invented. In 1899, Freud had developed the principals of psychoanalysis and considered them essential in his clinical work with patients (Robbins, 2006). Notably, the topographic model of the psyche was as a result of theoretical inventions which were the unconscious, preconscious and conscious.

Freud’s work with the patients resulted in a more advanced approach of the human psyche that was recognized with a developmental approach. Through observing his patients, he was able to discover the causes of the individual’s illness and reverted it to the early childhood memories of the person. With this, psychoanalysis was developed.

References

Cherry, K. (2018, May 13). Behaviorism: An Overview of Behavioral Psychology • Explore Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.explorepsychology.com/behaviorism/
Robbins, B. D. (2006, February 25). A Brief History of Psychoanalytic Thought and Related Theories of Human Existence. Retrieved from http://www5.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/selfshape01bk.htm