Behaviorism is a branch of early twentieth-century psychology, in which its greatest representative was JB Watson. The basic foundations of Behaviorism are as follows: the object of study of psychology is observable behavior and the method to be followed is experimental observation. In this way, the behaviorist approach broke the previous tradition, analyzing the states of consciousness and introspection being a fundamental analysis method. Neo behaviorism
Behaviorism and Neo behaviorism
Behaviorism is based on a fundamental idea: a stimulus A provokes a response B and the mechanism that explains this interaction is conditioning. This approach was emphasized and complemented from 1930 onwards with the vision of neo behaviorist psychologists Skinner, Thorndike and Hull. Neo behaviorists believed that stimulus variables, responses and conditioning were not enough to understand behavior, thus it was necessary to understand the mental processes that affect human beings.
Fundamental aspects
The main object of study of neo Behaviorism is learning and its purpose is to create a general theoretical framework for learning .
There is an analogy between the human mind and the computer . Starting from this similarity as a model, neo behaviorists explain what happens in the human mind when performing a certain activity. This explains that the individual cannot be understood as a simple input and output organism of information , but that it is necessary to analyze the mental processes that influence their behavior. It should be noted that mental processes are not observable, but play a role in human behavior, just as they do with expectations and cognitive maps.
Neo Behaviorism is focused on themes such as empathy, motivation and perception. Regarding learning , psychologists of this current give importance to aspects that influence the learning process, as shown by language and emotions
Neo Behaviorism, also called neo conductism, emphasizes the role of the environment in the learning process and the importance of methods for controlling behavior. In this way, the environment acts as a support mechanism for the individual, both in a positive and negative sense. Consequently, when this support in a given environment is modified, a change in human behavior is possible.
An individual’s personality is the result of three related parameters: the personal and social environment, the support one receives and the mental processes created.
