Читать книгу The Handy Psychology Answer Book - Lisa J. Cohen - Страница 89

Behaviorism is the school of psychology that considers observable behavior to be the only worthwhile object of study. Behaviorists believe mental phenomena are impossible to measure objectively and thus impossible to prove. They therefore focus on the processes underlying behavioral change, specifically classical conditioning (also known as associative or Pavlovian conditioning) and operant conditioning. These basic learning principles operate in humans and animals alike, or at least in mammals and birds.

Major figures of behaviorism include John B. Watson (1878–1958), Edward Thorndike (1874–1947), and B.F. Skinner (1904–1990). Although Freudian psychoanalysis, educational psychology, and other mental schools of psychology continued to develop in tandem, behaviorism was the dominant force in American psychology until well into the middle of the twentieth century.