Behaviorism Theory Essay -- Psychology, Watson, Skinne, Locke

A learning, or behavioural theory, in terms of human development, follows the view that the focus of psychology should be carriage, the way we act. A behaviorist places value on attri exclusivelyes that one and only(a) can see and therefore study, as opposed to the invisible attributes, much(prenominal) as thinking, feeling, and other brain activity that occurs without one even conditioned (Craig & Dunn, 2010, p. 14). There are three important modern behavior or learning theorists Ivan Pavlov, buns Watson, and B. F. Skinner. However, as stated by William Crain John Locke was the come of environmentalism and learning theory, although Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner were his heirs (Crain, 2011 p.3). To some, the behaviorist theories may seem confining or incomprehensive, but one can see that all of the study theories play a role in our apprehensiveness of development.British philosopher John Locke developed theories in late seventeenth century that a chela has no built-in belie fs or understanding of concepts until the child has experienced these things for themselves. He asserted in his writing that through observation of childrens behavior, children are like an empty, unfurnished room that one can select the furnishings for, in particular in early geezerhood when children are most susceptible to breath and comment (Crain, 2011). Locke believed that environment was a critical factor in development, but also saw that the way one gives a child in impute affects behavior as well. Crain, (2011) noted that Locke felt that a childs good health was important to facilitate, and that beyond that, adults should help reinforce childrens behavior through reward and punishment.More than two hundred years later, B.F. Skinner saw the importance of reward and punishment as he studied oper... ...tsons later innovations was to remove or de-condition fears, by truly slowly introducing the feared target in a slow, incremental, and safe manner until the object no longe r evokes a fearful response (Crain, 2011). All of these behavioral/learning theorists have make huge progress in understanding the psychology of human development through a rigid institute of principles, through research, observation, and behavior modification experiments. cardinal may be put off by the unyielding denial of cognitive processes in behavior and the relationship to development. To be sure, many theories and theorists have made progress in bridging the gap between behavior and environment only theories, and cognitive theories. One should not lose sight that all of these major theorists have made valuable contributions to our views of human development, including these unwavering behaviorists.