57 BHEVIORIZM

The founder of behaviorism (from English behavior - "behavior") is John Watson (1878-1958), who published the article "Psychology from the Behaviourist's Perspective." In his opinion, behavior is not worthy of research, not consciousness. J. Watson, in contrast to scientists, who consider the method of introspection to be the main thing in behavior, suggested studying external manifestations that are visible without special adaptations.

J. Watson suggested registering visible manifestations in human behavior that are consciously born of external influences. According to the formula "Sh" R "(stimulus-response), the responses of the subject can be genetic (hereditary) and acquired. Hereditary refers to reflexes, physiological reactions and simple emotions; acquired - it is the habits of the individual, his behavior, the degree of development of cognitive processes, complicated feelings. The research mechanism proceeds according to the following scheme: under the influence of an absolute stimulus, a hereditary reaction appears, which is in direct connection with new conditional stimuli.

J. Watson conducted an experiment: as an unconditioned stimulus, there was a sharp sound (or other external influence), which caused fear in a small child, in combination with a stimulus in the form of a rabbit. After some time, it was noticed that even a simple display of a rabbit to a child caused him to have a feeling of fear.

Behaviorism arose on the basis of two directions: positivism and pragmatism, according to which research should be based only on objective facts, knowledge about a person should be sufficiently complete.

By the end of the 1920s - the beginning of the 1930s. there was such a direction of behaviorism, as neobiheviorizm. It was due to the fact that between the stimulus and the reaction there are so-called intermediate variables.

The first research behaviorists conducted on animals. And only when it was possible to speak with confidence about sufficiently deep knowledge in the field of behavioral reactions, was the subject of the research made by a person.

According to scientists, human behavior could be shaped under the influence of previously prepared external stimuli. But behaviorists did not take into account the fact that the behavior and all human activity is determined by certain motives and goals. Behaviorism arose from the research of E. Thorndike, the works of IP Pavlov and V. M. Bekhterev.

The subject of behaviorism is human behavior with all its innate and acquired components.

J. Watson singled out 4 types of arising human reactions: external acquired and external hereditary, internal acquired and internal hereditary. The behaviorist doctrine turned out to be far from ideal, since it imposed too much on rigor and objectivity.