Childrens Behaviour and other Developmental Factors in Childhood - Literature review Example

From this research it is clear that on what behaviour actually means, as behaviour is not just a word but a complicated concept. The term behaviour is difficult to define. However, behaviour has been defined by Endo as the “specific actions and/or reactions of the individual in relation to environmental stimuli, either conscious or unconscious” that drives mannerisms and conduct. Behaviourism is a term in psychology that refers to observable behaviour. It does not concern much on mental experience as activity between speech and movement are considered subliminal actions and merely implied ‘stimulus-response connections’.

Psychology that focused on the theory of connectionism was first introduced by Thorndike in 1938 but it was Watson who was recognised as the ‘father of behaviourism’. Thorndike made studies and later theorised on behaviour or characteristic patterns of human learning which he first termed as ‘trial and error’, meaning knowing through selection and connection. Thorndike and Watson’s study on behaviour was based on beliefs during the industrial revolution period, termed as mechanistic.

Example of this was a stimulus response known as ‘stamped in’ and ‘stamped out’. Pavlov was another theorist of behaviourism who popularised the concept of ‘conditioning’, as he referred to the relationship between ‘unconditioned responses and unconditioned stimuli’. First, there are original responses which are considered ‘unconditioned’ because they are part of the behaviour of animals, or the dogs which Pavlov used in his experiments.