Behavior Theory and Human Behavior Explanation - Coursework Example

Behavior Theory College Behaviorism school of psychology is credited to B. Watson, a scholar who made massive contributions to the study of human behavior. The main motivation behind the theory was that man adopts his behavior as a response to stimuli, which is the environment around him. Therefore, the theory has its grounding on conditioning and largely refutes any claim of humans having a free will to determine their actions. Behaviorists have a strong belief that an individual may acquire any traits depending on his/her environment. This premise negates some facts of biology such as laws related to hereditary traits and the effects of hormones such as testosterone, all which are necessary in influencing the behaviors of persons. As a scientific theory, behavioral theory stresses that humans learn and develop certain traits through experience. All the same, the theory has been instrumental in some psychological therapies where psychiatrists require an individual to change his/her negative behaviors and adopt positive ones. Behavior Theory Behavior theory is one of the widest theories that explain human behaviors, and how human beings develop and exercise these behaviors in life. In other words, behavior theory explains human development in acquiring behaviors as a response to the environmental stimulants or learning from others, and the way these behaviors have to manifest in such people. Behavioral theory has attracted interest from a wide range of scholars since the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries. In fact, scientists later adopted behavioral theory to study the behaviors of animals and apply them to humans to establish the relationship between humans and non-humans in a detailed manner (Hergenhahn, 2009). Therefore, behavioral theory is an instrumental study in psychology that explains why humans have to behave and how they systematically construct their behaviors and apply these behaviors in different life situations. Historical background Most psychologists credit John B. Watson with the development of the school of behaviorism, which deals with the behavioral theory. However, behaviorism or the study of behaviors may not be credited to a single scientist but is a contribution and thinking of different scholars, with each scholar adding to the thinking of the previous one for several years until the school of behaviorism was developed (Hergenhahn, 2009). In other words, Watson was involved in extending the line of thinking to a higher detail than other scientists did, in formulating a school that was solid enough to explain the cause of behaviors in human beings. Pavlov, a Russian scientist, initiated the behavior school of thought in 1897. Pavlov studied digestion in dogs and then published the results of the experiment on conditioning (Hergenhahn, 2009). This was followed by Thorndike’s formalization of the Law of Effect in 1905. This discovery interested Watson, who in 1913 launched the first behavior school of psychology specifically to deal with classical conditioning and published an article Psychology as the Behaviorists Viewed It. Later in 1920, Watson and Rainer did a practical experiment that involved conditioning an orphan to fear a white rat. Later in 1936, Skinner a behaviorist scientists wrote an article, The behavior of Organisms and introduced the issue of shaping and operant conditioning (Hayden, 2009). This was followed by Clark’s article Principles of Behavior that was published in 1943. The first scientist to relate the studies principles of behavior to humans was B. Skinner, who in 1948 published an article, Walden Two. Skinner for the first time described in detail a utopian society based on the foundations and actions of the principles laid down by the behavioral scientists. Later in 1963, Bandura authored a book, Social Learning Theory and Personality Development, which delved deep into relating cognitive and behavioral factors (Hayden, 2009), pushing behavioral theory to a high limit. Later in 1977, Skinner in his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity laid a clear foundation of the current implications of behavior theory by claiming that free will did not exist in reality but was an illusion in human life. In other words, Skinner suggested that humans act conditioned by certain learned behaviors and attributes but do not act on their own volition. Problem of application In behavioral theory, two aspects are important in explaining how behaviors are learned, and in determining why an individual develops certain character traits. These concepts are the positive and negative reinforcements of behavior (Nilson, 2010). As Nilson observed, in positive reinforcement, an individual experiences a good feeling when they act as required. Similarly, punishment deters an individual from acting by a punishment or a bad feeling. These behavior reinforcements play a huge role in determining how individuals will act under certain circumstances. An important area where behavior theory applies is in classical condition. Classical conditioning refers to a process where an individual learns new behaviors by the mere fact of associating with other persons (Shield, 2007). In other words, individuals living together to develop some common behaviors learned from one another. Classical conditioning may also explain how people learn and develop behaviors in the process of human development. On the other hand, unconditioned stimulus refers to the portrayal of some unconditioned responses in an individual (Baccus, Baldwin and Packer, 2004). Individuals under unconditioned stimulus will naturally learn and develop a certain behavior as a response to their environment, which means that the natural behavior has not been taught. Pavlovs experiment using a 9 months infant and a white rat demonstrated the way individuals develop anxiety naturally or phobias because of natural stimuli. By examining how such individuals react, it would be possible to determine and deal with the natural stimuli responsible for their behavior. Baccus, Baldwin and Packer (2004) in an experiment observed that conditioning might be instrumental in having people do away with negative behaviors and embrace positive behaviors. The researchers observed that it was possible to address the problem of low esteem and related effects by conditioning through manipulation. This helped individuals to improve their self-efficacy and lower the high aggression level associated with low self-efficacy. Behavioral theory may as well be used in ensuring individuals act in the required manner through Skinner’s reinforcement and punishment approaches. Nilson (2010) in a study of Skinner’s impact on behaviorism noted that students tended to repeat certain behaviors if they got rewards and kept away from acting in a way that attracted a punishment. In this case, reinforcements are necessary in shaping the behaviors of individuals under behaviorism. For instance, children will learn good behaviors after receiving rewards for doing something good and canned for doing something wrong. Such children will prefer acting in a way that attracts rewards than punishment, a trend that develops into personalities later in life. Therefore, in behavioral theory, reinforcements are necessary in determining whether individuals will develop positive or negative characters later in life. Another problem solved by behavioral theory is in explanation of the learning process under Bandura’s Social Learning theory. Albert Bandura in his study of human behaviors observed that human behavior is usually learned from the environment through observation (Hayden, 2009). In any society, children are surrounded by a number of models who include parents the extended family, societal models, digital media, peer groups among other societal members. Models in the society offer a rich source of traits to young children; children learn to exercise their masculinity or femininity by observing their role models. As they develop, children will copy and imitate the behaviors that the societal models show to them. It is from this observation that the opacity may influence children negatively or positively as they grow up. Strengths of behavior theory Behavioral theory is one of the largest and important theories in explaining the stages of human development. The theory offers detailed information on how individuals develop and assume different characters or behaviors in life either through observation or as a response to natural stimuli. One of the strengths of the behavioral theory is that it is a scientific theory (Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2013). As a scientific theory, the theory suggests that people gain knowledge empirically through experience until all the senses of individuals are well developed. As a science, the behavioral theory offers answers to scientific concepts in development of human and behaviorism. The effectiveness of the theory in explaining how individuals learn behaviors as they develop, behavioral theory is one of the most applicable theories and is predominantly used in therapies. An example of such therapies is in conditioning. Moreover, the theory relies heavily on objective measurement of attributes, and that the theory was constituted following numerous experiments in determining the behaviors of individuals under different stimuli (Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2013). Throughout the 20th century, scholars had worked on numerous theories linked to human development and behavior acquisition. Another major strength of the theory is that it offers concise comparisons between animals and human behaviors. In most cases, scientists do study the behavior the animals and extrapolate the same to humans, which has made it possible to explain the links that exist between animals and humans. Weaknesses of the theory A major weakness with behavioral theory is that they are too deterministic and treat humans as robots. In other words, the theory denies the possibility of free will by stressing that human beings act based on stimulation and learned behaviors (Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2013). In other words, the theory suggests it would not be possible for a person to act contrary to his or her surroundings. Humanistic theorists reject this notion by insisting that humans do exercise a free will and can make decisions in life; humans are not victims of circumstances to follow predetermined laws (Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2013). The theory borrows heavily from experiments carried out on animals, which suggest that humans and animals have many similarities in their behaviors. In addition, the theory ignores some basic laws of biology. Behavioral theory is based on behaviors learned by individuals as they grow in an environment but does not consider the effects of hormones such as testosterone, which have a major role to play in influencing behaviors in males. Moreover, unlike other theories, behavior theory does not consider any sub processes in the development of man, which is a major weakness compared to other major theories. Conclusion Behavioral theory is an important scientific theory that explains human development with respect to acquiring and development of behaviors. The theory suggests that an individual develops behaviors as a response to the environment in his locality, due to conditioning and through observation. The theory explains that man learns new behaviors through experience, making it a scientific theory. Moreover, the theory offers a close link between man and animas by explaining the behaviors of the two and their similarities. All the same, most humanism advocates, oppose the theory for denying the aspect of free will in humanity. All the same, behavior theory offers a comprehensive overview of behavior development in individuals and offers solid facts to explain the development of human behavior; some therapies related to conditioning use the theory to solve behavior problems in humans. References Baccus, R. J., Bladwin, W. M. & Packer, J. D. (2004). Increasing implicit self-esteem through classical conditioning. Psychological Science, 15(7), 498-502. Hayden, J. A. (2009). Introduction to health behavior theory. London : Jones and Bartlett. Hergenhahn, B. (2009). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning Kassin, S., Fein, S & Markus, H. (2013). Social psychology. CA: Cengage Learning Nilson, B. L. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors. San Francisco, CA: Wiley & Sons. Shield, J. (2007). Injury and violence prevention: Behavioral science theories, methods, and applications. Injury Prevention, 13(5), 360. Read More