behaviorism

American  

[bih-heyv-yuh-riz-uhm] / bɪˈheɪv jəˌrɪz əm /

noun

Psychology.

behaviorisms plural

1. the theory or doctrine that human or animal psychology can be accurately studied only through the examination and analysis of objectively observable and quantifiable behavioral events, in contrast with subjective mental states.

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behaviorism Cultural  

1. A theory that psychology is essentially a study of external human behavior rather than internal consciousness and desires. (See B. F. Skinner)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• behaviorist
  noun
• behavioristic
  adjective
• behavioristically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• behaviorisms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of behaviorism

First recorded in 1910–15; behavior + -ism

Example Sentences

Social cooling, coined by Tijmen Schep, is behaviorism 101.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 22, 2022

This was the rationale behind behaviorism, a now-dead theory of psychology that took this trend to a perverse extreme.

From Scientific American • Feb. 16, 2020

In many ways, Staats was an outlier in his field of behaviorism prominent in the 1960s, Minke said.

From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2019

This pattern makes a sad kind of sense in the context of behaviorism.

From The Verge • Jan. 24, 2018

Much of the focus in psychology at the time was around behaviorism.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Related Words

• attitude
• medicine
• mindset
• therapy