behaviourism

British  

/ bɪˈheɪvjəˌrɪzəm /

noun

1. a school of psychology that regards the objective observation of the behaviour of organisms (usually by means of automatic recording devices) as the only proper subject for study and that often refuses to postulate any intervening mechanisms between the stimulus and the response

2. the doctrine that the mind has no separate existence but that statements about the mind and mental states can be analysed into statements about actual and potential behaviour Compare materialism See also mind-body problem

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Other Word Forms

• behaviourist adjective
• behaviouristic adjective

Example Sentences

McCarthy, Minsky and other Intelligentists had bought in to behaviourism, a field straddling the natural and human sciences and offering access to a rich psychological vocabulary.

From Nature • Oct. 1, 2019

In his lectures, he described the concept of human intentionality — the ability of the mind to be proactive and to represent future goals — as another challenge to behaviourism.

From Nature • Jul. 12, 2016

Psychologist Abraham Maslow looked beyond the behaviourism — the idea that humans are blank slates who react to stimuli — advocated by psychologist B. F. Skinner and others.

From Nature • May 31, 2016

“Those early films were made at a time when behaviourism was the template for child-rearing,” Sammond says.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2015

Abandoning momentarily the standpoint of behaviourism, we may presume that hungry animals experience sensations involving discomfort, and stimulating such movements as seem likely to bring them to the food which is outside the cages.

From The Analysis of Mind by Russell, Bertrand