Behaviorism - Versions

Versions

There is no generally agreed-upon classification, but some titles given to the various branches of behaviorism include:

• Methodological: The behaviorism of Watson; the objective study of behavior; no mental life, no internal states; thought is covert speech.
• Radical: Skinner's behaviorism; is considered radical since it expands behavioral principles to processes within the organism; in contrast to methodological behaviorism; not mechanistic or reductionistic; hypothetical (mentalistic) internal states are not considered causes of behavior, phenomena must be observable at least to the individual experiencing them. Willard Van Orman Quine used many of radical behaviorism's ideas in his study of knowing and language.
• Teleological: Post-Skinnerian, purposive, close to microeconomics. Focuses on objective observation as opposed to cognitive processes.
• Theoretical: Post-Skinnerian, accepts observable internal states ("within the skin" once meant "unobservable," but with modern technology we are not so constrained); dynamic, but eclectic in choice of theoretical structures, emphasizes parsimony.
• Biological: Post-Skinnerian, centered on perceptual and motor modules of behavior, theory of behavior systems.
• Psychological behaviorism (PB) Arthur W. Staats: First general behaviorism that centers on human behavior. Created time-out, token-reinforcement and other methods, analyses, findings and theory that helped found behavioral child development, education, abnormal, and clinical areas--also terming this behavioral analysis in 1963. PB laid the basis for cognitive behavior therapy, provides basic theory and research that unifies emotional and behavioral conditioning, and introduces new avenues for basic and applied behavior analysis.

Two subtypes are:

• Hullian and post-Hullian: theoretical, group data, not dynamic, physiological;
• Purposive: Tolman's behavioristic anticipation of cognitive psychology