Which type of psychologist believes that behavior is determined by reward and punishment?

What is behavioral psychology? Learn more about this psychological movement, its classic studies, and why its therapeutic influences still matter.

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Have you ever wondered whether your internal predisposition or your environment has a more significant influence on your behavioral choices? This dilemma is often called the nature vs. nurture debate and has led to different schools of thought in psychology. Hence, some psychologists explain behaviors through biological and internal underpinnings, whereas others focus on the behavioral effects of upbringing and environmental factors, and yet, many others fall somewhere in between.

On the nurture end of the nature-nurture spectrum is a branch of psychology, which was extremely popular in the first half of the 20th century, known as behavioral psychology or behaviorism. In this article, you’ll discover key theories and examples of behavioral psychology and how its certain concepts are still influential. 

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What Is Behavioral Psychology? (A Definition)

Behavioral psychology assumes that individuals acquire all behaviors through their interactions with the environment. Therefore, behavioral psychologists—also known as behaviorists— believe that our actions are shaped by external stimuli, such as laws, education, socioeconomic forces, etc., and not internal stimuli, which include thoughts, emotions, and personality, among others. For instance, in behaviorism, anxiety can be explained as a behavior acquired from the environment, such as by being around others with anxiety, and not due to internalized traumatic experience or genetic inclinations. 
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The famous quote by the founding father of behavioral psychology, John Watson, illustrates the overarching stance of behaviorists: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” (Watson, 1930). Let’s find out about the theory behind this nurture-centered approach to studying behavior.

Behavioral Psychology Theories and Criticism

In the early 20th century, mainstream psychology was focused on introspection and psychoanalysis. Therefore, during that period, many psychologists attributed most behaviors to subconscious influences. Given the impossibility of observing and measuring thoughts, emotions, and desires objectively, behavioral psychology emerged as a way to introduce a more scientific approach to studying behavior, by linking actions to observable external influences (Logue, 2013). 

Some consider behavioral psychology as a theory of learning (Bryant et al., 2013), in which all actions of an individual are learned behaviors. Behaviorists believe that all behaviors are learned through a process called conditioning,  whereby an external stimulus or “condition” causes a behavioral reaction. For example, a professor may use a reward system to incentivize students’ learning. When students come to class prepared, they can earn stars, which can then be transformed into extra points for the final grade. In fact, many teacher-centered classroom practices are based on behaviorism concepts (Serin, 2018). 

Historically, there are two behavioral psychology theories: methodological behaviorism and radical behaviorism (Moore, 2013). The methodological theory is the original behaviorism established by Watson, with the goal of predicting and controlling behavior. Radical behaviorism, spearheaded by B. F. Skinner, agrees with the goal of the former but also accepts that organisms have innate behaviors (Moore, 2013).
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Behavioral psychology was extremely popular and influential from the 1920s until the 1960s and became the dominant school of thought in psychology. Some researchers attribute behavioral psychology’s popularity to its objective and measurable approach, similar to those of natural sciences like physics and chemistry. 

Despite its eminence, behavioral psychology has been criticized for being a one-dimensional approach to understanding human behavior, as it doesn’t take into account other factors, such as free will, thoughts, feelings, or culture (Moore, 2013). For example, Freud argued that behavioral psychology was limited because it disregards the unconscious mind’s thoughts, feelings, and desires, while Carl Rogers and other humanistic psychologists believed it to be rigid because it relies heavily on conclusions derived from animal studies and doesn’t consider personal agency (Cherry, 2022). Nonetheless, behavioral psychology has advanced our understanding of numerous behaviors and led to a variety of techniques that continue to benefit the field, such as behavior analysis, behavior modeling, or aversion therapy.

To learn more about behavioral psychology, you can watch the short video below.

Video: Behavioral Theory

Behavioral Psychology vs. Cognitive Psychology

Circling back to what we talked about before, behaviorism emerged out of the need to establish a branch of psychology based on objective measurements at a time when psychology was dominated by introspective interpretations. Yet, the scientific rigidity of behaviorism, its limitations, and its complete disregard of conscious processes led to the cognitive revolution of the mid-20th century (Miller, 2003). So was born a new psychology branch studying consciousness, memory, and other cognitive processes, and fittingly named cognitive psychology.

Although cognitive psychology was born as a response to behavioral psychology, it incorporated its predecessor’s scientific approach. With the emergence of cognitive psychology, researchers started designing laboratory experiments to study mental processes, such as attention, creativity, memory, perception, and metacognition. Later, with the rise of ‌computers in research settings, cognitive psychology adopted novel approaches, such as information processing (Lachman, Lachman & Butterfield, 2015).

Given the contrasting stances of behavioral and cognitive psychologists, various disputes emerged. One of the best-known debates between the two camps was over language acquisition. More specifically, behavioral psychologists insisted ‌that humans were born as “blank slates” and infants acquired language purely by observation. In contrast, proponents of cognitive psychology, such as the well-known linguist Noam Chomsky, argued that infants had an innate capacity for language acquisition (Richelle, Foster & Rondal, 1976).

Behaviorism and cognitive psychology differ in how they view and study behavior. Nevertheless, they are two important movements in psychology that have implications for certain aspects of society, such as education or economics. Moreover, both ‌branches of psychology have been essential for the development of cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT.

Behavioral Psychology Studies and Examples

Some of the most famous studies in psychology are examples of the behavioral approach, including Pavlov’s study with dogs, Skinner’s research with pigeons, and Watson and Rayner’s experiments with a young boy known as little Albert. Before we dive into these interesting studies, let’s discuss some common terminology. 

Behavioral Psychology Terms​

• Stimulus: An object, factor, or event that can trigger a behavioral change.
• Response: The reaction to or the behavioral change caused by a stimulus.
• Classical Conditioning: A behavioral training technique that pairs a neutral stimulus with a natural stimulus. As a result, the test subject responds to the neutral stimulus the same way they would respond to the natural stimulus.
•  Operant Conditioning: A behavioral training technique that uses reinforcements (rewards) and punishments to pair a behavior with a consequence.
• Positive Reinforcement: Addition of a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavioral response. Note that “positive” in this context simply means adding something.
• Negative Reinforcement: Removal of a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavioral response. Note that “negative” in this context simply means removing something.
• Positive Punishment: Addition of a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavioral response.
• Negative Punishment: Removal of a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavioral response. 

Pavlov’s Dogs 
Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs paved the way to one of the most important concepts in psychology: classical conditioning. Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, was actually investigating the digestive processes in dogs. 

In his research, Pavlov and his assistants introduced different edible and non-edible items to dogs and then measured saliva production. Salivation occurs automatically as a result of a certain stimulus and is not under conscious control. However, Pavlov noticed that dogs would salivate even in the absence of food and smell, making him realize that dogs were responding to something else. He then realized the dogs started to associate the research assistants’ white lab coats with food, as the technicians usually fed them.

After these informal observations were designed into an experiment, Pavlov discovered that if a neutral stimulus was present in the dog’s environment when the dog received food then that stimulus could become associated with feeding and cause salivation even in the absence of food. Today, this is known as classical conditioning.

Although Pavlov discovered classical conditioning in 1897, his work still inspires research today and has important applications for psychology, including behavioral modification and treatment for phobias, anxiety, and panic disorders. 

Skinner’s Pigeons
Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning or Skinnerian conditioning, is a type of learning that uses rewards or punishments to associate a behavior with a consequence. For example, giving a dog a treat every time he raises the left paw teaches the dog that raising the paw can earn him more treats. In this case, “operant” refers to “controlled by its consequences,” meaning that an association is made between a behavior (i.e., lifting the paw) and a consequence (i.e., receiving a treat) for it (Goldman, 2012). And this is what Skinner discovered in one experiment with pigeons. He found that rewarding a bird for a specific behavior increased the frequency of that behavior (Staddon & Cerutti, 2003). 

We all use operant conditioning in our daily lives, and depending on whether a reward or punishment is added or removed, there are four types of operant conditioning, which are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Here is an  example of each type of operant conditioning:

• Positive reinforcement: You train your dog to grab the newspaper by offering him a treat or a pat on the head whenever he brings the newspaper.
• Negative reinforcement: A professor waives the final exam for any student that came to every class. In this case, students are reinforced to attend class regularly.
• Positive punishment: Your friend drives 30 miles per hour over the speed limit and receives a hefty ticket from a police officer.
• Negative punishment: A young boy does not clean up his toys after playing with some friends, so his parents don’t let him watch TV for two days. 

​Little Albert 
In the Little Albert experiment, John Watson and his graduate student Rosalie Rayner exposed a 9-months old child named “Albert B.” to a variety of stimuli, such as a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks, and burning newspapers. Initially, the little boy showed no fear of the objects the researchers showed him. Then, Watson would slam a metal pipe with a hammer every time the child was exposed to the rat. Repeatedly pairing the loud noise with the white rat, little Albert started to expect a clamor whenever he saw the animal. Soon enough, the child began to burst into tears simply after just seeing the rat. Little Albert would cry and attempt to crawl away at the sight of the rat, even in the absence of noise (Harrison, 1979).

Soon, Watson noticed that Albert developed phobias of objects with similar characteristics to the rat, such as the family dog, a fur coat, cotton wool, and Christmas masks. In the end, Watson and Rayner proved that emotional responses could be conditioned in humans too (Harrison, 1979).

Although this is one of the most famous studies in psychology, it’s also controversial and widely criticized. One ethical concern is the fundamental idea behind the study, conditioning an infant to fear. By today’s research standards, the study wouldn’t be allowed, considering the little boy was harmed during the experiment, as he left the study with a previously nonexistent fear. Also, the researchers did not desensitize Albert after the experiment ended to weaken his association of furry animals with loud noises. This can also be problematic for creating a potentially life-long phobia for the infant.

To learn more about these three widely known experiments, you can watch the short video below.

Video: ​​Behaviorism: Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner

Behavioral Psychology Therapy

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a type of behavioral therapy used for a variety of issues and has numerous benefits for various conditions (Foxx, 2008), including:

• Autism spectrum disorder
• Developmental disabilities
• Substance use disorders
• Marriage counseling

ABA is most commonly used to help children on the autism spectrum to learn skills by rewarding specific behaviors, which encourage children to repeat them. Specifically, reinforced behaviors will increase, while behaviors that are not reinforced will decrease and eventually disappear (Child Mind Institute). But how does ABA work? 

ABA uses methods such as positive reinforcement, shaping (rewarding the child for smaller steps toward a new skill), fading (reducing the child’s dependence on the therapist for help), and prompting (encouraging the child to try a behavior) (Foxx, 2008). One important characteristic of applied behavior analysis is the intensive instructional scheduling, meaning at least five days a week, 25 hours per week, and year-round (Lord & McGee, 2001).

Despite its numerous benefits, ABA has received some criticism too. While the earliest version of ABA therapy used punishments, critics say that the treatment can still be too hard for children, as it is extremely repetitive. Another criticism of ABA is that it’s mainly focusing on eliminating behaviors instead of building skills. Some ABA practitioners agree and argue that the focus should be on what kids should be doing. Lastly, critics argue that ABA tries to make kids with autism fit neurotypical standards, meaning that it tries to make kids act like everyone else.​Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
Pioneered in the 1960s by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic intervention that teaches people how to identify and modify destructive thinking patterns that have a negative impact on behavior and emotions. CBT focuses on challenging cognitive distortions (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes) and associated behaviors to solve current emotional or behavioral problems. Therefore, this type of therapy helps individuals avoid triggers, improve self-control, and develop coping mechanisms for day-to-day stressors.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in treating many disorders (Hofmann et al., 2012), including:

• Stress 
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Substance use disorder
• Eating disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Insomnia
• Panic disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is a therapeutic intervention developed to help people confront their fears. When you are fearful of something, you tend to avoid it. For example, if you are afraid of heights, you might avoid flying or going hiking; or if you are terrified of enclosed spaces, you might avoid taking the elevator or the bus. Although avoiding what you’re afraid of may help you at the moment, in the long term, it can increase your fear, or it can significantly disturb your life. 

Exposure therapy may help break the cycle of fear and avoidance by exposing you to the source of the fear in a safe environment. A therapist might start gradually exposing you to what you fear (for instance, they can show a picture) and then continue with other therapeutic techniques until you overcome the fear and stop avoiding it.

Exposure therapy is used to treat many disorders (Kaczkurkin & Foa, 2015), including:

• Panic disorder
• Phobias
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Social anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder

Articles Related to Behavioral Psychology

Behavioral Psychology Books

Final Thoughts on Behavioral Psychology

Behavioral psychology was the dominant school of psychology in the first part of the 20th century and some of its best-known studies include Pavlov’s conditioning experiments with dogs, Watson’s Little Albert experiment, and Skinner’s pigeon studies of operant conditioning. The results of these studies and others influenced generations of psychologists and how we think about behavior. Although behaviorism is not as popular as it once was, various therapeutic techniques are based on this movement, helping people overcome their problems even today.

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References

• Bryant, L. C., Vincent, R., Shaqlaih, A., & Moss, G. (2013). Behaviorism and behavioral learning theory. In B. J. Irby, G. Brown, R. Lara-Alecio, & S. Jackson (Eds.), The handbook of educational theories (pp. 91–103). IAP Information Age Publishing.
• Cherry, K. (2022, Feb 14). What is behaviorism? Verywellmind. 
• Child Mind Institute. (n.d.). What is applied behavior analysis?
• Foxx, R. M. (2008). Applied behavior analysis treatment of autism: The state of the art. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America, 17(4), 821-834.
• Goldman, J. (2012, Dec 13). What is operant conditioning? And how does it explain driving dogs? Scientific American.
• Harris, B. (1979). Whatever happened to little Albert? American Psychologist, 34(2), 151–160.
• Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012). The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive therapy and research, 36(5), 427-440.
• Kaczkurkin, A. N., & Foa, E. B. (2015). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: an update on the empirical evidence. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 17(3), 337.
• Krapfl, J. E. (2016). Behaviorism and society. The Behavior Analyst, 39(1), 123-129.
• Lachman, R., Lachman, J. L., & Butterfield, E. C. (2015). Cognitive psychology and information processing: An introduction. Psychology Press.
• Logue, A. (2013). The origins of behaviorism. Points of View in the Modern History of Psychology, 141.
• Lord, C., McGee, J. P., & National Research Council. (2001). Committee on educational interventions for children with autism. Educating children with Autism.
• Miller, G. A. (2003). The cognitive revolution: a historical perspective. Trends in cognitive sciences, 7(3), 141-144.
• Moore, J. (2013). Methodological behaviorism from the standpoint of a radical behaviorist. The Behavior Analyst, 36(2), 197-208.
• Richelle, M., Foster, W. S., & Rondal, J. A. (1976). Formal analysis and functional analysis of verbal behavior: Notes on the debate between Chomsky and Skinner. Behaviorism, 4(2), 209-221.
• Serin, H. (2018). A comparison of teacher-centered and student-centered approaches in educational settings. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 5(1), 164-167.
• Staddon, J. E., & Cerutti, D. T. (2003). Operant conditioning. Annual review of psychology, 54(1), 115-144.
• Watson, J. B. (1930). Behaviorism (Rev. ed.). W W Norton & Co.​

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