Behaviorist approach, cognitive approach - psychology of behavior. Humanistic theories of personality

Like John Locke, who viewed the child's mind as a blank slate on which the environment writes its intricate scripts, proponents of the so-called behavioral tradition believe that behavior, its various forms and types, is determined mainly by the influence of the environment. The theory based on this thesis is called behaviorist (from the English behavior - behavior). Its founder is John Watson, famous for his following saying: Give me a dozen healthy, with good mental abilities kids, create a special environment into which I will introduce them - and I guarantee that each of them, after appropriate training, will become a specialist in the field that I choose - a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a manager, and even a beggar, regardless of inclinations, inclinations, abilities, talents, calling and race of himself, his parents and distant ancestors. The problem of development in classical behaviorism is rethought in theory social learning-the most powerful direction of modern American developmental psychology.

How does Watson propose to turn a child into a specialist of his choosing? Only thanks to the appropriate organization of his environment in which the child will acquire the skills of one or another type of activity.

Types of training. According to behaviorist theory, a person is what he has learned to be. This idea gave rise to scientists calling behaviorism a learning theory. Many of the supporters of behaviorism believe that a person learns to behave throughout his life, but they do not, like S. Freud, E. Erikson and J. Piaget, distinguish any special stages, periods, stages. Instead, they define three types of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Classical conditioning - This is the simplest type of learning, during which only involuntary (unconditioned) reflexes in the behavior of children are used. These reflexes in both humans and animals are innate. During training, a child (like a baby animal) reacts purely automatically to some external stimuli, and then learns to react in the same way to stimuli that are somewhat different from the first.

This is how 9-month-old baby Albert was taught to be afraid of a white mouse using classical conditioning, i.e. using only it unconditioned reflexes. Once J. Watson and R. Reiner noticed that Albert was frightened by an unexpected loud sound. When the sound appeared, his body automatically shuddered, he threw up his arms, began to wag his legs, and then a cry was heard (the response to the stimulus was a sharp strong sound). Fright, which automatically turned on the crying mechanism, and other behavioral reactions were not previously learned forms of behavior, but appeared only in response to an unexpected and sharp sound. In the terminology of behaviorism, a loud sound that causes a child's reaction is called an unconditioned stimulus, and the reflex reaction of fear and crying is called an unconditioned response to this stimulus.

Operant conditioning. Imagine the situation: you are a student, and your teacher says that your final grade in a psychology course will depend on whether you can teach a rat to press the latch on the cage door and open it. Where would you start if you decided to accept the teacher's condition? We advise you first of all to get acquainted with the concept of B. Skinner.

B.F. Skinner developed a specific type of learning, which he called operant conditioning. Its essence is that a person controls his behavior, focusing on likely consequences(positive or negative). For example, during an experiment, a scientist taught rats to press a cage latch in the following way: as soon as they pressed it, he gave them food. Thus, Skinner reinforced their reaction.

Reinforcements - This is any stimulus that increases the likelihood of repetition of certain reactions or forms of behavior. It can be positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is one that is pleasant to a person, satisfies some of his needs and promotes the repetition of forms of behavior that deserve encouragement.

Negative reinforcement - such reinforcement that forces you to repeat reactions of rejection, rejection, denial of something. Imagine that you are sitting in the driver's seat of your new car and suddenly you hear a loud, sharp bell that seems very unpleasant to you; but then you start to fasten your seat belt, and immediately the ringing stops. Thus, subsequently, in order not to hear the annoying ringing, you will constantly fasten your belt. According to theory

Skinner, your reaction, a form of behavior (fastening your seat belt) is repeated in order to avoid exposure to an unpleasant stimulus (a loud, sharp sound).

Proponents of behaviorist theory have established that punishment is also a specific means of learning. Punishment is an incentive that forces one to abandon the actions or forms of behavior that caused it. The concepts of punishment and negative reinforcement are often confused, so we advise you to pay attention to the following circumstance. When punishing a person, something unpleasant is offered or imposed, or something pleasant is taken away from him, and as a result, both force him to stop some action or deed. With negative reinforcement, something unpleasant is removed in order to encourage a certain behavior.

Skinner gave positive reinforcement higher value than punishments because of them negative consequences. He believed that positive reinforcement is a more effective means of controlling behavior, and punishment should be avoided in every possible way. Some forms of behavior can be eliminated even if you do not react to them in any way.

The essence of learning through observation (sometimes called modeling, imitation) is that a person copies someone else's patterns (forms, models) of behavior without expecting any reward or punishment for this. For example, if in a clinic a child talked to a kind doctor, or saw or listened on the radio, or watched a program on television about people of the most humane profession, then he may decide to become a doctor when he grows up.

Over the years of childhood, a child accumulates enormous information about various forms behavior, although he may not reproduce them in his behavior. However, if he sees that other children are encouraged for certain things, actions, or behavioral reactions, then, most likely, he will try to copy them. In addition, it is likely that the child will be more willing to imitate those people whom he admires, whom he loves, who mean more in his life than others. Children will never voluntarily copy the behavior patterns of those who are unpleasant to them, who mean nothing to them, or whom they are afraid of.

17. Proponents of behaviorism argue that development:

a) predetermined by congenital characteristics

b) is accomplished under the influence of unknown forces

c) this is the result of the convergence of internal inclinations with external conditions

d) there is the acquisition of new experience

18. Identification of development with learning is the leading idea:

a) psychoanalysis

b) behaviorism

c) biogenetic direction

d) theory of convergence of two factors

19. The behaviorist approach views personality as a result...

a) understanding the consequences of his behavior

b) cognitive interpretation various situations

c) conflicts between subconscious forces and reality

d) interactions between people.

20. Freud dealt with the problem:

A) play activity

b) psychosexual development of children

c) development of the child’s intelligence

d) psychosocial development of the child

21. The subject of psychoanalysis research is:

a) deep feelings and experiences

b) consciousness

c) intelligence

d) behavior

22. Libido in concept 3. Freud is:

a) psychic energy underlying human sexual desires

b) a structural part of the human psyche

V) defense mechanisms

d) sexual complex

23. According to the definition of 3. Freud, in the structure of the psyche “It” is:

a) bearer of an ideal, censor of behavior

b) an intermediary between the “Super-Ego” and the “I”

c) innate part, drives, instincts

d) a product of social influence

24. From the point of view of 3. Freud, the censor of behavior in the structure of the human psyche is:

c) “Super-ego”

d) all of the above

25. The center of E. Erikson’s analysis is:

a) the child’s instinctive drives

b) the child’s relationships with close adults

c) the child’s relationships with peers

d) internal conflicts of the child

26. Infancy task according to E. Erikson:

a) formation of hard work

b) development of initiative

27. Problem to school age according to E. Erickson:

a) formation of hard work

b) development of initiative

c) achieving autonomy, independence and independence

d) formation of basic trust in the world

28. The task of school age from the point of view of E. Erikson:

a) formation of hard work

b) development of initiative

c) achieving autonomy, independence and independence

d) formation of basic trust in the world

29. Problem adolescence from the point of view of E. Erickson:

a) formation of hard work

b) gaining ego identity, awareness of oneself and one’s place in the world

c) achieving intimacy, establishing close and friendly connections

d) development of creativity, productivity

30. One of the concepts in the concept of J. Piaget:

a) ego identity

b) action plan

c) neoplasm

d) libido

31. J. Piaget defines the adaptation of a new situation to old, already existing structures as:

a) exteriorization

b) interiorization

c) accommodation

d) assimilation

32. Assimilation in the theory of J. Piaget is:

a) adapting a new situation to old, already existing structures

b) modification of old schemes in order to adapt to a new situation

c) way of processing information

d) formation internal structures

33. J. Piaget identified three stages of development of intelligence. One of them:

a) visually effective

b) sensorimotor

c) visually figurative

d) verbal-logical

34. The stage of specific operations in the concept of J. Piaget corresponds to age:

a) from 11-12 years and older

b) from 6-7 to 11-12 years

c) from 2 to 11-12 years

a) L.S. Vygotsky

b) D.B. Elkonin

c) S.L. Rubinstein

d) L.I. Bozhovich

36. The concept of “social situation of development” was introduced into science:

a) L. S. Vygotsky

b) D. B. Elkonin

c) S. L. Rubinstein

d) A. N. Leontiev

37. The concept of “leading activity” was introduced into science by:

a) L. S. Vygotsky

b) D. B. Elkonin

c) S. L. Rubinstein

d) A. N. Leontiev

38. The concept of “neoplasm” was introduced into science:

a) L. S. Vygotsky

b) D. B. Elkonin

c) S. L. Rubinstein

d) A. N. Leontiev

39. According to L.S. Vygotsky, mental development is a process of interaction between real and ideal forms. Under ideal forms he understood:

A) highest level development of the human psyche

b) the level of mental development of a particular person and the social environment

c) social environment

d) spiritual and cultural wealth of society

a) cognitive

b) epigenetic

c) cultural and historical

d) active

41. From the point of view of L. S. Vygotsky, a person is a creature:

a) biological

b) social

c) biosocial

d) historical

42. From the point of view of L. S. Vygotsky, the source of development of the psyche:

a) Wednesday

b) heredity

c) training

d) the activity of the individual himself

43. L. S. Vygotsky considered the following conditions for the development of the psyche:

b) morphological features of the brain and communication

c) training

d) makings

44. As driving forces development of the psyche L. S. Vygotsky considered:

b) morphological features of the brain and communication

c) training

d) makings

45. The process of mental development, according to L. S. Vygotsky, occurs in the form:

a) adaptation

b) devices

c) assimilation

d) learning

a) L. S. Vygotsky

b) A. N. Leontiev

c) J. Piaget

d) M. I. Lisina

47. Leading activity as a criterion for selection age stages considered in the works:

a) A. N. Leontyeva

b) D. B. Elkonina

c) L. S. Vygotsky

d) B. G. Ananyeva

48. Activities during which a person is oriented in its main meanings, objectives, motives, norms of relationships:

a) direct emotional communication

b) educational

c) educational and professional

d) object-manipulative

49. Activities during which orientation occurs in the main senses human activity, motives, norms of relationships, this is...

a) communication

b) educational activities

c) object-manipulative

50. Activities during which orientation occurs in socially developed ways of acting with objects:

a) Direct emotional communication

b) educational activities

d) intimate and personal communication

Behaviorism is one of the directions social psychology which considers human behavior as a result of the influence of factors environment. Used in modern psychotherapy to treat obsessive fears(phobias).

The study of the reasons that motivate a person to act in one way or another led to the emergence of a new direction in social psychology - behaviorism. The name of the theory comes from English word behavior, which means behavior.

It is based on the assertion that mental process is not something abstract, and mental phenomena are reduced to the reactions of the body.
In other words, behaviorism in psychology is the science of behavior.

Personality, according to behaviorists, is a set of behavioral reactions. And only that which can be measured objectively has practical value for psychology.

Everything that lies beyond the material: thoughts, feelings, consciousness - perhaps I exist, but cannot be studied and cannot be used to correct human behavior. Only human reactions to the influence of specific stimuli and situations are real.

The main provisions of the theory of behaviorism are based on the “stimulus-response” formula.

A stimulus is any environmental influence on the body or life situation. Reaction - human actions taken to avoid or adapt to a particular stimulus.

The connection between stimulus and response is strengthened if there is reinforcement between them. It can be positive (praise, material reward, getting results), then the person remembers the strategy for achieving the goal and subsequently repeats it in practice. Or it can be negative (criticism, pain, failure, punishment), then this strategy of behavior is rejected and a new, more effective one is sought.

Thus, in behaviorism, a person is considered as an individual who is predisposed to one or another reaction, that is, he is a stable system of certain skills.

You can influence his behavior by changing incentives and reinforcements.

History and tasks

Until the beginning of the 20th century, psychology as a science studied and operated only with subjective concepts such as feelings and emotions, which were not amenable to material analysis. As a result, the data that were obtained by different authors were very different from each other and could not be linked into a single concept.

On this basis, behaviorism arose, which unequivocally swept aside everything subjective and subjected a person to purely mathematical analysis. The founder of this theory was the American psychologist John Watson.

He proposed a scheme that explains human behavior by the interaction of two material components: stimulus and reaction. Because they were objective, they could be easily measured and described.

Watson believed that by studying a person’s reaction to various stimuli, one can easily predict expected behavior, and also, with the help of influences and changes in environmental conditions, form in a person certain qualities, skills, and aptitudes for a profession.

In Russia, the main provisions of behaviorism found theoretical justification in the works of the great Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov, who studied the formation conditioned reflexes in dogs. The scientist's research has proven that by changing the stimulus and reinforcement, it is possible to achieve a certain behavior in an animal.

Watson's work was further developed in the works of another American psychologist and educator, Edward Thorndike. He viewed human behavior as the result of “trial, error, and accidental success.”

Thorndike understood the stimulus as not just a separate environmental influence, but a specific problematic situation which a person must decide.

A continuation of classical behaviorism was neobehaviorism, which added a new component to the “stimulus-response” scheme - an intermediate factor. The idea was that human behavior is shaped not directly by a stimulus, but more the hard way– through goals, intentions, hypotheses. The founder of neobehaviorism was E.T. Tolman.

Approaches

In the 20th century, physics had a great influence on psychology. Like physicists, psychologists sought to use the methods of the natural sciences in their research.

Representatives of behaviorism used 2 methodological approaches in their research:

1. observation in natural environment habitat;
2. observation in a laboratory setting.

Most experiments were carried out on animals, and then the resulting patterns of reactions to various stimuli were transferred to humans.

Experiments with animals were devoid of the main disadvantage of working with people - the presence of emotional and psychological components that interfere with an objective assessment.

In addition, such work was no less limited by ethical frameworks, which made it possible to study responsive behavior to negative stimuli (pain).

Methods

For its purposes, behaviorism uses several natural scientific methods for studying behavior.

The founder of the theory, Watson, resorts to the following methods in his research:

• observation of the experimental subject without the use of instruments;
• active surveillance using instruments;
• testing;
• verbatim recording;
• methods of conditioned reflexes.

Observation of experimental subjects without the use of instruments consisted of a visual assessment of certain responses that arose in the experimental animal when exposed to certain stimuli.

Active observation with the help of devices was carried out using technology that recorded changes in body parameters (heart rate, respiratory movements) under the influence of environmental factors or special stimuli. The following indicators: time to solve assigned problems and reaction speed were also studied.

During testing, it was not the mental qualities of a person that were analyzed, but his behavior, that is, a certain choice of response method was analyzed.

The essence of the verbatim recording method was based on introspection, or self-observation. When one person acted as the tester and the subject. In this case, it was not feelings and emotions that were analyzed, but thoughts that had verbal expression.

The method of conditioned reflexes was based on the classical works of physiologists. At the same time necessary reaction developed in an animal or person through positive or negative reinforcement of a stimulus.

Despite its ambiguity, behaviorism played an important role in the development of psychology as a science. He expanded its scope to include bodily reactions, initiated the development of mathematical methods for studying humans, and became one of the origins of cybernetics.

In modern psychotherapy, there are a number of techniques that, based on it, make it possible to combat obsessive fears(phobias).

Video: Behaviorism

This method (from the English behavior - behavior) consists of studying the behavior of subjects of political processes - individual people and social groups. However, the American sociologists P. Lazarsfeld, T. Lasswell and others who substantiated this method focused attention mainly on the external circumstances of people’s behavior and, in fact, ignored the motives of their political behavior. This is fully consistent with the principles of behaviorism as one of the directions of modern psychology.

The political, legal, economic, moral and other consciousness of people, including subjects of political activity, remained outside the field of view of representatives of, so to speak, political scientific behaviorism, i.e. behaviorist doctrine of political activity. This gave rise to an underestimation of the role of value orientations, goals and, ultimately, the entire subjective side of people's political activity.

This is partly true: in both cases, one of the main methods for collecting data on the political behavior of subjects is the researcher’s observations,” and quantitative methods for analyzing the data obtained, including statistical methods, modeling, etc., are widely used.

However, positivism in general and positivist political sociology in particular, unlike behaviorism, never ignored the consciousness of people, including the motives of their activities and value orientations. On the contrary, it is precisely these factors that positivism assigns a decisive role in the behavior of people and in the developments that emerge in the course of their activities. social processes, including political ones. Therefore, in this case they are the main subject of analysis of the entire political reality. As for the behaviorist method of analyzing political phenomena and processes, it does not contribute to obtaining holistic scientific ideas about them - this is its main drawback.

Representatives of the behavioral school paid their main attention not to political institutions (for example, the state), but to the mechanisms of exercising power. The subject of their analysis was political behavior at the individual and socially aggregated level (in groups, social institutions etc.). Behaviorists have come to the attention of numerous aspects of the political process related to political behavior, such as voting in elections, participation in various other forms political activity, including in unconventional forms (demonstrations, strikes, etc.), leadership, activities of interest groups and political parties and even subjects international relations. By studying these various aspects, they tried to answer the question: why do people behave in certain ways in politics?

At the same time, behavioralism was not free from some shortcomings and controversial issues. Most often, this methodological direction was criticized for the following typical features that D. Easton identifies:

an attempt to distance oneself from political reality and abstract from the “special responsibility” for practical application knowledge, which is imposed by professional science;

the concept of the scientific nature of procedures and methods, which led the researcher away from studying the individual himself, the motives and mechanism of his choice ("internal" behavior) to the study of the conditions that influence actions ("external" behavior of people). This could lead to political science becoming a “subjectless and non-human” discipline in which the study of human intentions and goals occupies a rather modest place;

“the naive assumption that behavioral political science alone is free from ideological premises”; Author Meleshkina E. Title Political process Year of publication, 2005

In addition, among the disadvantages of this approach, it is necessary to note the lack of a systematic view of political processes and ignoring the historical and cultural context.

Noted shortcomings of behavioralism, its inability to provide answers to many questions political life, predict some political events (for example, the events of the 60s) caused a crisis in this area.

behavioral political process

Behaviorist method

This method (from the English behavior) consists of studying the behavior of subjects of political processes - individuals and social groups. However, the American sociologists P. Lazarsfeld, T. Lasswell and others who substantiated this method focused attention mainly on the external circumstances of people’s behavior and, in fact, ignored the motives of their political behavior. This is fully consistent with the principles of behaviorism as one of the directions of modern psychology.

The political, legal, economic, moral and other consciousness of people, including subjects of political activity, remained outside the field of view of representatives of, so to speak, political scientific behaviorism, i.e. behaviorist doctrine of political activity. This gave rise to an underestimation of the role of value orientations, goals and, ultimately, the entire subjective side of people's political activity.

According to some authors, the origins of modern political science behaviorism should be sought in the positivist political sociology of Z.M. Makasheva. Research of management systems - M., Knorus, 2008. This is partly true: in both cases, one of the main methods of collecting data on the political behavior of subjects is the researcher’s observations,” quantitative methods of analyzing the data obtained, including statistical methods, are widely used , modeling, etc.

However, positivism in general and positivist political sociology in particular, unlike behaviorism, never ignored the consciousness of people, including the motives of their activities and value orientations. On the contrary, it is these factors that positivism assigns a decisive role in the behavior of people and in the social processes that develop during their activities, including political ones. Therefore, in this case they are the main subject of analysis of the entire political reality. As for the behavioral method of analyzing political phenomena and processes, it does not contribute to obtaining holistic scientific ideas about them - this is its main drawback.

Representatives of the behavioral school paid their main attention not to political institutions (for example, the state), but to the mechanisms of exercising power. The subject of their analysis was political behavior at the individual and socially aggregated level (in groups, social institutions, etc.). Behaviorists came to the attention of numerous aspects of the political process related to political behavior, such as voting in elections, participation in various other forms of political activity, including non-conventional forms (demonstrations, strikes, etc.), leadership, activity interest groups and political parties and even subjects of international relations. By studying these various aspects, they tried to answer the question: why do people behave in certain ways in politics?

At the same time, behavioralism was not free from some shortcomings and controversial issues. Most often, this methodological direction was criticized for the following typical features that D. Easton identifies:

an attempt to distance oneself from political reality and abstract from the “special responsibility” for the practical application of knowledge that is imposed by professional science;

the concept of the scientific nature of the procedure and methods, which led the researcher away from studying the individual himself, the motives and mechanism of his choice (“internal” behavior) to the study of the conditions that influence actions (“external” behavior of people). This could lead to political science becoming a “subjectless and non-human” discipline in which the study of human intentions and goals occupies a rather modest place;

“the naive assumption that behavioral political science alone is free from ideological premises”;

uncritical acceptance of the “classical” positivist interpretation of nature scientific knowledge, despite the fact that, starting from the 19th century, there were more than once critical statements about this scientific direction and the idea was expressed about the presence of essential features of humanitarian knowledge;

inability to study the value aspects of political relations

an indifferent attitude towards the emerging fragmentation of knowledge, despite the need to use it to solve a complex of social problems.

In addition, among the shortcomings of this approach, it is necessary to note the lack of a systematic view of political processes and ignorance of the historical and cultural context.

The noted shortcomings of behavioralism, its inability to provide answers to many questions of political life, to predict some political events (for example, the events of the 60s) caused a crisis in this direction.