Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist / by John B. Watson .
"The past ten years have seen the development of new points of view in psychology--points of view that have grown up partly to meet our ever changing social needs and partly because the very existence of these needs has made a new viewpoint possible. In order to be of help psychology had first...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Ebook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Philadelphia and London :
J.B. Lippincott Co.,
[1924]
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| Edition: | Second edition. |
| Series: | PsycBooks.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | APA PsycBooks |
| Summary: | "The past ten years have seen the development of new points of view in psychology--points of view that have grown up partly to meet our ever changing social needs and partly because the very existence of these needs has made a new viewpoint possible. In order to be of help psychology had first to break the strangle hold philosophy and academic tradition had upon it and to find courage to seek its facts in the daily lives of human beings. One of the most recent and practical of these new viewpoints in psychology is that of the behaviorists. The present volume gives for the first time a systematic presentation of this trend. Behavioristic psychology or behaviorism, as it is sometimes called, contends that the most fruitful starting point for psychology is the study not of our own self but of our neighbor's behavior--in other words it assumes that the student should take the view that the most interesting and helpful method is the study of what other human beings do and why they do it. Only by so doing can we ever hope to understand our own behavior. Behaviorism's primary contention is that if its facts were all at hand the behaviorist would be able to tell after watching an individual perform an act what the situation is that caused his action (prediction), whereas if organized society decreed that the individual or group should act in a definite, specific way the behaviorist could arrange the situation or stimulus which would bring about such action (control). In other words Psychology from the Standpoint of the Behaviorist is concerned with the prediction and control of human action and not with an analysis of 'consciousness'"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved) |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xvii, 448 pages) : illustrations. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |