PA673 - Traditional Psychology and Radical Behaviorism: The Internal vs. The External

René Descartes

1596

Furthered mechanistic theory, established Mind/Body Dualism, and predicted the reflex arc (Mahoney, 1989)

David Hume

1711

Established thought on causation (Chiesa, 1992).

Charles Darwin

1809

Published "On the Origin of Species" which stressed adaptation and phylogeny which influenced behaviorism's ontological foundations (Mahoney, 1989; Moore, 2008)

Hermann von Helmholtz

1821

Studied physiology and reflexes (Moore, 2008).

Wilhelm Wundt

1832

Established the first experimental psychology laboratory (Moore, 2008). Focused on reaction times and introspection – “physiological psychology” (Moore, 2008).

Ernst Mach

1838

Published Science of Mechanics which influenced Skinner on causation and functional relations (Chiesa, 1992).

William James

1842

A founder of radical empiricism and functionalism (Day, 1983; Moore, 2008; Schneider & Morris, 1987).

G. Stanley Hall

1844

Founded the American Psychological Association (APA; Moore, 2008). Focused on Genetic Psychology (Moore, 2008). Focused on consciousness as subject matter with the use of introspection and questionnaires as the methodologies (Moore, 2008).

Ivan Pavlov

1849

Studied physiology and reflexes related to observable/measurable behavior (Moore, 2008).

Jacques Loeb

1859

A biological scientist who expressed a focus on examining ways to control and predict behavior vs. examining true causes of behavior (Mahoney, 1989). He believed behavior was explained in the brain through mechanical reactions to external stimuli; tropism and mechanism (Moore, 2008).

E. B. Titchener

1867

Followed structuralism – focused on describing consciousness through reaction times and introspection; focused on “mental life” (Moore, 2008).

E. L. Thorndike

1874

Studied the process of learning in animals and humans with a focus on the law of cause and effect (Moore, 2008). Demonstrated that animal behavior could be objectively studied and demonstrated evidence against mentalism (Skinner, 1963).

John B. Watson

1878

Termed “behaviorism” (Schneider & Morris, 1987), was the first to advocate for a science of behavior (Skinner, 1963), and studied stimulus-response (S-R) psychology (Moore, 2008).

Edward C. Tolman

1886

Established stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) Psychology (or purposeful/molar behaviorism; Chiesa, 1992).

B. F. Skinner

1904

Skinner’s radical behaviorism began to dominate psychological literature in the late 1950s (Ruiz, 1995). It incorporated the objective study and distinction of both public and private events (Day, 1983; Moore, 2008; Skinner, 1963).