Behaviorist Vs Cognitive Approach

In life, humanity is on a journey much like walking through a forest full of trees that requires consistent observation while navigating the path traveled. Remaining on course is a very important part of arriving at the destination of achievement and success. There is no way to have complete certainty of always arriving on time, as all the variables come into the picture of that journey which psychology also does in relation to the mind. The psychodynamic theory in comparison to the cognitive behavior theory is somewhat well viewed in focus of examining the mental process of what one does based upon what one has thought of doing. To consider the contrast of

The basic assumption of the behaviourist approach is that all behaviour is learned through experiences a person has in their environment. From this we know that behaviourists are on the side of nature in the “nature vs. nurture” debate. In comparison bio psychologists will be firmly on the side of nurture.

A huge difference between the two theories is the way they carry out their research. Behaviourism uses animals to gain an insight into human behaviour, whereas Psychodynamic uses human subjects to research into the inner psyche.

Professional competency is the ability to recognize our limitations and correct them. I found myself immediately turning those awkward moments in to moment of theory. I would choose an evidence-based theory such as Cognitive Behavioral or Psychodynamic approach to confine the session’s focus on the member. Even though I consciously was mindful of my redirection, I was still observant of the arousal of emotions I felt inside. The facilitator often used those opportunities to disclose something personal too, which produce conflictual thoughts with in me; I wonder are you disclosing because I did or are you experiencing countertransference too.

Compare the Behaviourist and Psychodynamic approaches to Psychology in terms of theoretical assumptions and methodology.

Psychology is not just philosophical speculation and reasoning over the years it has evolved and it is now also recognised as a science, to understand what psychology is all about it is necessary to know it’s origins and the theorist who brought it out of obscurity, Sigmund Freud. He developed the Psychodynamic or Psychoanalytical perspective to enable better understanding of human behaviour these concepts will be discussed further later in this study. After Freud opened the gateway other perspectives and approaches have been developed, now with five main areas of psychology - Cognitive, Behaviourist, Biopsychology and Humanist approaches. For a comparison with the Psychodynamic theory, Behaviourist Theory will be discussed.

There are a few different approaches to how psychologists view things. These include but are not limited to, the behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive approaches. Each approach treats things differently. These different approaches stem from psychologists who didn’t think each other was right and so they each came up with their own way of viewing things. None of these approaches are wrong, but they just differ from one another. Jake was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but these three approaches have different views on the origins and the treatment of his anxiety.

Similarity: Both belief that current behavior is defined by past experiences. Here, the psychodynamic theories believe that what happened to you in the past has been locked away somewhere in the bottom of your mind, but it is powerful. Behaviorism believes that you act the way you do from past experiences through conditional learning.

Within the business disciplines, we are fortunate to have two major paradigms (schools of thought): rationalist and behavioralist. An ideological/theoretical conflict has existed between the two paradigms for over 50 years. Is human decision behavior more consistent with the rationalist models or behavioralist models? Behavioral finance has grown out of this conflict and will likely result in the resolution of the conflict as time passes.

Behaviorists prefer to study animals because they feel they can be in a more controlled environment. Humanists disagree with this approach because humans and animals are not the same, and they react differently. Humanists believe that humans, not animals, are capable of thought, reason, and language; therefore animals should not be used in studying human behavior and thought (McLeod, 2007). Also, when performing studies, behaviorism uses a scientific approach, whereas humanism does not. The reason humanism uses a non-scientific approach is because it is very difficult to study emotions, feelings, and our consciousness scientifically. Therefore, interviews and other qualitative (individual) methods are used to study behavior (McLeod, 2007).

Behaviorism believes that when we are born, our mind is a sort of blank slate, and over time our experiences and environment influence a persons behavior over time, this is where things such a classical conditioning comes in to play. For example if we receive positive reinforcement for an action, we are statically more likely to repeat that action as we have now associated the behavior with a positive reinforcement, the same would apply to a action that we received a negative reinforce or punishment for, we would then be less likely to repeat that behavior or action because we have now associated it a negative reinforce or punishment.

One key element between both theories is that they both consist of reinforcement and punishment mechanisms in order to explain behavior. For social learning theory, children may be exposed to an aggressive environment, such as in the Bobo doll study, where they see an adult punching or engaging in aggressive behavior. If the adult is reinforced, the child will want to perform the behavior. If the adult is punished, the child will most likely not engage in the behavior. In behaviorism, however, behaviors may be reinforced or punished using operant conditioning, which will be explained later.

The Behaviorist and Cognitive Approaches to Psychology In this essay I am going to explore two of the major approaches to Psychology, Cognitive theories and Behaviorist theories. I will discuss in some detail the two approaches, state how they compare and illustrate the similarities and the differences between them. John Watson, one of the founders of Behaviorism, based his theories on the principles of learning outlined by Pavlov who suggested the theory known as Classical Conditioning; he trained dogs to salivate whenever he rang a bell. Dogs have a natural reflex response to salivate when they see food, Pavlov rang a bell when the dogs were given food and after several repetitions of this

Behaviorism has been credited with providing clear predictions that can be scientifically tested and yield explanations that can be supported by evidence. For instance, in the application of Applied Behavioral Analysis in improving clients’ behaviors, the functions of individuals problematic behaviors can be evaluated and modified using behavior change principles including reinforcement. Similarly, behaviorism emphasizes the objective measurement of behaviors through providing clear and conceptual definitions, and its therapy is applicable to real life situations as in the case of anxiety. Conversely, studies incorporated into behaviorism allow for appropriate comparisons between animals and humans as in the Case of Watson’s, Thorndike’s and Pavlov’s studies respectively.

Behaviorism, cognitive and humanistic are all perspectives (or theories) of psychology. Behaviorism is a perspective that suggests that all behaviors are learned. What I mean by that is according to John B. Watson who founded the school of psychology, suggests the behaviors can be measured, trained, and changed. [ (Cherry, 2012) ] Based on article written by Kendra Cherry, behaviorism is a theory of learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning and there are two major types of conditioning which are Classical conditioning and Operant