Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual's history, including especially reinforcement and punishment contingencies, together with the individual's current motivational state and controlling stimuli. Although behaviorists generally accept the important role of heredity in determining behavior, deriving from Skinner's two levels of selection (phylogeny and ontogeny), they focus primarily o

learning procedure in which biologically potent stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus

alt=|thumb|300x300px|A toddler imitates his father. Imitation (from Latin imitatio, "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of learning that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. It allows for the transfer of information (behaviors, customs, etc.) between individuals and down generations without the need for genetic inheritance." The word imitation can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to politics. The term generally refers to conscious behavior; subco

learning to anticipate future events on the basis of past experience with the consequences of one's own behavior

right|thumb|upright=1.2|Operant conditioning chamber for reinforcement training

any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways

clinical psychotherapy that uses techniques derived from behaviorism or cognitive psychology, aiming for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable

group of neural structures responsible for positive emotions

science in which techniques derived from behaviorism are systematically applied to improve socially significant behaviors

form of cognitive behavioral therapy

form of psychological treatment

laboratory apparatus used to study animal behavior

approach to human geography that examines human behavior using a disaggregate approach

thumb|470x470px|Neurofeedback training process diagram

psychological philosophy that considers mental life and behaviour in terms of active adaptation to the person's environment

Sensitization is a nonspecific phenomenon whereby repeated exposure to a stimulus results in the progressive enhancement of a response. The concept has been studied using the reflexes of animals such as Aplysia to better understand the underlying neural mechanisms. Research on sensitization includes a range of phenomena including drug sensitization and cross-sensitization, where a response is enhanced for a whole class of stimuli in addition to the original repeated stimulus. It has also been implicated in the pathologies of various health disorders.

type of behaviour therapy

diminished emotional responsiveness to a negative, aversive or positive stimulus after repeated exposure to it

improvement in individual performance when working with other people rather than alone

facet of operant conditioning; change in a human or animal's surroundings that occurs after a given behavior or response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future

behavioral paradigm in which organisms learn to predict aversive events

social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral skills needed for successful social adaptation

treatment approach using behavioral conditioning

observation of a subject in its natural habitat without any manipulation by the observer

book by B. F. Skinner

therapy designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder

biological process

contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior

behavior management system used to understand what maintains an individual's challenging behavior

clinical psychotherapy that uses a "radical behaviorist" position

form of exposure therapy

psychological paradigm for behavior analysis

philosophy of behaviorism founded by B.F. Skinner

theory of reinforcement learning

intervention developed by Sheila Eyberg

sequence of expected behaviors

book by B.F. Skinner

analysis of how a task is accomplished

Equipotentiality refers to a psychological theory in both neuropsychology and behaviorism. Karl Spencer Lashley defined equipotentiality as "The apparent capacity of any intact part of a functional brain to carry out… the [memory] functions which are lost by the destruction of [other parts]". In other words, the brain can co-opt other areas to take over the role of the damaged part. Equipotentiality is subject to the other term Lashley coined, the law of mass action. The law of mass action says that the efficiency of any complex function of the brain is reduced proportionately to how much dama

research method

person who attends social gatherings but does not participate, especially due to shyness

theory in the philosophy of mind

in psychology, the application of the laws of operant and respondent conditioning to establish the relationships between stimuli and responses

form of habituation therapy