History of Behaviorism

Descartes was a philosopher who was particularly concerned with the interrelations of "mind" and "body", which came to be known as Cartesian Dualism. This dualism informed much of historical psychological approaches and facilitated the development of ideas that mental life occurred in a different dimension from behavior. Radical behaviorism was the first behavioral theory that rectified this mind-body dualism problem.

Created "Classical conditioning" theories, which is a variant of S-R psychology. Pavlov proposed that behavior informs physiology and neural/cortical structures, and attempted to use behavioral outputs as a way to causally identify these structures. Known for "Pavlov's Dogs" experiments in which he used classical conditioning to pair an unconditioned stimulus (US) with a conditioned stimulus (CR) so that dogs consistently salivated when a bell was rung.

Russell was a philosopher who was very influential in Skinner's philosophy. His work largely inspired radical behaviorism, particularly in the areas of determinism, the role of language, epistemology and pragmatism.

Known for "cat in box" experiment, in which a cat had to engage in a specific behavior (e.g., a lever press) in order to escape a closed box. Created "Law of Effect", which was an influence on Skinner and the development of reinforcement theories. Wrote "The Fundamentals of Learning", and focused primarily on educational psychology rather than S-R or S-O-R approaches, making him unique to his time.

Widely considered to be the "Father of Behaviorism". Focused on methodolgoical behaviorism, in which mental processes and internal events were completely excluded as appropriate topics for study. Known for "Little Albert" experiment in 1920, utilizing classical conditioning to create a fear response in a child. Also known for the "12 Infants" quote where he posited that nurture was the ultimate driver of behavior and development.

Hull's behaviorism focused on quantification, utilizing precise mathematical modeling and equations. Considered that behavior was driven by mental processes. Created "Drive Reduction Theory" where behaviors occur to reduce drives toward certain mental constructs. Variant of S-O-R psychology.

Tolman is known for the concept of a"cognitive map" to describe how rats could navigate mazes after certain avenues had been blocked off. Tolman's behaviorism was considered S-O-R with the organismic variable being the cognitive learning map that the organism acquired through experience, and represents a more cognitive focused approach than other S-O-R psychologists.

Created the concept of "Radical Behaviorism" which followed S-O-R psychology, as well as the concept of operant conditioning. Used the
"operant" as the primary unit of analysis. Held belief that all internal events could be described behaviorally and that these still operated under the behavioral dimension. Rejected mentalism and organismic states as causal forces on behavior.

Lovaas was the developer of Discrete Trial Training (DTT), the Lovaas Method, and Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI). Provided further evidence of environmental selection of behavior via consequences (reinforcement and punishment) on human organisms' ability to learn.

Creator of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which function as alternative functional analysis of complex language, which some refer to as "post Skinnerian". These further radical behaviorism by a unique way to analyze our "self verbal behavior" and other internal events through the behavioral paradigm.