History of Behavioral Psychology

Charles Darwin proposed ideas about evolution and the origin of species by means of natural selection. Darwin was one of the first to look at the human species and evolution of species, which contributed to the idea of studying human behavior (foundation of behaviorism).

E. B. Titchener established a psychology program at Cornell which was labeled "structuralism". Structuralism included reaction times and introspective reports and included these mental events or "elements" that made up how the mind worked. These were the first efforts to study psychology outside of relying on religion and internal processes that were not observed or connected with other sciences.

WIlliam Wundt (1879) German Philosopher who "founded" experimental psychology by establishing the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany 1879. Experimental psychology closely outlined the basis for behaviorism.

Upon the critique of structionalism came functionalism, an approach to psychology that also relied on mental life as subject matter and introspection as the standard method. Functionalism can take many forms but most functionalists were consistent with Darwin's views and believed that psychological processes occurred within and between species.

Psychologists started to study on observation of animal behavior in experimental forms. They studied behaviors such as imitation, delayed response procedures, and multiple choice procedures, laying the framework for behaviorism

Reflexology was a large prominent of what psychology is today with the inclusion of work from Herman von Helmholtz, Ivan Sechenov, Vladimir Bechterev, Ivan Pavlov, and Jacques Loeb. They studies physical and chemical processes related to the study of reflexes that were the basis of behavior.

1911- E. L. Thorndike studied learning and introduced the law of effect where if a positive outcome occurs they will likely reoccur, and if an event is followed with discomfort, it is likely to not occur again. He focused on learning with human subjects.

Study of observable behavior emerged that studied reflexes, animal behavior, and mental processes. This model was the Stimulus-Response reflex model that focused on public events that related to one another.

In 1913, John B. Watson published "psychology as the behaviorist views it" and laid the framework for prediction and control of objective and measurable behavior. There was a focus on empirical behavior and data could then be used to study and predict future behavior across organisms. It is thought that 1913 and the work by John B Watson was the start of a "behavioral revolution"

Woodworth (1929) led the neobehaviorism resolution to introduce the S-O-R model, including the O to incorporate organic or internal processes.

Skinner's first book was the Behavior or Organisms which introduced a systematic approach to stud behavior as the subject matter in its own right. He proposed stimuli and responses were related to each other as members of classes rather than on a one to one basis. Skinner introduced both respondent and operant behavior.

Fred Keller, one of Skinner's students developed a behavioral curriculum at Columbia University based on Skinner's teachings.

From there, The Journal of Experimental Psychology, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and what is now known as the Association of Behavior Analysis international was created.

Cognitive psychology can take many forms but is mainly focused on cognitive orientations and systems , which focuses on the mind and innate functional properties and capabilities. There is less of a focus on the environment and performance as cognitive systems.