behaviorism part 2

An American psychologist named B. F Skinner wrote many books throughout his career which were widely read. In his work Skinner used mainly operant conditioning, which refers to changes in an organisms behavior that occur as a function of responses being reinforced. In the way of  behaviorism skinner, stated  were  humanistic behavior, psychotherapy and cognitive psychology ().   He identified humanistic behavior as behaviors concerned with love, creativity, self, affection as well as other related topics. Psychotherapy he continues deals with references of the internal causes. Lastly Cognitive psychology which deals with the thought process of an individual all seemed to slow the progress of behaviorism.
Skinner an American psychologist has also been known as the father of modern Behaviorism published his first book in 1938 which was entitled The behavior of organisms. At the time he used the term radical behaviorism. He argued early on in his career that Psychology should be the study of behavior. Similar to Watson he insisted that Overt behavior, which he defined as behavior capable of being observed and covert behavior which interpreted as behavior that occurs, within the skin, he thought that both should be studied.
Skinner also stated that behaviorism was not the science of human behavior, but rather it was the philosophy of that science. (Skinner, 1974 pg 3) Skinner continued to stress the fact that behaviorism should be studied scientifically. An interesting thought Skinner had was that although we have free will to do what we please, we don’t know much about what causes that free will. As I went threw the semester I slowly realized that through transaction the environment influences how we behave. The  term of Determinism comes into affect has He believed that not only was behavior caused but is also determined, there was no such thing as free will. Along the line of transaction about the constant cycle of environment, our nervous system and behavior, I had noticed change within my brothers cat. When he first got it as a kitten, he constantly forgot to feed it so eventually I had to feed him. The interesting thing now is that every morning when I walk outside it follows me until I give it food. I guess I could it has been conditioned to me walking out the door and giving it food.
Well after understanding the concept of behaviorism, the next question is, then how is it studied. As I mentioned earlier Skinner used Operant Conditioning usually. Just like Scientists behaviorists use nonhuman subjects because of obvious reasons.
Most Behaviorists use The scientific method to plan out their experiments. The Method includes 1.Observing phenomenon, 2. Forming an explanation, which is derived from what we know as objective., 3. Asking a Testable question and answering it with imperacable data. Where there after doing the test, collecting data and analyzing it, and lastly Excepting or rejecting the explanation. Skinner also devised a Experimental box similar to Thorndike s puzzle box. The only difference was he used rats and pigeons, and the box provided reinforcers  such as food, water, visual stimulation and sound. The box was connected a cumulative recorder, a mechanism that recorded the number of responses the animals made. He used it to determine and relate a change in behavior.
Skinner adds on by saying the most important part of studying behavior is the consequences it produces which are reinforcement which could be negative or positive. The next important aspect would be punishment which could  have an increase or decrease, as lastly a was extinction, which were all a part of Operant conditioning. (O’Donohue & Ferguson 2001)  Although Cognition was ignored early on in Behaviorism, probably because of the lack of technology, Skinner advanced several arguments regarding the role of cognitions in human behavior and in the science of human behavior. He added on by saying that in today’s there behaviorism that were distinct kind of claims regarding the proper relation between science and cognitions, and claims in the status of cognitions as natural events. Skinner claimed many times that his writings were philosophical. He maintained that the goals of science were description, prediction, and control. He claimed the with an example that a scientist could not inject a belief or thought into a subjects head.  A scientist can make his a subjects think about  something by making them read a book but they can not manipulate them or even certainly they can not inject them with a belief. Another reason Skinner argued against Cognitive explanations was that mentalistic explanations is that they tend to allay curiosity and bring inquiry to a stop. It is easy he said to observe thoughts and feelings at a time and in the place that make them seem like causes , usually because they occur with a certain behavior, so that we are not inclined to inquire further about what actually was the cause of the behavior.
An Example of this is when, we say that a person eats because he or she is hungry, or when someone smokes so they automatically have a smoking habit. We seem to be referring to causes. As Skinner pointed out, it has been objected that one could trace the cause of a person’s  behavior back not to the physical conditions that shape and maintain the behavior but also to the causes of those conditions and causes of those causes. Skinner did say that Cognitive behavior can be studied by physiologist and is a legitimate field of scientific inquiry. However two qualifications need to be made. First, the physiological level of analysis deserves no hegemony: It is no way or “deeper” than the experimental analysis of molar behavior-environment relations. This point needs to be made, because some biological materialists claim that behavior is not really explained until its physiological mechanisms are understood. Secondly, Inquiry at the molar level has significant advantages over the physiological level. He stated the it was not physiologically intrusive. The intact organism can be studied, and numerous side effects of invasive physiological procedures can be avoided. He not only argued that do only do cognitions presents difficulties in their relationship with science but they also present problems to the language community for teaching discriminations, as well as the individual for accurately understanding the nature of the covert behavior.