In psychology, there is a viewpoint called "behaviourism". It has three similar and overarching concepts: First, behaviourism puts a strong emphasis on learning; second, it states that there is no real human nature; third, it sees people as infinitely malleable.
According to Skinner's behaviourism, if a dozen healthy infants are brought up in a single specified world, he will guarantee that any one of them can be trained to become any type of specialist, whether it be doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant, chiefs or even beggar-man or thief. His behaviourism argues that it is true regardless of their ancestors, talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations or race.
Skinner believes that this is an extremely egalitarian point of view, that human nature is a personality that is cultivated, and that the family background of a person does not influence the acquisition and cultivation of skills. Hence, the success of a person can be cultivated by simply using a specific method.
Behaviourism is opposed to mentalism. It argues that internal mental states like desires, goals, emotions and so on, are unscientific. These invisible, vague concepts cannot form the basis of a serious science. Behaviouralists wanted to develop a science that there is nothing that's unobservable. They make mental and the tangible worlds stimulate each other, using notions such as response and reinforcement and adapting to an environment.
Behaviourism does not take into account a person's fundamental building blocks. It believes that there is not much difference between species except for a disparity in associative powers. Behaviourists would say the difference between a human and a rat lies in the fact that humans live in a richer environment than rats. This theory then informs a kind of understanding in which all animals are more or less the same, so studies on humans can be undertaken by studying animals.
There have been backlashes against Skinner's behaviourism in the field of psychology.
发表于 2025-8-5 12:54:24
