behaviorism

English

Alternative forms

• behaviourism (British spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁épider.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bider.

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-der.

Proto-Germanic *habjaną

Proto-West Germanic *habbjan

Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan

Old English behabban

Middle English behaven

Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti

Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰéh₁yeti

Proto-Italic *haβēō

Latin habeō

Old French avoirbor.

Middle English havour

Middle English behavoure

English behavior

Proto-Indo-European *-id-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti

Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō

Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)

Proto-Indo-European *-mos

Proto-Indo-European *-mós

Ancient Greek -μός (-mós)

Ancient Greek -ῐσμός (-ĭsmós)der.

English -ism

English behaviorism

From behavior + -ism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈheɪvjəɹˌɪzm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

behaviorism (countable and uncountable, plural behaviorisms) (American spelling)

2. (psychology) An approach focusing on observable behavior which, generally assuming that behavior is determined by the environment and denying any independent significance for mind, largely ignores any pathophysiological processes which may, or may not, underlie subjective, behavioral phenomena.

   Synonym: behavioral psychology

   Hyponym: Skinnerism

   Behaviorism is considered by most philosophers of medicine, to be an expression of the weaker, minimalist interpretation of the 'medical model' of clinical psychology because it focuses the study and classification of mental disorders upon a phenomenological, rather than a pathophysiological, approach to the subject.

4. (uncountable, philosophy) The theory that a mental state is identical to the disposition or tendency to behave in accordance with the physical causes; statements about the mind are reducible to statements of physical behavior.

   Synonyms: logical behaviorism, philosophical behaviorism, analytical behaviorism; see also Thesaurus:logical behaviorism

   Supporters of behaviorism claim that to be "in pain" is nothing more than the tendency to wince, yelp, scream "ouch!" and so on.

   • 1980, Keith Campbell, Body and Mind, Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 61:

     Behaviorism rejects the idea that the mind is a spiritual thing, and rejects it principally because there can never be the public human experience of spirits upon which alone the idea and knowledge of such things could be founded.

   • 2002, John R. Searle, Consciousness and Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 16:

     A traditional objection to behaviorism was that behaviorism could not be right because a system could behave as if it were conscious without actually being conscious.

   • 2020, Joseph C. Schmid, The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy, →ISBN, 4.3.1 The objection from behaviorism:

     Behaviorism provides an avenue for the proponent of scientism to resist the argument from the nature of the mind because it holds that minds solely consist in third-person, objective, public facts about people (namely, their behavior) which are amenable to scientific investigation.

Derived terms

• eliminative behaviorism
• neobehaviorism

Related terms

• see under derived terms: behavior

Translations

approach to psychology focusing on behavior

• Bashkir: бихевиоризм (bexiwiurizm)
• Bulgarian: бихевиори́зъм m (biheviorízăm)
• Catalan: conductisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 行為主義 / 行为主义 (zh) (xíngwéizhǔyì)

• Czech: behaviorismus (cs) m
• Dutch: behaviorisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: kondutismo, behaviorismo
• Estonian: biheiviorism
• Finnish: käyttäytymistiede, behaviorismi (fi)
• French: béhaviorisme (fr) m, comportementalisme (fr) m
• German: Behaviorismus (de) m
• Greek: συμπεριφορισμός (el) m (symperiforismós)
• Greenlandic: behaviorisme
• Hungarian: behaviorizmus (hu)
• Italian: comportamentismo (it) m, behaviorismo m
• Japanese: 行動主義 (こうどうしゅぎ, kōdōshugi)
• Kazakh: бихевиоризм (bıyxevıyorıyzm)
• Korean: 행동주의(行動主義) (haengdongjuui)
• Kyrgyz: бихевиоризм (biheviorizm)
• Latvian: biheviorisms m
• Malay: ketingkahlakuan, behaviorisme
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: behaviorisme m, adferdspsykologi m, atferdspsykologi m

  Nynorsk: behaviorisme m, åtferdspsykologi m

• Polish: behawioryzm (pl) m
• Portuguese: behaviorismo (pt) m, comportamentismo (pt) m
• Romanian: behaviorism (ro) n
• Russian: бихевиори́зм (ru) m (bixeviorízm), бихевиори́стика (ru) f (bixeviorístika)
• Serbo-Croatian: biheviorizam (sh) m, бихевиоризам m
• Spanish: conductismo (es), behaviorismo m
• Swedish: behaviorism (sv)
• Turkish: davranışçılık
• Ukrainian: біхевіори́зм m (bixeviorýzm), бігевіори́зм m (biheviorýzm)
• Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa hành vi (主義行為)

See also

approach to psychology focusing on behavior (sense 1)

• depth psychology

philosophical theory (sense 2)

• functionalism
• materialism
• verificationism

References

Alternative forms

• CED, “behaviorism” ^†; 1st edition, page 132b ^†; 2nd edition, page 138a ^†; 3rd edition, page 141a ^†; 4th edition, page 140a ^†; 5th edition, page 140a ^†; 6th edition, page 149a ^†; 7th edition, page 148c ^†; 9th edition, page 148c ^†; 10th edition, page 151a ^†; 11th edition, page 151a ^†
• Chambers, 8th edition, page 151ab: “behave” → “behaviourism” ^†; 9th edition, page 144b-145a ^†; 9th new edition, page 133b ^†; 10th edition, page 134b ^†; 12th edition, page 138a ^†; 13th edition, page 138a ^†
• COD, 1st reissued edition, page 120b: “behaviorism” ^†; 2nd edition, page 128a ^†
• MWD, “behaviorism” ^†
• NOAD, 1st edition, page 149a: “behaviorism” ^†; 2nd edition, page 148a ^†
• ODE, 1st edition, page 157b: “behaviorism” ^†; 2nd edition, page 148bc ^†; 3rd edition, page 149c ^†

Etymology

• RHD, 1st edition, page 135a: “behaviorism”; 2nd edition, page 188c
• WNWD, 1st edition, page 134b: “behaviorism”; 2nd edition, page 128a; 3rd edition, page 126a; 4th edition, page 131b; 5th edition, page 133a

Sense 2

• BCP (1996), page 168-170: “behaviourism” ^†
• CED, 2nd edition, page 138a: “behaviourism” ^†; 3rd edition, page 141a ^†; 4th edition, page 140a ^†; 5th edition, page 140a ^†; 6th edition, page 149a ^†; 7th edition, page 148c ^†; 9th edition, page 148c ^†; 10th edition, page 151a ^†; 11th edition, page 151a ^†
• EWD, 1st edition, page 164b: “behaviourism” ^†; 2nd edition, page 165c: “behaviorism” ^†
• OCP, 2nd edition, page 83b: “behaviourism” → “Logical behaviourism”
• ODP, 1st edition, page 39b-40a: “behaviourism”; 2nd edition, page 38b-39a; 3rd edition, page 50b-51a

Anagrams

• misbehavior

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English behaviorism, French béhaviorisme.

Noun

behaviorism n (uncountable)

1. behaviorism

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	behaviorism	behaviorismul
genitive-dative	behaviorism	behaviorismului
vocative	behaviorismule