Behaviorism (from English behavior - behavior) is a pragmatic approach to the study of organizational and economic behavior of people, focusing on external forms behavior and his constituent elements- actions, reactions, etc.

The method arose from direct observation of the behavior of animals and was transferred to the study of humans," (manager, leader, activist). Its general methodological prerequisites were the principles of the philosophy of positivism, according to which science should describe only what is directly observed. Hence the main thesis: behaviorism-psychology (or social Psychology) should study behavior, not consciousness, which is not observable in principle. In this case, behavior is understood as a set of “stimulus-response” connections (S ? R).

The founder of behaviorism is E. Thorndike. The behaviorist program and the term itself were first proposed by Watson (1913). scientific foundations behaviorism was influenced by the work of Bekhterev and Pavlov. By the middle of the 20th century. the basic ideas of behaviorism, research methods and terms were transferred to anthropology, sociology, pedagogy, political science, and the theory of program learning (Skinner). A successful, effective reaction continues to have a tendency to reproduce itself in similar conditions. In the USA, all sciences involved in the study of behavior are called behaviorist.

The turn to objective study carried out by behaviorism, new experimental techniques, widespread involvement mathematical tools made up strong point behaviorism. At the same time, its limitations are also obvious, since consciousness, thinking, will, and the social nature of the psyche are completely ignored, and hence the primitivization of human behavior.

In the formula discussed above “S ? R”, ​​S - was interpreted as a sum of stimuli or even more broadly - as a “situation”, “environment” leading to one or another type of behavior, “reaction”.

The interest of researchers is focused on identifying the factors that shape positions (middle link “A”) in a specific social (industrial) setting. Then this link was replaced in the formula by the broader concept of “personality” - P, which included “ past experience person", traditions, "cultural complex", group values, attitudes, i.e. social factors, influencing “positions”, formula S ? R? R or S? R? A? R corresponds to the idea of ​​the mechanism human behavior adopted by behaviorism. The whole question here is how to understand the categories “environment”, “personality”, “reactions”, etc. And ultimately, the correct conclusion that behavior is not directly dependent on the incentives offered by management often comes down to exaggeration psychological mechanisms behavior.

According to N. Mayer, W. Scott, D. McGregor and others, the immediate motive of M’s behavior as a certain factor is created by the collision of physiological, psychophysiological needs (for survival, safety, etc.) with their satisfaction. This motive pushes into the background the element of consciousness as part of the links P and A (positions); and the motive itself loses its specific historical definition: its very content and the influence of the real social environment are ignored. “That is, behaviorism does not search for causal factors of behavior, but only records the discovered empirical connections between certain “stimuli” and “reactions” of workers in a production environment, selecting in these connections the most “working” ones, quickly translated into practical suggestions and recommendations.

More on topic 4.4. Behaviorist approach:

1. AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY OF RETURN AND RISK: A BEHAVIORIST CONCEPT OF FINANCE
2. M.A. Ivanov, D.M. Shusterman ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS AN APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING THE EMERGENCE OF THE OD APPROACH
3. Modern menu: American, French and Spanish approaches to pricing American approach
4. 5.4. PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO REAL ESTATE VALUATION 5.4.1. Cost-based approach to real estate valuation

Like John Locke, who viewed the child's mind as a blank slate on which the environment writes its intricate scripts, proponents of the so-called behavioral tradition believe that behavior, its various forms and types, is determined mainly by the influence of the environment. The theory based on this thesis is called behaviorist (from the English behavior - behavior). Its founder is John Watson, famous for his following saying: Give me a dozen healthy, with good mental abilities kids, create a special environment into which I will introduce them - and I guarantee that each of them, after appropriate training, will become a specialist in the field that I choose - a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a manager, and even a beggar, regardless of inclinations, inclinations, abilities, talents, calling and race of himself, his parents and distant ancestors. The problem of development in classical behaviorism is rethought in the theory of social learning, the most powerful direction of modern American developmental psychology.

How does Watson propose to turn a child into a specialist of his choosing? Only thanks to the appropriate organization of his environment in which the child will acquire the skills of one or another type of activity.

Types of training. According to behaviorist theory, a person is what he has learned to be. This idea gave rise to scientists calling behaviorism a learning theory. Many of the supporters of behaviorism believe that a person learns to behave throughout his life, but they do not, like S. Freud, E. Erikson and J. Piaget, distinguish any special stages, periods, stages. Instead, they define three types of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Classical conditioning - This simplest type learning, in the process of which only involuntary (unconditioned) reflexes in the behavior of children are used. These reflexes in both humans and animals are innate. During training, a child (like a baby animal) reacts purely automatically to some external stimuli, and then learns to react in the same way to stimuli that are somewhat different from the first.

This is how 9-month-old baby Albert was taught to be afraid of a white mouse using classical conditioning, i.e. using only it without conditioned reflexes. Once J. Watson and R. Reiner noticed that Albert was frightened by an unexpected loud sound. When the sound appeared, his body automatically shuddered, he threw up his arms, began to kick his legs, and then a cry was heard (the response to the stimulus was a sharp strong sound). Fright, which automatically turned on the crying mechanism, and other behavioral reactions were not previously learned forms of behavior, but appeared only in response to an unexpected and sharp sound. In the terminology of behaviorism, loud noise, which caused the child’s reaction, is called an unconditioned stimulus, and the reflex reaction of fear and crying is called an unconditioned response to this stimulus.

Operant conditioning. Imagine the situation: you are a student, and your teacher says that your final grade in a psychology course will depend on whether you can teach a rat to press the latch on the cage door and open it. Where would you start if you decided to accept the teacher's condition? We advise you first of all to get acquainted with the concept of B. Skinner.

B.F. Skinner developed a specific type of training, which he called operant conditioning. Its essence is that a person controls his behavior, focusing on the likely consequences (positive or negative). For example, during the experiment, the scientist taught rats to press the latch of the cage in the following way: As soon as they pressed it, he gave them food. Thus, Skinner reinforced their reaction.

Reinforcements - This is any stimulus that increases the likelihood of repetition of certain reactions or forms of behavior. It can be positive and negative. Reinforcement is positive pleasing to a person, satisfying some of his needs and facilitating the repetition of forms of behavior that deserve encouragement.

Negative reinforcement - such reinforcement that forces you to repeat reactions of rejection, rejection, denial of something. Imagine that you are sitting in the driver's seat of your new car and suddenly you hear a loud, sharp bell that seems very unpleasant to you; but then you start to fasten your seat belt, and immediately the ringing stops. Thus, subsequently, in order not to hear the annoying ringing, you will constantly fasten your belt. According to theory

Skinner, your reaction, a form of behavior (fastening your seat belt) is repeated in order to avoid exposure to an unpleasant stimulus (a loud, sharp sound).

Proponents of behaviorist theory have established that punishment is also a specific means of learning. Punishment is an incentive that forces one to abandon the actions or forms of behavior that caused it. The concepts of punishment and negative reinforcement are often confused, so we advise you to pay attention to the following circumstance. When punishing a person, something unpleasant is offered or imposed, or something pleasant is taken away from him, and as a result, both force him to stop some action or deed. With negative reinforcement, something unpleasant is removed in order to encourage a certain behavior.

Skinner gave positive reinforcement higher value than punishments because of them negative consequences. He believed that positive reinforcement is a more effective means of controlling behavior, and punishment should be avoided in every possible way. Some forms of behavior can be eliminated even if you do not react to them in any way.

The essence of learning through observation (sometimes called modeling, imitation) is that a person copies someone else's patterns (forms, patterns) of behavior without expecting any reward or punishment for it. For example, if in a clinic a child interacted with good doctor or saw or listened on the radio, watched a program on television about people of the most humane profession, then he may decide to become a doctor when he grows up.

Over the years of childhood, a child accumulates enormous information about various forms behavior, although he may not reproduce them in his behavior. However, if he sees that other children are encouraged for certain deeds, actions, or behavioral reactions, then, most likely, he will try to copy them. In addition, it is likely that the child will be more willing to imitate those people whom he admires, whom he loves, who mean more in his life than others. Children will never voluntarily copy the behavior patterns of those who are unpleasant to them, who mean nothing to them, or whom they are afraid of.

The criticism of functionalism, as we have seen, laid the foundation for the development of behaviorism, a direction that has prevailed in American psychology until the present day. Its founder, J.B. Watson, declared in 1913 that psychology would only qualify as a science once it had developed an objective approach to the phenomena under study.

Like a chemist who studies the melting of a metal and is interested only in the change in its state at a given temperature, the psychologist must limit himself to describing and quantifying the forms of behavior that arise in a given situation.

The S-R scheme proposed by Watson means that each situation (or stimulus-S) corresponds to a certain behavior (or reaction-R).

Behaviorists believed that with the help of this scheme any human activity can be explained, and all concepts related to consciousness should be expelled from the sphere scientific psychology, in their opinion, for example, the expressions “this child is afraid of a dog” or “I am in love with this woman” in scientifically don't mean anything. According to behaviorists, the subject's awareness of such phenomena is too subjective and completely useless for the researcher. On the contrary, objective descriptions (“the child’s tears and trembling intensify when the dog approaches him and weaken when the dog moves away,” or “when I meet this woman, my heart beats faster and my pupils dilate”) make it possible to quantify these forms behavior and “measure” the feeling of fear or the degree of enthusiasm.

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A few years earlier, the Russian physiologist I. P. Pavlov and his group, while studying data obtained from studying the behavior of animals in the laboratory, very soon encountered a number of difficulties associated with the artificial conditions in which experiments were carried out. Thus, the claims of behaviorists that all behavior is entirely determined by learning have been questioned by ethologists, conducting field research in nature. Ethologists, as we saw in the previous chapter, have elucidated the innate basis of most forms of behavior observed in various animals.

Relatively recently emerged sociobiology even goes so far as to assert that at the basis of all forms social behavior human beings are based on innate structures inherent to him just like all other representatives of the animal world. Thus, our lifestyle, which we believe we ourselves have created, is in fact largely determined by our genes.

Although these new data expanded existing knowledge about human behavior, they were questioned, sometimes fundamentally, by representatives of scientific psychology.

Psychophysiology. Understanding the functions of the billions of cells that make up our nervous system, it's just beginning. However, thanks to the creation of increasingly complex instruments, it is already possible to identify numerous connections between nerve structures and the behavior of individuals.

By studying the effects that occur when irritated with implanted electrodes or when various parts of the brain are damaged, it was possible to find out, for example, vital role“primitive” brain structures that are found in all animals and humans and serve as centers for processes such as emotions, instincts or sleep. These methods have also shed light on the mechanisms of vision, hearing, and even some forms of memory. Increasingly in-depth study of the mechanisms of action of hormones, chemical transmitters (mediators) and many medicines made it possible to better understand what causes the effect of some stimulants and how one can facilitate or, conversely, block the transmission of information in the nervous system.

Rice. 2.12. Austrian scientist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989) is one of the founders of modern ethology. His work on imprinting in geese is widely known (see Chapter 1), as is his book Aggression, in which he puts forward the idea that “normal” human aggressiveness is distorted by the creation of sophisticated weapons, and this leads to risk self-destruction of humanity.

Rice. 2.13. Jane Goodall's observations of chimpanzees in the forest showed that kissing was as common among them as among humans, and served as an expression of sympathy or greeting.

Ethology. Ethology and animal psychology try to understand how the innate mechanisms that guide the emergence and development of behavior are complemented by the influence of the environment with which they interact.

According to the views of this school, only by increasingly deepening our knowledge of lower organisms can we better understand the basis of behavior and its evolution in the animal kingdom. For example, Lorenz's work on the mechanism of imprinting or the study of the development of singing in the finch will help us learn a lot about the origin of social behavior or the exchange of information in higher organisms.

Moreover, evolutionary theory teaches us that humans are ultimately just one species of the primate order, which is simply further advanced in its evolution than the others. Over the past two decades, the number of studies in one of the branches of ethology has increased: we're talking about about human ethology, the purpose of which is to illuminate the biological foundations human nature(see Fig. 2.13). One way to achieve this goal is to systematically collect data on ways of expressing emotions, feelings and various social interactions among representatives of different cultures. Does this apply to such elementary forms behavior such as smiling or frowning, kissing or threatening

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shaking fist, roles social structures in relations between parents and children or a hierarchical organization in a group of individuals, human ethology asserts that in all cases there are certain “universal” manifestations characteristic of all representatives of the species Homo sapiens. Consequently, man, like all animals, is programmed, and the skills that he acquires during his life can only be realized within the limits of the program embedded in him.

Sociobiology. This is a new direction that became popular in the United States after the publication of Wilson’s book in 1975 (E. Wilson). In its ideas about human nature, it goes much further than ethology. Sociobiology is defined as “the science that systematically studies the biological basis of all forms of social behavior.” It attempts to synthesize data collected by ecology, ethology and evolutionary theory, enriched by advances genetics. Sociobiology claims that living beings constantly compete with each other, trying to ensure best chance for the successful transmission of their genes to their offspring, i.e. carriers of hereditary characteristics. In other words, all forms of social behavior characteristic of various types and especially to humans, exist only insofar as they ensure the transmission to subsequent generations of as many genes as possible, based on purely “selfish” principles. Thus, whether we are talking about the desire for power or about altruistic behavior, O xenophobia or about homosexuality, about attitudes towards religion or about morality - all these aspects human activity appear only to give the individual the opportunity to pass on his genetic material. In this case, the organism is simply a kind of machine that ensures the preservation of genes, and different shapes his behavior is just strategies for the most active distribution of these genes.

Having numerous supporters, the sociobiological approach at the same time encounters serious objections. Some critics highlight a number of aspects of this theory that they consider simplistic and even absurd; Proponents of sociobiology counter such remarks by pointing out that similar reproaches have already been made to Darwin, and yet!... The strongest attacks come from the justification of social injustice, which such a theory seems to “inscribe” into the natural order of things. Other critics have criticized sociobiology for its concepts of sexism and elitism (see paper 2.9).

Will this trend ultimately turn out to be just a tribute to fashion, or will it gain recognition under the pressure of factual material collected by its creators? In any case, its undoubted merit is that it caused controversy about biological basis social nature person.

What is psychology? 73

Behaviorist approach (behaviorism)

The founders of behaviorism were John Brodes Watson (1878-1958) and Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) - the latter prepared behaviorism ideologically, in his experiments on animals using the “problem box” - a box with labyrinths. American psychologist Watson in 1913 introduced the term behaviorism into science, which in the transl. from English means behavior. He stated that only human behavior in a given situation can be studied objectively. Each situation corresponds to a certain behavior that should be objectively recorded. “Psychology is the science of behavior,” and all concepts related to consciousness, he believed, should be expelled from scientific psychology. “The expression “a child is afraid of a dog” does not mean anything for science; objective descriptions are needed: “the child’s tears and trembling intensify when a dog approaches him.” New forms of behavior appear as a result of the formation of conditioned reflexes (conditioning) (Watson). All behavior is determined by its consequences (Skinner). Human actions are formed under the influence of the social environment, a person is completely dependent on it. A person is also inclined to imitate the behavior of other people, taking into account how favorable the results of such imitation may be for himself (Bandura).

Behavior in behaviorism was considered as a system of reactions to external influence, to external stimuli. It was described by the Stimulus-Response (S-R) formula. It was studied mainly on animals (cats, rats, monkeys, pigeons), but behaviorists extended the conclusions to humans.

Internal motives and personal factors influencing behavior - complex processes consciousness, creativity to the development of reactions, character - was not taken into account by behaviorists, and this was main drawback behaviorism.

And the man was looked at as a big white rat who runs in the labyrinth of life, where chance reigns. Watson believed that behavior depends only on upbringing, and heredity does not play a role. And this makes it similar to Marxism-Leninism, which denies the genetic factor in behavior.

The important merits of behaviorism are: the introduction objective methods registration and analysis of externally observable reactions, human actions, processes, events; discovery of patterns of learning, formation of skills, behavioral reactions.

R. Dal wrote that conflicting interpretations have accompanied the behavioral approach from the very beginning. The honor of introducing the term “political behavior” belongs to the American journalist Frank Kent, who in 1928 published a book entitled “Political Behavior”. According to Kent, the study of political behavior signifies the "cynical realism" of newspapermen. Herbert Tingstein coined the term “political behavior” for political science by publishing the work “Political Behavior. Studies in Election Statistics” in 1937, which was devoted to elections in Europe (Dahl R.A. The Behavioral Approach in Political Science // Contemporary Political Thought. - N.Y., 1969. - P. 119-120).

After the Second World War, the so-called “behavioral revolution” took place. New ideas about political processes, thanks to the works of S.M. Lipset's "Political Man", S. Verby and G. Almond " Civic culture", A. Campbell "The American Voter".

The main methodological setting of the behavioral approach is the desire to derive the structure of power relations from human nature, accessible to research using scientific methods. The behavioral approach, as an attempt to address the analysis of political behavior, has its roots in the 20-30s of the twentieth century. The empirical direction in political science, as we noted above, was developed at the University of Chicago in the USA. This direction paved the way for the emergence of the behavioral approach after the Second World War.

The behavioral approach is based on two main principles of neopositivism: verification and operationalism.

• 1. The principle of verification means that only those data that can be obtained or verified through observation or quantitative measurement have scientific value. Behavioralists believe that such data can be obtained from the study of behavior social groups and individuals. It is necessary to take into account individual psychological motives and people’s emotions. They have no real theoretical significance. theoretical research, but empirical facts.
• 2. The principle of operationalism means that any knowledge is a set of “instrumental operations” that serve as a means of processing, obtaining, and measuring data. Attention must be focused on research procedures. A political scientist is a collector of facts; his main research tools are sociological methods.

Behavioralists emphasize that in analysis political phenomena the use of methods from other sciences is permissible and necessary. They note the existence of patterns in politics, moments of repetition that can be generalized.

Thus, political science, as understood by behavioralists, is exact science, based on strict methods research. The behavioral approach focuses on how a person acts politically and what meaning he attaches to his behavior. Behavior is primary.

A striking example of the behavioral approach is the study of behavior during elections (voting behavior) - the work of P. Lazarsfeld and B. Berelson “The People Choice”, which analyzed the 1940 presidential elections in the United States. Another example is the work “The American Voiter” by A. Campbell, F. Converse, D. Stokes (1956). A number of similar studies have significantly deepened the understanding of democracy and described the most characteristic behavior citizens in a democratic state.

The results of empirical studies of the 40-60s showed that the participation of the majority of citizens in political life is the exception rather than the rule. Political participation depends on education and income level. The average citizen is generally poorly informed about political issues. A very small percentage of citizens participate in politics other than as voters. Election results depend on factors such as group loyalty and party identification.

In the late 60s and early 70s, the monopoly of behaviorists in political science staggered. Not only the strength, but also the weakness of empirical research was revealed. Political scientists saw the vulnerability of the behavioral approach in its focus on describing society rather than changing it. During this period, the civil rights movement unfolded in the United States and the Vietnam War was underway. However, the existing methodology did not allow us to evaluate these phenomena. Political science turned out to be outside of politics (Gan D. Political science in US universities // Soviet state and right. - 1988. - No. 9. - P. 121).

In the early 70s, D. Easton announced the post-behavioral revolution. He believes that it is more important to understand the meaning of current social problems rather than mastering research techniques perfectly. Excessive enthusiasm for the study of behavior leads to a loss of connection with reality. Political science must serve the real needs of man in times of crisis. The exploration and constructive development of values ​​is integral part studying politics. Political scientists are responsible to society, and their role, like that of all intelligentsia, is to protect human values(Easton D. New revolution in political science // Socio-political journal. - 1993. - No. 8. - pp. 115-129).

Thus, Easton raised the question of macro-analysis of politics. This led to the emergence of systemic and structural-functional approaches in political science.

The classical behaviorist approach is one of the main directions in psychology, the method of which is the observation and experimental study of the body's reactions to external stimuli for further mathematical substantiation of the relationship between these variables. The development of behaviorism became a prerequisite for the formation of an accurate transition from speculative conclusions to mathematically based ones. The article describes: the behaviorist approach to the study of personality, the history of the development of this direction and its significance in modern life society. The latter is presented using the example of the use of behavioral principles in the development of political science.

Behaviorist approach in psychology

Behaviorism in psychology arose on the basis of the methodology of the philosophy of positivism, which considers the study of the directly observable. Hence, the subject of the study of psychology should be human behavior, which really exists, and not consciousness or the subconscious, which cannot be observed.

The term "behaviourism" comes from the English behavior and means "behavior". Thus, the purpose of studying this direction in psychology is behavior - its prerequisites, formation and the ability to control it. Human actions and reactions are the units of study of behaviorism, and behavior itself is based on well-known formula"stimulus-response"

The behaviorist approach to personality has become a body of knowledge that is based on experimental studies animal behavior. Adherents of this direction in psychology have created their own methodological base, goal, subject, methods of study, as well as methods for correcting behavior. Some of the theses of behaviorism have become the basis for other sciences, the purpose of which is to study the actions of people. But a particularly large contribution has been made in the theory and practice of teaching and raising children.

Representatives of behaviorism in psychology

A long history of development and improvement of its scientific methods research and therapy has a behaviorist approach. Its representatives began by studying the elementary principles of animal behavior and came to the system practical application this knowledge on humans.

The founder of classical behaviorism, D. Watson, was an adherent of the opinion that only what can be observed is real. He attached importance to the study of 4 acts of human behavior:

• visible reactions;
• hidden reactions (thinking);
• hereditary, natural reactions (for example, yawning);
• hidden natural reactions ( internal processes vital activity of the body).

He was convinced that the strength of the reaction depends on the strength of the stimulus, and he proposed the formula S = R.

Watson's follower E. Thorndike developed the theory further and formulated the following basic laws of human behavior:

• exercises - the relationship between conditions and reactions to them depending on the number of reproductions;
• readiness - carrying out nerve impulses depends on the individual’s internal readiness for this;
• associative shift - if an individual reacts to one of many stimuli, then the remaining ones will subsequently cause a similar reaction;
• effect - if the action brings with it pleasure, then this behavior will occur more often.

Experimental confirmation theoretical foundations This theory belongs to the Russian scientist I. Pavlov. It was he who experimentally proved that conditioned reflexes can be formed in animals if certain stimuli are used. Many people know his experiment with the formation of conditioned reaction to light in the form of salivation without reinforcement in the form of food.

In the 1960s, the development of behaviorism expanded. If previously it was considered as a set of individual reactions to stimuli, then from now on the introduction of other variables into this scheme begins. So, E. Tolman, the author of cognitive behaviorism, called this intermediate mechanism cognitive representation. In his experiments with mice, he showed that animals find a way out of the maze on the way to food different ways, following a previously unfamiliar route. Thus, he demonstrated that the goal for the animal is more important than the mechanisms for achieving it.

Principles of behaviorism in psychology

If we summarize the conclusions reached by representatives of classical behaviorism, we can highlight several principles of this approach:

• behavior is an individual's response to stimuli external environment with the help of which he adapts (the reaction can be both external and internal);
• personality is the experience acquired by a person in the process of life, a set of behavior patterns;
• human behavior shapes social environment, not internal processes.

These principles are thesis statements classical approach, which were further developed and disputed by followers and critics.

Types of conditioning

Human development occurs through learning - assimilation of experience of interaction with outside world. These are both mechanical skills and social development, and emotional. Based on this experience, human behavior is formed. The behaviorist approach examines several types of learning, the most famous of which are operant and classical conditioning.

Operant involves the gradual assimilation by a person of experience in which any of his actions will entail a certain reaction. Thus, the child learns that throwing toys around can make parents angry.

Classical conditioning tells the individual that one event is followed by the next. For example, upon seeing the mother's breast, the child understands that this act will be followed by the taste of milk. This is the formation of an association, the elements of which are one stimulus followed by another.

Stimulus-response relationship

The idea, theoretically proposed by Watson and practically substantiated by Pavlov, that the stimulus equal to reaction(S - R) was aimed at him from ridding psychology of “unscientific” ideas about the existence of a “spiritual, invisible” principle in man. Research conducted on animals extended to mental life person.

But the development of this theory also changed the “stimulus-response” scheme. Thus, Thorndike noted that the expectation of reinforcement strengthens the connection between stimulus and response. Based on this, a person carries out an action if he expects a positive result or avoids negative consequences(positive and negative reinforcement).

E. Tolman also considered this scheme to be simplified and proposed his own: S - I - R, where between the stimulus and the reaction there are individual physiological characteristics the individual, his personal experience, heredity.

Learning from a Behaviorist Perspective

Behaviorism became the basis for the development of the behavioral approach in psychology. Although these directions are often identified, there is still a significant difference between them. The behaviorist approach considers personality as the result of learning, as a set of externally presented reactions, on the basis of which behavior is formed. Thus, in behaviorism, only those actions that manifest themselves externally have meaning. wider. It includes the principles of classical behaviorism, cognitive, etc., and are subject to research internal actions organism (thoughts, feelings, roles) that are created by the individual and for which he is responsible.

The behaviorist approach has received many modifications, among which the most common are those by A. Bandura and D. Rotter. Scientists have expanded our understanding of human behavior. They believed that the actions of an individual are determined not only external factors, but also internal predisposition.

A. Bandura noted that readiness, faith, expectations - as internal determinants - interact with reward and punishment, external factors in equally. He was also confident that a person is capable of independently changing his behavior under the influence of the attitude of the surrounding world towards him. But the main thing is that personality can shape new plan actions by simply observing the behavior of other people, even without their direct influence. According to the researcher, a person has unique ability to self-regulation of one's behavior.

J. Rotter, developing this theory, proposed a system for predicting human behavior. According to the scientist, a person will act based on 4 conditions: behavioral potential (the degree of probability of behavior in response to some stimulus), expectation (the subject’s assessment of the likelihood of reinforcement in response to his behavior), reinforcement value (assessment of the personal significance of the reaction to actions) and psychological situation(the external environment in which the action can occur). Thus, the potential of behavior depends on the combination of these three factors.

From here social learning- skills and behavior patterns in social world, which is determined both by external factors and by the internal predisposition of the individual.

Behavioral approach in political science

To replace the usual legal method In political science, which studied legal and political institutions, behaviorism came in the 50s. Its purpose was to study the nature of the political behavior of people as citizens and political groups. This method made it possible to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze political processes.

The behaviorist approach in political science is used to study the behavior of an individual as part of the political system and the incentives that motivate him to action - motives, interests. Thanks to him, such concepts as “personality”, “attitude”, “beliefs”, “public opinion”, “behavior of the electorate” began to be heard in political science.

Main points

1. The focus should shift from political institutions on the behavior of the individual within the life of the state.
2. Basic credo: Political science must also study what is directly observable using rigorous empirical methods.
3. The dominant motive for participation in political activity is based on psychological orientation.
4. The study of political life should strive to reveal the cause-and-effect relationships that exist in society.

Representatives of behaviorism in political science

The founders of the behavioral approach to politics are C. Merriam, G. Gosnell, G. Lasswell. They came to the conclusion that political science needed methods of "rational" control and social planning. Using Thurstone's idea about the connection between human behavior and his attitudes, scientists adapted it to political science and made it possible to move from analysis state institutions as the main object of research to the analysis of power, political behavior, public opinion and elections.

This idea was continued in the works of P. Lazersfeld, B. Barelson, A. Campbell, D. Stokes and others. They analyzed the election process in America, summarized the behavior of people in a democratic society and came to several conclusions:

• participation of the majority of citizens in elections is the exception rather than the rule;
• political interest depends on a person's level of education and income;
• the average citizen, as a rule, is poorly informed about the political life of society;
• election results largely depend on group loyalty;
• should be developed to benefit real human problems in times of crisis.

Thus, the development of the behavioral method in political science produced a real revolution and became a prerequisite for the formation applied science about the political life of society.