Contributions of Watson, Skinner and Tolman to Modern Day Psychology

Contributions of Watson, Skinner and Tolman to Modern Day Psychology

The three theorists were concerned with human behavior. To most behaviorists, psychology is concerned with behavior and not the mind. Watson was the father of behaviorism. His ideas were furthered by Skinner while Tolman came up with his own different concepts on behaviorism (Goodwin, 2008).

Watson’s perspective on psychology is drawn from his view that nurture and not nature influences behavior. He did not believe in heredity and his view received a wide reception back then.  To him, psychology is an objective science that should aim at behavior science, including behavior control and prediction. He disregarded introspection and consciousness in Psychology.

Skinner on the other hand was the founder of radical behaviorism. He believed that behavior is influenced by environmental experiences (Skinner, 1953). Like Watson, Skinner also disregarded introspection. He argued that psychologists should only be concerned with observable human behavior from which the internal thoughts could be studied. He proved all this through his theory of operant conditioning.

Edward Tolman’s psychological perspective mainly drew on Gestalt theory. He did not agree with concepts presented by Skinner and Watson in behaviorism. He came up with cognitive maps which he considered are models of human thought system. He disagreed with Watson and Skinner’s thinking that human behavior is influenced by external forces and not internal stimulus. He however did not produce any theory of his own like Skinner and Watson. Nonetheless, Tolman’s perspective laid the foundation for cognitive psychology (Goodwin, 2008).

Watson and Skinner’s perspectives have influenced modern Psychology especially in the American Psychology where behaviorism is considered a great force. Modern Psychologists have come up with newer theories basing on Skinner and Watson’s perspectives.

In conclusion, regardless of which theorist was right, these three theorists set a base for modern American Psychology.

References

Goodwin, C.J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior.  University of Michigan: Macmillan