Behaviorism Prior to the 1920’s, psychology was known as “the science of mental life.” However, John B. Watson dismissed the idea of cognitive psychology and instead, suggested that it should be redefined as “the science of observable behavior.” He claimed that science is found through observation. After all, it is impossible to observe people’s thoughts and feelings, but one can observe a person’s behavior. From that point on, behaviorism became yet another key …showed first 75 words of 1112 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1112 total…is too individual to be recognized as a part of human behavior in general. Cognition is not something one can be absolutely sure of, so behaviorists feel that it is unimportant. The only things that behaviorists find to be important are those that can be observed and consistently measured. If behaviorists had a chance to rewrite this well-known saying, they would probably say that, “It’s what’s on the outside, not inside, that counts.”