This assignment is going to compare and contrast behaviorism and the humanistic theory and find the differences in two different theories out of the four main theories. Also, there is an understanding on what the theories are and how they are used in present day.
Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our actions. While humanistic is looking at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization. Rather than concentrating on dysfunction, humanistic psychology strives to help people fulfil their potential and maximize their well-being.
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Behaviorism is the school of thought that focuses on the external behavior of individuals, whereas humanism focuses on the individual as a whole. Humanism, on the other hand, is rather subjective and does not have a very scientific basis as behaviorism.
Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorism is thought to not have much free will. This is because if the person to animal is not doing what is required there will be a loud noise or sharp shock. This is proven in John B. Watson’s Little Albert experiment and Edward Thorndike’s experiments, who discovered operant conditioning. However humanistic psychologists focus on conscious experience rather than behavior, and on free will rather than determinism. Free will allows us to take responsibility for our actions in order to improve, it is vital for human progression.
The humanistic approach rejects the other approaches says they are to focused on the negative side of psychology. Humanism looks at what we need to live and thrive and looks at the individual person and what is specific to them.
Behaviorism can be objectively observed. Although it was still acknowledged that thoughts and feelings exist, they were not considered part of the science of behavior.
Behaviorists believe that if you force or strongly influence someone with reward and punishments, they will see their benefits of that behavior and believe that is better to behave like that, for example, driving at the speed limit. According to critics, behaviorism in the twenty first century it does not seem to be working just as it did in the theories of Pavlov, Skinner, Thorndike and Watson. In my evaluation, I can see the down fall. When people go in criminal activity and go in to prison. There seems to be too many rewards like having a TV and PlayStation. When people get realized they seem to do more criminal activity and don’t care about the consequences. This is because there does not seem to be any punishment apart from not been free to go where they want. People sometimes struggle with money and what to go in prison because it is free living. For behaviorism to work, there would need to be more negative reinforcement to make is so people would be scared to not behave the way society would expect. Classic conditioning should be used though out the prison service, when Pavlov, Skinner, Thorndike and Watson completed and proved their theories.
From the humanist perspective, in order to have a healthy society, we need to be responsible for all the people in our society. When people leave prison or finish community service, their behavior should be transformed so that they can be welcomed back into society. True rehabilitation helps someone give up crime; it makes them want to be, and become, someone who behaves legally and contributes to society. This is all part of helping someone reach self-actualization, which means a person is truly happy. Humanistic therapy also focuses more on helping the individual as a whole, rather than treating a specific diagnosis.
When using the humanistic approach in health and social care setting, the theory stresses that, first and foremost, every person is a human being. Therefore, in humanistic health and social care, the uniqueness and special nature of each individual is stressed. Health care workers not only care for their patients, but care about them. This was turned into person canted approach and is used in all health and care setting all over the world. The behaviorist approach is used in a health and social care setting to do similar things as the health care services. The main aim of this is to change and shape the individual's behavior to understand that there is a way in overcoming the difficult behavior.
In conclusion, when evaluating both theories, there are similarities and differences. Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. The humanistic approach rejects the other approaches, arguing that they focus too much on the negative side of psychology. Humanism looks at what we need to live and thrive and looks at the individual person and what is specific to them. Personally, their theories do not seem to be effective as time has gone on and the human rights act has been up dated.
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