Human behavior is a phenomenon that since ancient times has been explained in many different ways. What is behind our behavior? Why do we behave the way we do? Psychology has often tried to answer these questions from different points of view.

One of the paradigms that has tried to explain it is behaviorism. And within this current, one of the best known approaches is Skinner’s radical behaviourism .

Behaviorism: basic premises of the paradigm

Behaviorism is a paradigm of psychology whose objective is to study behavior and the processes that elicit it, from an empirical and objective perspective. It is based on the premise that the mind and mental processes are concepts that cannot be objectified and that it is not possible to study them in a scientific way, being their only visible correlation the behavior we carry out.

We start from a mechanistic conception of behavior in which it is stipulated that it is the properties of the stimuli that make the subject, who is a passive and reactive being to these properties, respond in a certain way.

In addition, the acquisition of behaviors and learning in general is considered to take place through the ability to link and associate stimuli under certain circumstances that allow for such association.

It is a question of conditioning processes in which exposure to stimuli is produced that generate a positive or negative response in the organism and other neutral ones, relating the subject to both stimuli in such a way that he comes to respond in the same way before the conditioned stimulus (the neutral one that ends up acquiring positive or negative characteristics due to its association with the initial stimulus) as before the appetitive or aversive element. By means of different processes it is possible to make them associate stimuli or to dissociate them, thing that has been used for example in the treatment of phobias.

Concepts such as the will or other mental aspects and even the mind itself are not denied but are considered rather a consequence of behavioural stimulation and reaction rather than its cause. Mostly, then, the cause of the behaviour is considered to be external.

Since the birth of behaviorism this paradigm has been evolving, different types of behaviorism have emerged. But one of the most interesting and important ones, together with the classic one, is radical behaviorism.

Skinner’s perspective: radical behaviorism

Radical behaviorism is one of the main theoretical developments in behaviorism from which different neo-conductural currents have emerged . Radical behaviorism considers that, although classical conditioning (also called respondent) is a valid explanation for understanding reactions to a specific stimulus, it is not sufficient to explain our behavior with respect to it.

That is why B. F. Skinner, the main author and developer of this type of behaviorism, considered and defended that human behavior is not only caused by the stimulus-response association but that the root of the behavior is found in the effect or consequences that the acts themselves have on us. The mind and intellectual processes are considered as existing elements, but they do not explain behavior and their study is unproductive. In any case, thought could be defined as a verbal behaviour derived from the same principles of conditioning.

For Skinner and radical behaviorism, the behavior and its persistence or modification depends on what it can cause. If a behavior has favorable consequences for us, we will tend to repeat it often so that we get the benefit in question more often. If, on the other hand, the conduct results in harm, we will do it less often or inhibit it.

The association between the behavior and the consequences of these is what is called operant conditioning, and the stimuli that make us repeat the behavior or not, the reinforcers (which can be of different types). It is in this type of thinking that concepts such as reinforcement and punishment arise, which would later be applied in different techniques.

Some limitations

The contribution of radical behaviorism has been essential in the development of the scientific study of behavior. However, this perspective has the disadvantage that at least originally it does not take into account other factors such as motivation, emotions , intelligence or the personality of the subject.

It is because of these and other limitations that different neo-conductive approaches that do take them into account would end up emerging, and even one of the reasons why the behavioral and cognitive lines in the cognitive-behavioral paradigm would end up coming together.

Applications of radical behaviorism

Radical behaviorism has been an approach in the study of behavior with a great importance and presence in different fields, among them the clinical and educational ones.

The idea that behaviour depends on its consequences and that this can be modified through the use of programmes in which certain behaviours are reinforced or punished has allowed techniques to be generated that are still used today, although concepts from other paradigms such as the cognitive one have been developed and incorporated. These are the techniques of behavior modification, being especially linked to radical behaviorism the operating techniques.

Reinforcement and punishment both positive and negative are the most basic and form a fundamental part of most others. In reinforcement, the repetition or acquisition of a behaviour is provoked either by providing an appetite stimulus or by withdrawing an aversive one, while in punishment, a behaviour is diminished or eliminated through the appearance of aversive stimuli or the withdrawal of reinforcers.

As for the concepts of positive and negative, positive is understood as that in which a stimulus is added and negative in which it is removed. Other derived techniques are those of shaping or chaining to learn how to perform behaviours, as well as fading and aversive techniques.

These techniques have been used to help reduce problem behaviour and promote more adaptive ones. They are usually applied to behavioural problems, in children and adults, and in some learning processes in which new behaviours have to be developed or existing ones modified.

Despite this, the fact that they do not take into account aspects such as mental processes has meant that their usefulness is limited and in some cases they even have undesired effects. It is necessary to integrate cognitive aspects in the treatment of problems such as depression or learning disabilities.