Who is known as the father of American behaviorism and coined the term 'behaviorism' in 1912?

Who is known as the father of American behaviorism and coined the term 'behaviorism' in 1912?

• A. Ivan Pavlov
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. John B. Watson
• D. B. F. Skinner

Answer: (C)

John B. Watson is the figure associated with starting American behaviorism and coining the term behaviorism. He argued that psychology should be an objective science focused on observable behavior and the environmental factors that shape it, rather than inner thoughts or introspections. This shift toward measuring and predicting how people respond to stimuli in their environment allowed psychology to be studied under controlled conditions and highlighted how behavior can be influenced by conditioning and learning. Watson’s ideas and writings helped establish behaviorism as a distinct movement in the United States, guiding research away from subjective mental states toward observable, repeatable actions. While Pavlov is known for classical conditioning and Skinner for later operant conditioning, Watson is the one primarily credited with founding that American behaviorist approach and giving it the name. Freud, in contrast, represents a different, psychoanalytic tradition focused on unconscious processes.

John B. Watson is the figure associated with starting American behaviorism and coining the term behaviorism. He argued that psychology should be an objective science focused on observable behavior and the environmental factors that shape it, rather than inner thoughts or introspections. This shift toward measuring and predicting how people respond to stimuli in their environment allowed psychology to be studied under controlled conditions and highlighted how behavior can be influenced by conditioning and learning. Watson’s ideas and writings helped establish behaviorism as a distinct movement in the United States, guiding research away from subjective mental states toward observable, repeatable actions. While Pavlov is known for classical conditioning and Skinner for later operant conditioning, Watson is the one primarily credited with founding that American behaviorist approach and giving it the name. Freud, in contrast, represents a different, psychoanalytic tradition focused on unconscious processes.