Classical conditioning & operant conditioning - the processes of the behaviorism

Behaviorism perspective views organisms as controlled by the places they live in and the conclusion of their overall evolution; behaviorism focuses on events that affect the outcome/reaction. Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning are the two processes that the behaviorism perspective introduces as the locus of control. Classical conditioning process involves learning where two individual variables are liked to promote a different learned response in an organism. Operant conditioning process involves learning where a person/animal will change its behavior because of the reinforcement or punishment. An example of the Behaviorism perspective is when an employer provides bonus checks to its employees for working in a timely manner with high percentage productivity; the employer could also fire some employees who can’t meet productivity requirements. (Mcleod, 2013).

Cognitive psychology perspective revolves around the idea that in order to discover what causes humans to act in ways that they do, we must first figure out what is actually going on in their minds. Otherwise stated, cognitive perspective views cognition which is defined as “ conscious mental activities; the activities of thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering” (Merriam-Webster). An example of cognitive perspective is imagine if an overweight woman/man make little to no effort to exercise and become fit/lose weight; the cause of this persons lack of effort is that the person is a negative thinker. This person may believe that they aren’t that attractive being overweight or healthy and also may think that nobody will ever want a relationship with them; so they think exercising is simply a waste of time to them. (Mcleod, 2013)

The scholars who study behavioral genomics contemplate how overall DNA affects the behavior of the human being; since the discovery within the Human Genome Project, the process of understanding the correlation of the behavioral perspective and DNA. Biological factors that make up genetics are considered the main causes of the way a human behaves such as impulsivity, aggressiveness, and other personality traits. For example, if a child is born into a family that has a long history of diabetes, heart disease, or mental issues such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, the child has a high probability of having one of those diseases/disorders, due to being hereditary. Biological scholars explain behavior in neurological terms; the physiology and brain structure and how it impacts human behavior as well. For example, “ Those who survive a TBI (Traumatic brain injury) can face effects that last a few days, or the rest of their lives. Effects of TBI can include impaired thinking or memory, movement, sensation, or emotional functioning” (Centers for disease and control and prevention, 2018). (Mcleod, 2013).

Sociocultural perspective is an expanding philosophy in psychology that looks at the factors in society that plays a part in human beings development. Lev Vygotsky, the psychologist, cultivated the sociocultural theory and believed that culture and the people in our everyday environment were accountable for developing the human being behavior/actions. While Piaget’s theory explained how a child’s interactions with the environment and biological motivation influenced development; Vygotsky explained the role of cultural and interactions with peers play in cognitive development. For example, if a child grows up around a family and friends of drug dealers, domestic violence, violent music, poverty; this child is most like going to adapt to those same bad influences. (Cherry, 2018)