Behaviorism and Cognitivism Psychology

Behaviorism and Cognitivism
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor's Name
October 19, 2021
Understanding the development of a theory is crucial for its application. Moreover, since modern theories can be based on past iterations or combinations of some established paradigm, knowing the changes between the past and present becomes crucial for any professional. In line with this, the following discussion would focus on the development of Cognitive Behaviorism from the fields of Behaviorism and Cognitivism. Notably, the author would like to analyze these individual theories and some related key concepts to them. Subsequently, the author would then provide their influence on the consolidation of these two paradigms.
Behaviorism and Cognitivism
Behaviorism or Behavioral Psychology
Behaviorism or behavioral psychology is one of the oldest paradigms in the understanding of learning. Based on this theory, learning is acquired through the constant interaction of the individual with the environment, mainly through his interaction with external stimuli. Some of the most famous key concepts are; (1) classical conditioning and (2) reinforcement.
On the one hand, classical conditioning was popularized by Sigmund Freud. Classical conditioning is a type of conditioning wherein a natural stimulus is partnered with a neural stimulus to elicit a response between the two. For example, in Freud's experiment, he used the recurring sound of a ringing bell as a "neural stimulus" to elicit a positive response from the dog and make him salivate CITATION Eel18 \l 1033 (Eelen, 2018).
On the other hand, reinforcement is also used in behaviorism. This concept may either be continuous reinforcement or partial reinforcement, depending on the recurrence and the effect of such enforcement. Notably, while continuous reinforcement is given every time the desired act or choice is made, partial reinforcement is when the reward is given only after some time or a certain number of responses. Accordingly, these two types of reinforcement are usually employed in some experiments in behaviorism.
Cognitivism
Compared to the Behaviorist approach, the Cognitivist approach provides that our mind's learning is primarily influenced by internal processes (or cognition) rather than its interaction with our environment. Thus, even though the environment may play a significant role in learning, this paradigm believes that the bulk of the processes that constitute learning to depend on how the mind processes these stimuli. Accordingly, some of the most common concepts related to this theory are (1) equilibrium and (2) schema theory.
On the one hand, equ...