Psychology as the behaviorist views it.

Abstract

The behaviourist views psychology as a purely directive experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. So far, human psychology has been unsuccessful due to the mistaken notion that introspection is the only method available to psychology, and that it is the study of consciousness. Actually, psychology is the study of behavior and therefore need not take recourse to conscious phenomena. Hence, animal psychology is as valid a field of study as human psychology. The laws of behavior of animals must be determined and evaluated in and for themselves, regardless of their generalizability to other animals or humans. This suggested elimination of states of consciousness as the objects of investigation will remove the barrier that exists between psychology and other natural sciences, without neglecting the essential problems of introspective psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)