PSYC 1010 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Positive Psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Social Forces

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Rebecca Jubis

Document Summary

Watson alters psychology course as behaviourism makes its debut. Founded by john b. watson (1878-1958), behaviourism is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour. Behaviour refers to any overt (observable) response or activity by an organism. The behaviourists eventually came to view psychology"s mission as an attempt to relate overt behaviours ( responses ) to observable events in the environment ( stimuli ). A stimulus is any detectable input from the environment. Stimuli can range from light and sound waves to such complex inputs as the words on this page, advertisements on tv, or sarcastic remarks by a friend. Because the behaviourists investigated stimulus-response relationships, the behavioural approach is often referred to as stimulus-response (s-r) psychology. Emphasizing the importance of the environment over heredity, the behaviourists began to explore stimulus-response relationships, often using laboratory animals as subjects.