Question

Which statement best characterizes the textbook authors' view with respect to the legacy of behaviorism?

a. The principles of behaviorism have been widely and successfully applied to human problems.

b. The principles of behaviorism ultimately fail because they are not based on carefully controlled laboratory experiments.

c. Behaviorism has not caught on because it places too little emphasis on determining the antecedents and consequences of behavior.

d. Behaviorism has been successful because, unlike other perspectives, it has based all of its conclusions on research with human participants.

Answer 1

The textbook authors view the legacy of behaviorism as having been widely and successfully applied to human problems, steering psychology towards a more objective and empirical science.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that best characterizes the textbook authors' view with respect to the legacy of behaviorism is a. The principles of behaviorism have been widely and successfully applied to human problems. Behaviorism, a school of thought in psychology aiming for objectivity, focuses on overt behavior and eschews unobservable mental processes. Pioneers like John Watson and B.F. Skinner emphasized the role of environmental factors over genetics in shaping behavior, contributing significantly to the field's understanding of operant conditioning. Current views incorporate cognition into behaviorism, suggesting a more nuanced understanding than early extremists who deemed behaviors merely as responses to environmental stimuli.