Positivepsychology iconPositivepsychologySep 23, 2026

What Is Behaviorism in Psychology?

Maybe it's checking your phone right after waking, before your eyes have even adjusted to the daylight. Or maybe it's the tightness in your chest when you hear a phone ping with the same chime as a work notification.

What Is Behaviorism in Psychology?

Share this story

Send the public story page.

Useful takeaways from this story.

Maybe it's checking your phone right after waking, before your eyes have even adjusted to the daylight.

Or maybe it's the tightness in your chest when you hear a phone ping with the same chime as a work notification.

For much of the 20th century, a school of psychology built its foundation on moments like these.

Building the complete brief

The page is ready to read now. The fuller skim-friendly version will appear here automatically.

The useful part

Maybe it's checking your phone right after waking, before your eyes have even adjusted to the daylight. Or maybe it's the tightness in your chest when you hear a phone ping with the same chime as a work notification. For much of the 20th century, a school of psychology built its foundation on moments like these.

How it works

  • That is behaviorism, and it's likely influenced how we learn, parent, and experience therapy.
  • The focus wasn't on why you feel the urge, but on what triggers it and what keeps it going.

Details worth keeping

Think about the last habit you tried to break. They happened, seemingly automatically, before you even noticed.

Keep reading in the app

Open the app view to save this story, compare related coverage, and continue from the same source.

Open in app