Why do people think and behave the ways in which they do according to behaviorists?

Answer 1

People behave/respond to stimuli based on 4 functions (reasons) of behavior - attention, escape/avoidance, access to tangibles, and automatic (sensory stimulation/pain attenuation). This means that when people perform a behavior, they "get" one of those 4 functions fulfilled.

The reason behind this is as follows:

1) they experienced a stimulus and responded in a particular behavior.

2) this behavior was reinforced by the consequences that followed.

3) when the stimulus occurred again, they engaged in the same response and obtained the same desirable consequence.

4) they have learned that this behavior increases the probability of obtaining the desired consequence.

5) behavior continued to be reinforced often enough that extinction did not occur.

Answer 2

People think and behave the way that they do for various reasons. You see that there are many approaches in which to learn how people think and behave. According to behaviorists, people learn from their environment and there is little if any behavior that is innate. When we are born, our mind is a blank slate and we learn behavior through classical or operant conditioning (learning theory). Therefore, the reason why we are the way that we are is because we have gone through some experience that has made us that way.