Neobehaviorism

the collective term for a number of trends in American psychology.

Neobehaviorism originated in the 1930’s in the works of C. Hull and E. Tolman. At that time it became apparent that the traditional behaviorism was untenable. According to the neobehaviorists, behavior cannot be fully understood simply in terms of observable stimuli and reactions: the analysis of some central regulatory mechanisms is also necessary. Neobehaviorism introduced mediating variables into the behaviorist stimulus-response scheme. These variables are understood to be aggregates of cognitive and stimulative factors. Apart from invoking the concept of mediating variables, neobehaviorism accepts the general principles of classical behaviorism, including a positivist orientation and the behaviorist tendency to overemphasize the biological view of the human psyche.