What does behaviouristic mean?
Behaviouristic is an adjective used to describe anything connected with behaviourism, the influential school of twentieth-century psychology associated with John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner. Behaviourism held that psychology should concern itself solely with observable actions — stimuli and measurable responses — rather than with unobservable inner states such as thoughts, feelings, or motives. A behaviouristic explanation therefore describes conduct in objective, external terms: what a person does, not what they privately experience. The word appears chiefly in academic writing on psychology, philosophy of mind, and linguistics; for example, a critic might describe an account of language learning as behaviouristic if it relies wholly on conditioning and reinforcement. It carries a somewhat formal, technical tone and is often used when contrasting older behaviourist approaches with later cognitive ones. In British spelling the word ends -our-, while American usage favours behavioristic. Related forms include behaviourism (the doctrine itself), behaviourist, and the adverb behaviouristically.
Relating to behaviourism, the school of psychology that explains conduct purely in terms of observable responses to stimuli.
"Skinner's behaviouristic framework treated language as learned operant behaviour."
Primarily academic; often contrasted with cognitive or mentalistic approaches.
Explaining or analysing something in the objective, external terms characteristic of behaviourists.
"He gave a behaviouristic description of the child's tantrum, listing triggers and responses without speculating about feelings."
For decades, strict behaviourists refused to talk about 'the mind' at all — so a 'behaviouristic' explanation had to be one you could watch happen, not just imagine.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of behaviouristic
The word derives from behaviourism, coined in early twentieth-century American psychology — John B. Watson's 1913 paper 'Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It' is generally regarded as the movement's founding statement. Behaviourism itself is built on behaviour, which entered English via Middle English from the Old French verb behaveour, ultimately rooted in the Germanic stem behind 'have' and 'hold'. Adding the suffixes -ist (for an adherent) and -ic (forming adjectives) yielded behaviouristic, alongside the parallel form behaviorist. Its cognates are essentially the other members of the same family: behaviour, behave, behaviourism, and behaviourally.
Related word forms
How behaviouristic is actually used
Formal and academic in register, found mainly in psychology, philosophy of mind, and linguistics. In American English the spelling 'behavioristic' is standard; 'behaviouristic' follows British spelling conventions.
Easily confused with behaviouristic
Behavioural is a broader adjective covering anything to do with behaviour in general, while behaviouristic refers specifically to the doctrines or methods of behaviourism as a psychological school.