Symbols of Behaviorism, Neobehaviorism, and Cognitive Behavioral Psychology

The Second Force in Psychology

Three Generations of Behavioral Psychology

This chapter explores the development of the Second Force in Psychology through behaviorism, neobehaviorism, and cognitive behavioral psychology. To simplify, in behaviorism, behaviorists were creating an alternative to psychoanalysis. In neobehaviorism, the goal was to advance behaviorism and change human behavior as well as society. In cognitive behavioral psychology, a major goal was to use the learnings from behaviorism and neobehaviorism to advance mental health treatment. Unlike most prominent psychologists of the time, many behaviorists became the strongest opponents of eugenics and played a key role in its demise because behaviorists rejected the overemphasis in psychology on heredity and innate predisposition as the basis for mental or social problems.

Until the development of cognitive behavioral psychology, early behaviorism viewed the individual as determined by external environmental forces, rejecting the internal, subjective mind. Until recently, the overemphasis on supremacy of thoughts and behavior neglected individual uniqueness and the importance of emotion and feeling. This chapter will discuss the reality that emotional development has been a challenge for many of the most prominent visionaries in the behaviorist movement.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) continues to be supported as the main psychotherapeutic approach by the power brokers in the American Psychological Association (APA). Although the APA claims therapeutic neutrality in its standards for accreditation of its doctoral clinical psychology programs, curriculum requirements are slanted toward teaching “evidence-based best practices” which fit with the concrete, conscious-focused, CBT approach. Brian Sharpless and Jacques Barber reported that a key determinant for successful passage of the national licensing exam in clinical psychology was the number of CBT faculty that taught psychologists during their graduate education.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) became one of the most successful psychotherapies for its focus on practical solutions. It has emancipated the mental and emotional anguish of millions of people. CBT fits well with an American culture interested in quick and pragmatic solutions. Since symptom reduction is one of the major focuses of its research, it also fits well with the current empirical research bias in American psychology. Ironically, CBT therapists often select a psychodynamic psychotherapy for their own therapeutic experience.