ABSTRACT
Although it is a learning psychology, cognitive psychology bears a resemblance to psychodynamic psychologies in one important respect: Because cognitive psychology explores thoughts—often hidden thoughts—that emerge only under scrutiny, it is, in a sense, a “depth psychology” It assumes there are thoughts, reasons, and assumptions beneath external behaviors. Strict behavioral psychology, on the other hand, demands exclusive attention to the behavior of the subject. Behavior is objectively observable, in contrast to thoughts and feelings, which are available for inspection only by the report of the subject or by inference from her behavior. Behavioral psychology does not rely on the report of the subject and does not attempt to infer her internal mental state. Instead, behavioral psychology is interested in discovering what influences a particular behavior to increase or decrease in frequency. As an illustration, recall the case of Ms. S.
Behavioral psychology is interested in discovering what observable causes influence a particular behavior to increase or decrease in frequency.
