A branch of psychology that formulates, through systematic observation and experimentation, the laws and principles that underlie the behavior of humans and animals; its major contributions have been made in the areas of conditioning and learning. SYN: behavioral psychology.
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be·hav·ior·ism or chiefly Brit be·hav·iour·ism bi-'hā-vyə-.riz-əm n a school of psychology that takes the objective evidence of behavior (as measured responses to stimuli) as the only concern of its research and the only basis of its theory without reference to conscious experience compare COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
be·hav·ior·is·tic or chiefly Brit be·hav·iour·is·tic -.hā-vyə-'ris-tik adj
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be·hav·ior·ism (be-hāvґyər-iz-əm) a school of psychology founded by John B. Watson that regards as the subject matter of psychology only overt actions capable of direct observation and measurement and ignores unobservable mental events such as ideas and emotions.Medical dictionary. 2011.