Digital Commons Network^™

On The Conceptual And Linguistic Activity Of Psychologists: The Study Of Behavior From The 1890s To The 1990s And Beyond, David E. Leary

Psychology Faculty Publications

In the early twentieth century psychology became the study of "behavior." This article reviews developments within animal psychology, functional psychology, and American society and culture that help explain how a term rarely used in the first years of the century became not only an accepted scientific concept but even, for many, an allencompassing label for the entire subject matter of the discipline. The subsequent conceptual and linguistic activity of John B. Watson, Edward C. Tolman, Clark L. Hull, and B.F. Skinner, as they attempted to explain "behavior" throughout the course of the twentieth century, is then discussed. Finally, the article …