Behaviourism as a Psychological Philosophy - Essay Example

Some concepts would be outright abandoned due to their unobservable nature, while others were reinterpreted as being concealed responses to stimuli. Introspective methods were completely discounted by some behaviourists. The internalized state of introspection and the lack of an observable stimuli-response reaction place the technique in the category of psychological constructs that are incompatible with the principles of behaviourism.

Behaviourism’s assessment of other psychological methods hinges on their inclusion of observable variables only. The use of the strict behaviourist methodology will almost always deem other psychological methods as unworthy of being called sciences.2) There are many ways in which the environment can affect a child’s intelligence. Physical influences from the environment like viruses, temperature, and other factors can influence the brain’s biological development. Additionally, the physical environment can have an influence on the way that genes related to intelligence are expressed.

Nutrition and exposure to harmful substances are other contributing factors. Social environmental influences are also linked to intellectual development. One such example is the amount of nurturing that a child receives. Educational influences influence intelligence as expected, but less obviously, peer groups also have a large effect. Direct interventions could also be considered an environmental influence on intelligence.3) Normal ageing is associated with changes in memory. Working memory declines as we get older, but episodic memory (and the related process of associated learning) may face the largest amount of impairment (Nilson 7).

Short-term memory processes also show some deterioration over time. Some reasons for memory loss occurring as we age may include a reduced usage of memory leading to “rusty” recall methods, less confidence by older people in their own memory, or the appearance of memory loss due to hearing deficits (there is no actual deterioration in this case or at least less than expected). Diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia are known causes of memory loss that become higher risks with age. The protein that makes up the amyloid plaque that is associated with Alzheimer’s is also found in natural memory loss situations. Memory loss can occur in many areas and for several reasons related to ageing.