Developmental Behavior Analysis and Motor Development
Developmental Behavior Analysis
Motor development and developmental behavior analysis is an important behavior related concept and much of the profound work on this field has been done by John. B. Watson. Behaviorism which can also be termed as learning perspective is regarded as a philosophy of psychology. The main concept of behaviorism is that all actions that are shown by the organisms and the human beings are to be termed as behaviors. The second important fact argued by Watson's theory of Behaviorism is that all kinds of psychological disorders must be treated by making sure that the behavioral patterns are altered or the environments of the subjects are changed. One of the main facts that can be seen in these theories is that more stress has been given to the environment for better behavior development. Thereby environment can play more important roles in the development of behaviors.
Sometimes mentioned as the Behaviorism Manifesto, Watson published an article in 1913, "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It." The article highlighted some of the major features of his theory of behaviorism (Brucker, 1980, p. 189). It believes that the explanation of behaviors is based on their scientific explanation rather them being linked to the psychologies of hypothetical constructs. Most of the facts argued by Watson in his theory of behaviorism is based on an extensive research conducted by him in the field of child psychology. Child psychology was advanced with an introduction of natural sciences, which were more based on methods of objective research in which observable and measurable behaviors could be taken into account. Motor development in accordance to Watson is more of a conditioning process. Watson has mentioned some of the most important preprogrammed reflexes that are exhibited by the infants that include crawling, climbing, and walking. An important fact that can be learned from his viewpoint is that experience and practice can help condition these reflexes.
Current Research
One of the most important researches in the field of motor development and developmental behavior analysis has been conducted by Esther Thelen. Thelen's research supports the fact argued by Watson that all the behaviors...
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