behaviorism

Definition

An approach to psychology focusing on observable behavior which, generally assuming that behavior is determined by the environment and denying any independent significance for mind, largely ignores any pathophysiological processes which may, or may not, underlie subjective, behavioral phenomena.

Etymology

From behavior + -ism.

Example Sentences

• "Behaviorism is considered by most philosophers of medicine, to be an expression of the weaker, minimalist interpretation of the 'medical model' of clinical psychology because it focuses the study and classification of mental disorders upon a phenomenological, rather than a pathophysiological, approach to the subject."