Behaviorism is a theory that states that humans and animals can be explained in terms of their behavior without reference to their thoughts and feelings. The way a person behaves tells us about the person and thoughts and feelings are meaningless without outward expression. There are two types of behaviorism that I will talk about in this essay, psychological behaviorism and logical behaviorism. Logical behaviorism is the philosophical theory of behaviorism that states that being in a mental state is the same as being in a physical state. In other words, since all we can know about a person's mood is through their behavior, there is nothing else. Logical behaviorists believe that any statement about the internal or private world of individuals can be translated into a statement about publicly observable actions. For example, if Michael has a toothache and says he is in pain and crying. When the dentist checks Michael's tooth he sees that it is decayed with the pulp exposed. This shows that he is really suffering. His physical state, such as blood pressure and exposed nerves in his teeth, explains his condition. Emotions are not always expressed but can be translated into some type of physical condition. Thus, this theory is concerned with the explanation of mental concepts in terms of physical descriptions. There are several problems with this theory. First, people can easily simulate a mental state. Unhappy people may pretend to be happy, while people in great pain may not show it. But that doesn't mean they don't feel pain or pain. Second, how do you know if your mental state correlates with that of others? For example, we may have different feelings about a particular...... middle of paper ......ngs. Psychological behaviorism also does not account for learning without reinforcement or punishment. Not everything we learn is the result of some type of positive/negative reinforcement or punishment. Finally, even if a pattern of behavior is established, it can be easily changed and humans and animals can readapt to environmental changes. However, all effective therapeutic techniques employ behaviorist techniques to modify maladaptive or harmful behaviors in humans and animals. Many people unknowingly employ behaviorist techniques, whether animal trainers, parents, or teachers, to teach new behaviors or discourage unwanted ones. As mentioned above, behaviorism is essentially a reductionist theory that attempts to explain mental events in terms of observable phenomena. physical events. In this way a theory of mind is produced that is fundamentally materialistic.