A Behaviourist is Born

I often reflect back on how I came to identify myself as a behaviourist.  How did I come to embrace this field of study and apply it to everyday life?  I remember as a child I didn't say much, but I watched.  I watched what everyone was doing and I listened to what everyone was saying.  I tried to put meaning behind what I was seeing and hearing to then guess how I should fit in.  How should I respond?  How can I make myself a useful part of this exchange of events?  I probably over-thought most of what I did or said.  The photo above is from a series of photos my mom took of my first experience running through a sprinkler (and my first bikini too); except, I didn't run through the sprinkler with careless ease.  No, I methodically placed each of my extremities into the path of water, evaluated whether or not I liked that experience and continued from there.  Here I was, perhaps not quite three years old, and I was completing my own free operant assessment.  Turns out that water splashed in my face - a consequence of some parts of my body coming into contact with the water - was not very reinforcing for me.  I never embraced the sprinkler, but I remember this day clearly.  There would be a few more attempts before my parents realized I was not a water baby.  I suppose I punished their attempts eventually.

There are many of these examples from my childhood as well as day-to-day events that speak to the principles of behaviour.  I hope to bring these everyday examples of behaviourism, dispel some myths about behaviourism and reflect on society's misunderstanding (and subsequent mis-use) of its principles when solving life's problems. Behaviourist might not rule the world (yet), but I'll be having fun getting us there.  This is a behaviourist at play.