How did the definition of psychology change when behaviorism began to dominate the field?

• A. Psychology started to prioritize the investigation of cultural and social influences on personality.
• B. Psychology began to emphasize the analysis of unconscious motives and dreams.
• C. Psychology redefined itself as the study of the biological basis of thought and emotion.
• D. Psychology shifted its focus to the study of observable behavior rather than internal mental processes.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the historical context of psychology before behaviorism, which primarily focused on introspection and the study of internal mental processes such as thoughts and feelings.
2. Step 2: Recognize that behaviorism emerged as a reaction against this introspective approach, emphasizing the importance of observable and measurable behavior rather than unobservable mental states.
3. Step 3: Note that behaviorists argued psychology should be a science based on objective data, which meant focusing on behaviors that could be seen and recorded, rather than subjective experiences.
4. Step 4: Identify that this shift led to a redefinition of psychology as the study of observable behavior, which could be experimentally tested and verified.
5. Step 5: Summarize that the key change in the definition of psychology during the rise of behaviorism was moving away from internal mental processes to focusing on external behaviors as the primary subject of study.