Behaviorism’s founding goal was prediction and control of behavior, not understanding

Evidence

It was Watson who famously announced in 1913 the behaviorist point of view: “Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods.… The behaviorist… recognizes… no dividing line between man and brute.” But Watson turned out to be as much showman as scientist, and Skinner bitterly criticizes his extreme claims and “shortage of facts” that cast lasting doubt on radical behaviorism. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1148

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines behaviorism’s core ambition explicitly: prediction and control, with introspection excluded — the exact language of the behavioral surplus economy later in the book.
• XREF: Connects to the algorithmic prediction/control ambitions of surveillance capitalists that Zuboff traces as behaviorism’s inheritor. — connects to: Behaviorism says self-control is just manipulating variables that determine behavior — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1163; Behaviorism required psychologists to treat humans as visible objects, not inner selves — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1151; Skinner envisioned a population-scale technology of behavioral control that rejected freedom — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1012 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Behaviorism required psychologists to treat humans as visible objects, not inner selves #expands (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1151
• Skinner envisioned a population-scale technology of behavioral control that rejected freedom #expands (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1012
• Skinner saw Enlightenment freedom values as impediments to behavioral science #corroborates (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1207