Understand exactly what is human behavior. Grasp the different types of human behavior and study human behavior examples. Learn a human behavior definition.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Human Behavior | Definition, Types & Examples
Table of Contents
- What is Human Behavior?
- Human Behavior in Psychology
- Types of Human Behavior
- Human Behavior Examples
- Lesson Summary
- FAQs
- Activities
Human Behavior Activities
Writing Prompt 1:
When you think of classical conditioning, chances are that thoughts of salivating dogs come to mind. It is true that the most famous classical conditioning experiment was conducted on dogs, but classical conditioning occurs in humans as well. Any time a neutral stimulus is paired with a non-neutral stimulus repeatedly, classical conditioning likely occurs. Can you think of three examples of classical conditioning in your own life? For example, you may have observed that your stomach starts growling loudly when the pizza driver rings your doorbell, or that passing a graveyard holding a loved one brings tears to your eyes. Write a paragraph describing three instances of classical conditioning in your life.
Writing Prompt 2:
The lesson mentioned that people's behavior can be shaped by both genetics (nature) and the environment (nurture). For example, a person may be an extrovert due to inheriting 'outgoing genes' from her parents, or may be outgoing due to observing family members acting in a gregarious and open manner. Chances are that it is a combination of both. It is impossible to completely tease out the differential influences of nature and nurture, but it is interesting to cogitate on it. Think of a personality characteristic or a typical behavior of your own (voracious reader, avid hiker, etc.) and reflect upon whether you think that behavior is more due to your genetic inheritance or the environment in which you grew up. Write a two-paragraph essay stating which you believe was the stronger influence and why.
What are some common human behaviors?
Common human behaviors involve the actions and conduct of persons, which include conflict, communication, cooperation, creativity, play, social interaction, tradition, and work.
What are human behaviors?
Human behaviors are how persons act and conduct themselves in ways that include physical, mental, and emotional activities, and are influenced by a variety of factors.
What are the different types of behaviors?
The different types of human behavior include molecular versus moral, overt versus covert, conscious versus unconscious, and voluntary versus involuntary.
Table of Contents
- What is Human Behavior?
- Human Behavior in Psychology
- Types of Human Behavior
- Human Behavior Examples
- Lesson Summary
What specifically is human behavior? As it relates to psychology, human behavior comprises the fact that the way humans interact runs through a complete range including physical, mental, and emotional conduct. Furthermore, human behavior is influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics and the environment.
These factors include but are not limited to:
- Attitude
- Authority
- Culture
- Environment
- Ethics
- Genetics
- Morals
- Perceptions
- Religion
- Science
- Societal demands
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The role of human behavior in psychology is quite complex as well. Behaviorists, such as John B. Watson, believe that behavior is primarily a result of persons being either rewarded or punished. On the other hand, psychoanalysts, such as Sigmund Freud, believe behavior is mainly a result of persons succumbing to various sets of urges. A third group, humanists, such as Abraham Maslow, believe people are essentially good and driven to achievement. Human behavior incorporates both people's actions and conduct.
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Why is human behavior important in the field of psychology though?
- It is not possible for psychologists to observe a person's thoughts and feelings
- Behavior is an outward reflection of a person's internal mechanisms
Both classical conditioning and operant conditioning have been proposed as ways to explain human behavior. The former was studied by Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov, who discovered that behaviors can indeed be conditioned; the latter was studied by American scientist B.F. Skinner, who believed that behaviors can definitely be shaped through the utilization of both rewards and punishments.
In classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus:
- is presented simultaneously with a non-neutral stimulus which is unrelated
- eventually transforms into the conditioned stimulus
- ultimately elicits a conditioned response
For instance, Pavlov conducted some enlightening experiments with dogs. He would feed his dogs while simultaneously making a noise with a bell, metronome, or a similar device.
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Eventually the dogs would associate the noise of the bell with food. Subsequently, he could simply make the noise and the dogs would then salivate even without them being given food.
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Skinner felt human behavior was so complicated it needed a deeper explanation, and thus he delved into operant or instrumental conditioning. He put rats into boxes and taught them to press a lever in order to receive a food pellet as a reward. Eventually the rats caught on and would press the lever more often to increase their food rewards.
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Molecular and Moral Behavior
Moral behavior can be described as a situation in which a person took a specific action after pondering the circumstances, while molecular behavior is more instinctual. For example, Bill was close to broke while in college and thought about stealing a candy bar from a local convenience store. Then he thought about being caught and getting kicked out of school or perhaps even going to jail, and he decided to pay for the candy bar instead. This is an example of moral behavior. As Bill walked out of the store the sun broke through the clouds, and the brightness caused him to blink his eyes immediately. This is an example of molecular behavior, as Bill did not think about the situation but his body merely reacted.
Overt and Covert Behavior
Overt behavior is more obvious while covert behavior is more subtle. Sam was at work and found himself secretly admiring his coworker's new pair of shoes, which he currently could not afford. Sam was exhibiting a covert behavior because his fellow workers were not able to read his mind. Meanwhile, one of Sam's coworkers watched in amazement as Sam typed on his keyboard at over 100 words per minute. Sam was exhibiting an overt behavior visible to other persons.
Voluntary and Involuntary Behavior
Voluntary behavior is more a matter of choice while involuntary behavior is more automatic. One of Betty's coworkers was in a bad mood on Monday and started yelling at the other workers. In a calm voice, Betty instructed the coworker to take a break and have some coffee before returning to the project. Betty was exhibiting voluntary behavior. Meanwhile, during this episode Betty's heart rate increased and she began breathing shallower. These were behaviors Betty could not control, as they were involuntary behaviors.
Conscious and Unconscious Behaviors
Related to these types of behaviors are conscious and unconscious behaviors. Conscious behaviors are more a matter of free will while unconscious behaviors are more spontaneous. Sally woke up cheerfully on Saturday morning and got dressed for her weekly hike in the woods. Sally was exhibiting conscious behavior. While out on the trail, a mountain lion leapt down from a tree a few yards away. Sally screamed out loud, which was an unconscious behavior.
However, Sally remembered from her favorite nature television show not to run but to stand her ground firmly, and eventually the mountain lion sulked away. Sally again was displaying a conscious behavior. When the mountain lion skulked off, Sally suddenly sighed in a deep breath, which again was an unconscious behavior.
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- What are some specific human behavior examples? The human behavior of a person is the combination of their
- Actions
- Conduct
- However, it can be influenced by factors that aren't seen or easily measurable, which are
- Emotions
- Thoughts
Types of human behavior include:
- Conflict - Fights, protests, and wars are an uglier side of human behavior. World War I and World War II are tragic examples.
- Communication - People talk via spoken language, written language, and sign language, as well as through unspoken body language.
- Cooperation - People and nations work together to benefit humankind and the planet. A great example would be the International Space Station.
- Creativity - Humans love to design things, such as artwork, bridges, and inventions.
- Play - Children and adults participate in fun diversions.
- Social Interaction - Humans love to gather in groups at beaches, restaurants, and parks.
- Tradition - People hold on tightly to customs such as wearing ceremonial costumes, staging parades, and celebrating holidays.
- Work - This involves solving complex tasks to completion.
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Human behavior is a remarkably complicated operation that runs the gamut from emotional to mental to physical manifestations, including genetic and environmental factors. These factors can include attitude, authority, culture, ethics, morals, perceptions, religion, science, and societal demands as well. Human behavior has been explained by psychoanalysts, who believe people respond mainly to urges, by behaviorists, who believe people respond mainly to rewards and punishments, and by humanists, who believe people have free will along with mostly good-natured intentions.
Ivan Pavlov proposed classical conditioning as a way to justify human behavior, while B.F. Skinner touted operant conditioning.
Types of human behavior include moral versus molecular, overt versus covert, voluntary versus involuntary, and conscious versus unconscious.
Examples of human behavior include conflict, communication, cooperation, creativity, play, social interaction, tradition, and work.
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Video Transcript
Human Behavior
Have you ever watched a group of children play? They might laugh and run around. They might fight and hit each other. They might form a little group, with a leader naturally taking charge and the others following. What they do can tell you a lot about what the children are feeling and thinking.
Their actions can also tell you more about their relationship to each other. Human behavior is the term used to describe a person's actions and conduct. Observing and understanding human behavior is a crucial part of psychology.
Human Behavior in Psychology
Imagine a wrapped present. You can't see what's inside, but there are clues available to you: the size and shape of the package, the sound it makes when you shake it, how heavy it is, even whether it feels solid or soft. You can make an educated guess about what the present is if you observe all of these things.
Human behavior is like that. Everything you do and say tells the world about what's going on inside of you. Because psychologists can't observe thoughts or emotions, behavior has been an important part of psychology since the very beginning of the discipline. In the early 1900s, though, a study of behavior became even more important when Ivan Pavlov introduced the world to conditioning.
Classical Conditioning
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Pavlov was studying the digestion of dogs when he discovered that the dogs began to drool whenever they saw the person who was in charge of feeding them. He designed an experiment - ringing a bell whenever the dogs were fed. Pretty soon, the dogs would salivate whenever they heard the bell - even if there was no food in sight!
What Pavlov's dogs demonstrated was classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus (such as the sound of a bell) is presented at the same time as another, unrelated stimulus (such as the food). The non-neutral stimulus will automatically produce a response (drooling at the food). This is an unconditioned response. After a while, the neutral stimulus will also produce the response, as when Pavlov's dogs drooled at the sound of the bell. This is called a conditioned response.
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You might be wondering what Pavlov's dogs have to do with human behavior. Classical conditioning happens in humans all the time. Imagine that you ate your favorite tacos and then got sick. Chances are you won't want those tacos for quite a while. That's classical conditioning: the tacos are the neutral stimulus, getting sick is the non-neutral stimulus. After those two are presented together, the tacos don't sound as good because you have a conditioned response to them.
Operant Conditioning
Psychologist B.F. Skinner expanded the idea of conditioning. He built a box and placed a rat inside of it. When a bar in the box was pressed, the rat would be rewarded with a piece of food. At first, the rat wandered around the box aimlessly. Eventually, though, the rat learned that he'd get food every time he pressed the bar and began to press it more often.
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Operant conditioning is the idea that behaviors can be shaped with rewards or punishments, like Skinner's rats learning to press the bar to get food. If you got chocolate cake for every 'A' you got in class, but had to clean the bathroom every time you got an 'F,' what do you think your grade would look like? That's operant conditioning at work!
Other Influences
Besides conditioning, there are many other influences on human behavior. Society plays a big role in behavior. If you are from a society that values opinionated people, you're more likely to be vocal about your opinions than if you grow up in a society where it's impolite to talk about your ideas. Where you are (location) also makes a difference in how you act. Think about the difference between what you do and say at home and what you do or say in a bar or an airplane. Likewise, your behavior can be shaped by genetics, environmental cues, culture, and a host of other factors.
Lesson Summary
The study of human behavior is a cornerstone for the science of psychology. People's behaviors tell a lot about the processes going on inside of them. Behavior is shaped through many different factors, including classical and operant conditioning.
Factors of Human Behavior
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Human behavior, or how people act and think, can be influenced by:
- Classical conditioning: stimulus and response
- Operant conditioning: rewards and punishments
- Society
- Location
- Environment
- Culture
- Genetics
Learning Outcomes
When you are done, you should be able to:
- Recall what is considered human behavior
- Distinguish between classical conditioning and operant conditioning
- Discuss some of the factors that influence human behavior
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Human Behavior | Definition, Types & Examples
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