One of the central threads to behaviorism is the existence of favorable outcome that initiates an action.

This could be linked to motivation. The ladder of motivation also presents states that are separated into sections that represent a favorable outcome. The theory of motivation suggests a person will be inclined to perform an action based on the reward one receives. A positive outcome expedites an action as a means to achieve the former. There could be other factors that could improve motivation but without the existence of a primary reward, motivation itself wouldn’t be optimized.

Somewhere I do believe it is also a way to simplifying human behavior which is infinitely complex and is dependent on countless intrinsic and extrinsic factors. But this is where science take precedence because for a scientific enquiry, there needs to be a state of cause leading to effect, thus proving a hypothesis. And anything anecdotal is always treated as an anomaly in comparison to data. However, then it raises a question on the studies conducted on behaviorism because the study takes place in a certain time with a certain population so it’s generalizability to every person on the planet may or may not remain valid.

As humans we are possibly always looking for a reward, emotional or otherwise. A reward that may be implicitly or explicitly known or unknown to us. For the knowledge of an action to appear and the subsequent acknowledgement of a reward is another complex arena that necessitates the ability of an individual to look within themselves posing a question to their action in order to elicit a casual deduction. That deduction may be right or wrong depending on the ability of the individual to accept what he/she intends to achieve. This I believe is yet another big grey area that is highly complex.

So, the presence of a reward induces behavior. There is no doubt on it. This stream of thought has led to various other branches that have built theories on it. Our daily lives testify to this idea with the education system and the entire social world being constructed on this premise. And its effect is compounded when in practice, when we see spillover from one chapter of life to another. For example, the education system assesses an individual and provides a number/grade that is representative of the student. The reward for the student in that instance may the grade which would be seen as a representation of his intelligence, skill set or achievement. This further spills over to another chapter of the individual’s life that is the professional space. So the job one would end up acquiring could be a direct result of the former reward i.e. the scorecard/result. But this is again a simplification of the model as there may be other factors present that might lead to attaining a job.

Hence, the notion of behaviorism certainly provides a solid foundation to build upon but over simplification and deletion of a multitude of variables to project conclusive findings may not be a wise approach. The assessment that takes place in education or form of reward that is presented to the student to induce good performance can always be affected by environmental factors, historical factors, emotional states and intrinsic intelligence to name a few.