Behavior is portrayed very differently in the mainstream society in comparison to our field of Applied Behavior Analysis. While the mainstream society uses emotions as an essential part of behavior, behavior analysis focuses on the concept of behaviorism. Behaviorism is a school of psychology that only studies behaviors that can be observed and measured. It emphasizes actual behaviors of people rather than ones that cannot be measured or observed, such as feelings, thoughts, and moods.
Generally, conversations revolving around behavior with people unfamiliar with Applied Behavior Analysis seem to revolve around referring back to how people “felt” to explain behaviors. While this is known to not follow through with behaviorist explanations, this concept is the foundation that builds up the movie “Inside Out”. This movie revolves around the psychology of emotions, where Riley, the main character, is controlled by 5 emotions that reside in the command center of the brain. As Riley experiences major changes in her life, such as moving away from the city and friends she grew up with, she experiences a mixture of emotions and feelings that are portrayed to guide her behaviors. For example, rather than focusing on the main cause of a behavior, such as lashing out on her parents, the movie portrays the lashing out to be a result of feeling sad instead of the act of moving from one city to another. While emotions are an important part of an individual’s psychology, it is neither measurable nor observable- hence cannot be used (in a behaviorist’s opinion) as a reason as it lacks data for proof.
I believe this movie is accepted, believed, and encouraged by today’s modern world because it speaks to the main cause of reactions, according to the understanding of human psychology. It shows that emotions are universal, and that it builds a person’s personality. Also, that everyone in Riley’s house, feels a specific way, and hence act based on that feeling. For example, Riley’s mother senses that her husband is stressed, hence advising Riley to “keep smiling”. Due to Riley being forced to feel a specific way “stay smiling”, she eventually backfires when she feels she is unable to receive the emotional support she needs. Riley’s father is responsible for their move to another city – hence responsible for the delay in their furniture. Since he is feeling stressed and overworked, he lashes out on Riley. All of the previous examples portray that these emotions are universal; and that they do in fact guide our behaviors.
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In some ways, this movie also portrays the brain to know when danger is approaching to try and avoid it. This may be similar to our known ABC contingency. Ex: when Riley was running in her living room and spotted an electrical rod, Fear keeps her from tripping. Does Fear keep her from tripping because she has tripped before and learnt to be careful? Or is it because she cried previously and the brain is trying to avoid that emotional reaction? The behaviorist point of view is a strict one. It implies that our personality traits can be controlled by society; not formed by how we experience feelings.
