A computer game devised by University of Manchester psychologists has called into question the theories which have been the basis of psychology for over a century.

Dr Warren Mansell says the theories that divide up ’stimulus’ from ‘response’, which underpin smoking cessation programmes and most psychological therapies, should be re-evaluated.

The theories were spawned by the influential BF Skinner, since the American psychologist John Watson famously claimed in 1913 that the aim of psychology is ‘the prediction and control of behaviour’.

The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General today.

Dr Mansell’s computer game, based on ‘perceptual control theory’, supports the view that our behaviours vary from moment to moment rather than being triggered by thoughts or learned by ‘associations’ to ‘stimuli’ in our surroundings.

“Humans strive to get ‘just right’ experiences, such as keeping a comfortable temperature, or keeping safe, said Dr Mansell.

“So it’s unsurprising that most of the initiatives for changing people’s behaviour based on removing stimuli that trigger habits like smoking, or trying to make children behave with rewards and threats, fail in the long term.

“This is because psychologists privilege the observer’s view of a behaviour over the experience of the person who is doing the behaviour.

“Our study shows quite how at odds these two perspectives can be, and it paves the way for a new generation of interventions to help people with habits, fears and addictions.”