Overt and Covert Human Behavior

Most behaviorists and psychologists define human behavior as follows:

“Behavior is anything an individual does which can be observed in some way.”

It means that human behavior is an observable phenomenon. Anything we do can be called human behavior if it can be observed in some way. Hence, our physical actions, verbal behaviors and facial or bodily gestures comes in the domain of human behaviors because they can be observed as they can be seen or heard by others. According to this definition given by most of the behaviorists and psychologists, anything that cannot be observed is not human behavior - such as mental processes in our mind.

However, the above definition of human behavior is challenged by some psychologists who believe that human behavior includes both observable and non-observable behaviors. This is where the concepts of overt behavior (observable behavior) and covert behavior (non-observable behaviors) come into play, as explained below:

1. Overt Behavior

Human behaviors, which can be observed in some way, are called overt behaviors. Our physical actions (e.g., shaking a hand with a friend, slapping a person, dancing, walking, etc), verbal behaviors (anything we speak) and facial or bodily gestures are overt behaviors because they can be observed as these can be seen or heard.

2. Covert Behavior

Human behaviors, which cannot be observed, are called covert behaviors. The mental processes in human mind such as thinking, retrieving memories, processing information, glandular responses and cognition are covert behaviors. These cannot be observed because they cannot be seen or heard by others.

Though the covert behaviors are not observable, they have a vital role in overt behaviors. Our overt behaviors are determined and influenced by our covert behavior. Our physical actions and verbal behaviors are the products of the mental processes in our mind. Our learning and experiences are stored in our mind which are retrieved when required for performing overt behavior. For example, shaking a hand with a friend involves processing information in the mind to retrieve a learnt behavior (such as what to do when meeting a friend) and glandular responses to move and extend a hand towards the friend. Similarly, to rush towards victims of a car accident in order to save their lives also involves many mental processes, such as thinking, retrieving a learnt behavior of helping victims of an accident, retrieving stored information, e.g., phone number of an ambulance’s driver, address of the nearest hospital, making a decision of what to do and so on.

  Difference in Overt and Covert Behaviors

The differences between overt and covert behaviors are as follows: