Behaviorist Perspective

What two simple ideas are connected with behaviorist’s learning-based approach?

1. Stimuli that occur close together in time will come to elicit the same response

2. Behaviors followed by pleasant outcomes tend to be repeated; behaviors followed by unpleasant outcomes tend to be dropped

learning

change in behavior due to experience

what does the learning-based approach mean?

explains personality in terms of the learning process

implies that everyone should behave the same in the same environment or situation

Describe the pragmatic/scientific model of personality

a working model of behavior

examines only the observables (does not deny the existence of internal states)

parsimonious (simplest answer)

who are the key behaviorist psychologists?

Watson, Skinner, Thorndike, and Millar and Dollard

Who was John B Watson?

“Father of Behaviorism”

nature vs nurture, role of experience in shaping personality, Little Albert

radical behaviorism

inspired by Pavlov’s work, it is a reaction to Freudian and humanistic arguments of conscious and unconscious minds controlling behavior

what is behaviorism?

the science of behavior; studies how to arrange our environments so that they make more likely the behaviors we want to be probable

everything a person does and is, is learned through experience and personality is a sum of everything a person does

what is the goal of behaviorism?

to discover the laws or statements that describe functional behavior-environment relations

functional analysis

method used to study the relationship between behaviors, their triggers, and their consequences

environment

the collection of real circumstances that we exist in

response

specific instance of behavior

classical conditioning

learning that one stimulus is a warning or signal for another

ex: Pavlov’s dog

Learned Helplessness

events seem to happen randomly

produces anxiety and depression

habituation

simplest form of behavior change as a result of experience

ex: become numb to violence displayed in the media

the impact of major life events lessens over time

describe the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in Pavlov’s dog example

unconditioned stimulus: food

unconditioned response: drooling

neutral stimulus: bell

conditioned stimulus: bell after conditioning

conditioned response: drooling in response to bell

what is an example of classical conditioning an emotional response?

Little Albert

continuity hypothesis

early attachment/development link to later relationships, personality, and behavior

reductionism

behavior is a biochemistry - complex phenomena examined/described through fundamental parts

empiricism

psychology is a natural science so deal with observables (behavior)

mental events and nonmaterial events (consciousness) are not amenable to testing

determinism

every behavior is caused; causes are in the environment that precede behavior (mental events do not cause behavior)

all behavior has a function

which theory did EL Thorndike introduce?

The Law of Effect

Law of Effect

annoyers and satisfiers

trial and error learning (consequences important in learning)

behaviors followed by satisfying results are more likely to be repeated

what conclusions did Thorndike’s work find?

1. Learning is incremental, not insightful

2. Learning is not mediated by ideas

3. All mammals learn in the same manner

what is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

classical (respondent) conditioning focuses on reflexive and automatic behaviors (stimulus - response)

operant conditioning focuses on a broad range of behaviors and strengthens or weakens their responding (Behavior - consequence)

• defining feature of operant conditioning is a behavior that increases/decreases as a result of a consequence

what are the two types of consequences in operant conditioning?

reinforcement: rewards and increases a behavior

punishment: punishes and diminishes a behavior

positive vs negative consequences

positive is addition of a stimulus

negative is the removal of a stimulus

what are the schedules of reinforcement?

continuous: every instance of a desired behavior is reinforced

intermittent: desired behavior is only reinforced occasionally

• intermittent schedules can be fixed or variable and interval or ratio

fixed schedule

the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements is set and unchanging (predictable)

variable schedule

the number of responses/amount of time between reinforcements changes randomly (unpredictable)

ratio schedule

reinforcement occurs after a certain number of responses have been emitted

interval schedule

interval schedules involve reinforcing a behavior after a period of time has passes

ABCs of Behavior

antecedents, behavior, consequence

we can manipulate the antecedent and consequence to influence behavior

generalization

emitted behavior can occur in the absence of direct reinforcement

ex: learn to run away from a lion, generalize that you should also run away from a tiger

differential reinforcement

involves manipulating reinforcement for responses in order to

1. increase target skills/behavior

2. decrease maladaptive behavior

ex: toilet training, table manners, kindness

what are some limitations of radical behavior?

complex cognitive behavior

verbal behavior criticisms (definitions of verbal stimuli and behavior are too broad)

relational frame theory (RFT)

human language

building a frame, reinforcing it, and relating it to the world

how do modern day behaviorists view personality?

our behavior is under stimulus control

personalities are the product of the environment and the stable pattern of behaviors across time and contexts