B.F. Skinner-->Behaviorism Part 1

What are the different origins of behaviorism according to B.F. Skinner?

•Studies of behavior in the (university) lab under scientific and controlled conditions. They wanted observation and learning under behavioral theories. We are talking about a whole different paradigm shift. The only things to talk about in the lab is what they see, observe and measure.

•It began with the work of Ivan Pavlov in Russia and John Watson and Edward Thorndike in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

•Philosophically, it was a rejection of psychoanalysis which was a clinically derived theory of behavior that involved constructs that could not be subjected to the scientific method.

What was the scientific method according to the origins of behaviorism?

requires observation and measurement under controlled conditions.

What was the basic assumption according to the origins of behaviorism?

Where personality (behavior) is learned

What role does learning play in psychology according to b.f. Skinner?

It plays an important role in almost every aspect of psychology. Where many aspect of behavior are learned but we are just not aware of it.

Learning is when people perceive the world and form social attachments

True

Learning is part of emotional reactions

True

What is another role part of learning?

Some (or most depending on the theorist) personality differences, e.g., why in a frustrating situation some people give up and some people try harder.

Moreover the aspects of learning include:

•Attitudes about ourselves and others

•Psychological disorders

•Sexual problems

What is learning in general?

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that occurs as the result of experience.

What defines a stimulus?

something in the environment which elicits, provokes, or excites a response or reaction.

Ex: Loud sound was the stimulus of a key pounding hard

What defines a response?

a reaction to the stimulus.

Ex: Loud sound of a key pounding hard and the response was when everyone looks quickly

What is an example of both a stimulus and a response?

Cell phone rings (stimulus); a person looks at it (response).

What are behavior theorists according to learning?

individuals who subscribe to the idea that learning is associated solely with stimulus-response connections and can be measured by observable behavior.  They hold that an organism’s prewired (genetically based) repertory of behavior is supplemented by continual rewiring acquired through experience.

Example: Tendency to engage in some things, as a result of experience we tend to engage in some of these.

What do the several types of learning include?

•Habituation

•Classical Conditioning

•Instrumental Conditioning

•Cognitive Learning

What are the several types of learning arranged from?

the simplest to the most complex

What is the DEFINITION for habituation?

-Getting used to it. It is the simplest form of learning.

-The organism becomes used to some stimulus in its environment, e.g., ticking, jack hammer, planes flying over head, various noises.  This is why it is a bad idea to leave “slippery when wet” signs out for a long time.

What is an EXAMPLE of habituation?

Basic training in the military, where soldiers use guns, when bullets are coming out, they go to the opposite direction, they can’t run away from it but toward it instead of away, they use habituation. You see and hear bullets coming out of you, but you crawl through it, and after a while, they are not afraid of the gun sounds and instead, they just move toward it. Rather than being afraid, they have habituation, and they move toward it, getting used to something

What occurs in the process of habituation?

Repeated presentations of stimulus bring about a gradual decline in the response where anxiety is exposed to it over and over again the anxiety response decreases until there is no anxiety

What is ANOTHER EXAMPLE of habituation?

sexual activity declines in all long-term couples.  This is attributed to habituation.  The sexual stimuli do not evoke the same response by the individuals in a couple because each has become used to them. Because they get habituated, they are less likely to have sexual activity

In habituation, what is adaptive significance?

Occurs in all types of animals from insects to humans.  It narrows the range of stimuli which elicit escape reactions. 

In habituation, what does adaptive significance allow for the continuation of?

of important activities related to survival and reproduction, e.g., feeding, reproductive behavior, having sex, sleeping, care of offspring, etc. 

What is an example of adaptive significance?

Birds that feed on the sides of roads have habituated to the sounds and presence of cars passing by, and their feeding behavior is not interrupted.

There exits both short term and long term habituation

True

What are the four main characteristics of habituation include?

1. The weaker the stimulus the easier it is to habituate to it

2. Stimulus generalization

3. Spontaneous recovery

4. Dishabituation

What is the first point of the four main characteristics of habituation?

The weaker the stimulus, the easier it is to habituate to it. The presentation of some intense stimuli may not result in habituation.  This makes adaptive sense because they may impede survival and reproduction, e.g., extremes of heat or cold, pain, aversive odors. We may never habituate because it will be maladaptive to habituation and it can kill you.

What is the second point of the four main characteristics of habituation?

stimulus generalization where habituation to one stimulus can generalize to another stimulus.  The response to the second stimulus may be less strong than the response to the first because the second only resembles the first.

Ex: firing range, practicing firing gun, and car blows up like boom! The person who was at the range will not be startled, whereas the person who wasn’t at the range will be startled

What is the third point of the four main characteristics of habituation?

Spontaneous Recovery where Following habituation to a stimulus, the response returns if the stimulus is withheld for a period of time. An important component here is withheld.

Ex: You live near a noisy construction site, and over time you get used to the noise, then the construction stops for a few weeks. When the noise starts again, it bothers you again, even though you had gotten used to it before.

What is the fourth point of the fourth main characteristics of Habituation?

Dishabituation: after habituation to a stimulus the presentation of another intense stimulus results in the recovery of the original response.

Ex: You get used to the sound of a ticking clock, so you don’t notice it anymore. Suddenly, someone slams a door, a new intense stimulus. After that you notice the ricking clock again, even though you had tuned it out before

Who was responsible for classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov

What is classical conditioning also known as?

Also known as Pavlovian Conditioning and Respondent Conditioning