History of Psychology Exam 3

Know the historical development of behaviorism and Gestalt Psychology

Watson's behaviorism was the 1st stage in the evolution of the behavioral school of thought.

2 nd stage.

The 2nd stage, neobehaviorism, Tolman, Hull, and Skinner.

3 points:

•The core of psychology is the study of learning

•Most behavior, no matter how complex, can be accounted for by the laws of conditioning

•Psychology must adopt the principle of operationism

3rd stage

The 3rd stage in behaviorism's evolution, neo-neobehaviorism or sociobehaviorism.

Bandura and Rotter

cognitive processes while maintaining a focus on the observation of overt behavior.

Difference btw beliefs

Watson and Skinner were Radical Behaviorists (believed psychology must only study overt behavior and environmental stimuli, not any presumed internal states)

Tolman, Hull, Bandura, and Rotter were Methodological Behaviorists (they invoke internal cognitive processes as part of psychology's subject matter)

Jaques Loeb

Tropism - animal responses as reflexive action

Edward Lee Thorndike

Defined human learning as the making of connections

Took the study of associations from:

- looking for internal processes

- to focusing on the connection between the environmental situation and the response

Study of behavior must focus on the S-R units

Studied Trial and Error learning

Law of Effect

Law of Exercise

Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov

Classical conditioning

- Works with reflexive (involuntary) responses

- Works with existing responses: S-R Units

- Learning Occurs when the involuntary response is elicited (triggered) by a new stimulus

- UCS Unconditioned stimulus (unlearned) ex. Food for dog

- UCR Unconditioned response (reflexive response to the UCS) ex. Salivation

- CS Conditioned (learned) stimulus. (originally neutral)

- CR Conditioned Response (reflex to the CS)

Robert Yerkes

Development of the rat maze

E.B. Twitmyer

Research on the Knee Jerk Reflex

Described subjects responding to Stimuli other than the original stimulus

No Interest/ No Questions/ No Response

Became discouraged and dropped research

John B. Watson

Watson only looks at stimulus and response, he DOES NOT look at consequences (classical not Operant)

Contributions:

* The goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior

* 4 types of behavior

1) Explicit learned behavior

2) Implicit learned behavior

3) Explicit unlearned behavior

4) Implicit unlearned behavior

Use of methods from Natural Sciences

Observation: with & without instruments

Testing: of behavior or mental processes

Verbal Report: are objectively observable, need outside confirmation

Conditioned Reflex: conditioning is stimulus substitution

Instincts

- 1914 identified 11 instincts

- 1925 eliminated concept of instincts

Conditioned Emotions

- Little Albert

- Conditioned fear response

- Generalization of conditioned fear

Rosalie Rayner

-Research Assistant to John Watson

-Watson left his wife to be with her, this resulted in his rejection from academia

Mary Cover Jones

- Elimination of Generalized fear response

Saw adult pathology as conditioned responses

Learned in childhood

- Thinking was not accessible to objective observations

- Thought is due to implicit behaviors

· Sub Vocal talking

· Talking to oneself

Karl Lashley

Law of Mass Action -

The efficiency of learning is a function of total mass of cortical tissue

Equipotentiality - The idea that one part of the cerebral cortex is essentially equal to another in its contribution to learning

Edward Chace Tolman

* Rejected Introspection

All behavior is directed (purposeful): Toward some goal, and toward learning the means to an end

Causes of behavior

Behavior is caused by objectively observable events

1. Environmental stimuli

2. Physiological drives

3. Heredity

4. Previous Training

5. Age

There are internal processes, which connect the stimulus and the response

S-->O-->R

Intervening variables are the direct cause of a response

* Replaces Thorndike's law of effect with a cognitive theory of learning

* Repeated performance of a task strengthens relationship between environmental stimuli and the subject's expectations

* Subjects learn "Sign Gestalts"

- When learning one learns "sign gestalts". These are expectations the subject forms about the environment, a cognitive map.

- Cognitive map: is a representation of the environment in the brain

- Learning takes place even if it is not observable at the time.

The brain forms cognitive maps from observation of the environment even without behavior

Increased research on learning

Defined internal variables in objective language

Provided research that was a forerunner for cognitive psychology

Clark Leonard Hull

Behavior directed by drives (physiological)

Reinforcer = stimulus that lowers drive state

Number of previous reinforcements increases strength of S-R connections = Habit Strength

Hypothetico-deductive Method - Reduce human behavior to the precise language of physics and mathematics

Behavior is defined by:

* Inputs

* Intervening Variables

* Output (Responses)

B.F. Skinner

Operant Conditioning:works with Voluntary Responses. Works with existing responses

Classical Conditioning: works with Involuntary Responses. Creates new responses

R = Response

C = Consequence

Reinforcer = A consequence that increases the frequency of the response that precedes it (Positive consequence)

Punisher = A consequence that decreases the frequency of the response that precedes it

(Negative Consequence)

Positive Reinforcement: reinforcing positive behavior so it will happen again

Negative Reinforcement: The removal of a negatively valued stimulus. Is a positive consequence because of the removal of the negative condition (think of alcoholic rehabilitation and induced vomiting to the smell or taste of alcohol)

Primary Reinforcers: Meets with a physiological need for survival/food, air, water, sleep , sex

Secondary Reinforcers: Is reinforcing because it is associated with a primary reinforcer

Punishment: The application of a negatively valued stimulus. Has limited effects, only suppresses a behavior. Often creates fear and anger in the recipient.

•Effective = immediate to R, Strong enough, Every time

Response cost

•The removal of a positively valued stimulus. Losing one's license, phone, etc. Time out

Albert Bandura

Observational learning (Modeling)

- Learn from the observed consequences others receive for their behavior

- Cognitive Factors: Knowledge, Expectations, Attitudes

- Environmental Factors: Social norms,

Factors in Observational Learning - Attention, Retention, Production Processes, Motivation

Julian Rotter

Locus of Control - we form subjective expectations about the outcomes or results of our behavior in terms of the amount of reinforcement we can expect.

We establish a connection between our behaviors and specific reinforcements

Internal Locus Control

Views own behavior as the direct cause of a reinforcement

Mentally and physically healthy

Less anxiety and depression

Cope better with stress

Get better grades in school

Are more popular and socially skilled

Higher self-esteem

External locus Control

Views own behavior as making no difference in reinforcement

Feel helpless to change their circumstances

See themselves as victims of circumstance

Have greater health problems

Have greater anxiety and depression

Views success as dependent on others

Have low self-esteem

Immanuel Kant

Phenomenology: An approach to knowledge based on an unbiased description of immediate experience as it occurs, not analyzed or reduced to elements. Brain imposes an organization on experience

Max Wertheimer

Phi Phenomenon

While on vacation the inadvertent discovery of Apparent Motion

The illusion that two stationary flashing lights are moving from one place to the other

Wundt would say you see two lines

Kurt Koffka

WWI Worked with brain damaged patients

Helped develop Gestalt psychology's focus on conscious experience including perception, thinking and learning.

Through his publications introduced America to Gestalt Psychology

Wolfgang Kohler

Main spokesperson for Gestalt Psychology

Based on his training in physics, felt Gestalten (patterns) basis for psychology

Perception takes place in the unified wholes

Laws of Perceptual Organization:

Proximity - When we see two objects together, we group them

Continuity - We will continue to see a pattern even when a pattern ends

Similarity - We group things together based on their look alikeness

Closure - We fill things in (like triangle image)

Simplicity - We reduce things to their simplest forms

Figure/Ground - We pull the stimulus forward and everything else become background

Chimpanzee studies

Trail & error

Kurt Lewin

The Life Space

Psychological activities occur in a psychological field

Includes all past, present, and future events that might affect us.

Each event is the persons needs interacting with their psychological environment

Topological Maps:

Mathematical model for psychological processes

Shows person's goals and action paths

Motivation:

Homeostasis - a balance between the person and their environment

Behavior is the attempt to reduce tension created by imbalance in the psychological field

Zeignark Effect - greater recall for unfinished tasks

Founded study of group dynamics

Behavior in groups follows predictable patterns

Group behavior is the result of total psychological field situation

Vladimir Berkhterev

Interested in Motor conditioning response

Discovered the associated reflexes

Reflexes that are elicited by stimuli associated with the unconditioned response

Connectionism

learning is connecting situations and responses

study of association

behavior caused by the connection between situations and responses

Trial & Error

Trial & Error learning is a result of the way the maze is structured. The only way to solve it is by trial and error because you cannot get a view of the whole.

Law of exercise and law of effect

Law of Exercise (Law of Use and Disuse) - The more a response becomes associated with a situation, the more strongly it becomes associated with it. The less a response is used in a situation, the weaker the association between the two.

Law of Effect - Any act that leads to a satisfying situation will be more likely to occur.

Conditioning of emotions, Albert and Peter

Human Emotions:

John Watson - Conditioned fear in little Albert

Mary Cover Jones - First behavior therapist, eliminated fear in Peter

Operationism

The doctrine that a physical concept can be defined in precise terms related to the set of operations or procedures by which it is determined. The purpose of Operationism was to render the language and terminology of science more objective and precise and rid psychology of problems that are not observable or physically demonstrable. The validity of this process is in the validity of the instruments.

Intervening variables (Tolman)

Unobserved and inferred factors within the organism that are the actual determinants of behavior

Intervening variables are the direct cause of a response (the actual determinant of behavior)

Repeated performance of a task strengthens relationship between environmental stimuli and the subject's expectations

The nature and schedules of reinforcement

Conditions involving various rates and times of reinforcement (fixed ratio schedule)

Successive approximations of a behavior

An explanation for the acquisition of complex behavior. Behaviors such as learning to speak will be reinforced only as they come to approximate or approach the final desired behavior. (Shaping) Skinner was able to condition a pigeon to peck a specific spot by reinforcing its movement until the desired behavior existed, then he only had to reinforce the desired behavior and the pigeon would make all the previous steps to get there.

Self-efficacy

One's sense of self-esteem and competence in dealing with life's problems.

Vicarious reinforcement

Bandura's notion that learning can occur by observing the behavior of other people, and the consequences of their behavior, rather than by always experiencing reinforcement personally.

Phi Phenomenon

The illusion that two stationary flashing lights are moving from one place to the other

Gestalt principles of perceptual organization

Proximity - When we see two objects together, we group them

Continuity - We will continue to see a pattern even when a pattern ends

Similarity - We group things together based on their look alikeness

Closure - We fill things in (like triangle image)

Simplicity - We reduce things to their simplest forms

Figure/Ground - We pull the stimulus forward and everything else become background

Gestalt conceptions of field of force, insight learning, isomorphism

Field of Force: Regions or spaces traversed by lines of force, such as of a magnet or electric current.

Insight: Immediate apprehension or cognition, the spontaneous understanding of relationships.

Isomorphism: The doctrine that there is a correspondence between psychological or conscious experience and the underlying brain experience.

Zeigarnik effect

The tendency to recall uncompleted tasks more easily than completed tasks. (such as when being interrupted, one remembers the interruption more so than the project at hand)

Pavlov's behaviorism

Pavlov built on the work of Descartes where the approach was analytic, mechanistic, and atomistic. His work was concerned with conditioning and reinforcement. He conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell.

Watson's behaviorism

The primary elements of behavior for Watson was the body's muscular movements and glandular secretions. He was concerned with acts that could be described objectively. S-->R units, He DID NOT deal with consequences or rewards. Thought process to Watson were intangible because they occurred in the brain and not in muscular movements, therefore they are not accessible to observation and experimentation.

Criticism: Excluded sensory and perceptual processes

Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism

Tolman's Purposive Behaviorism combines the objective study of behavior with the consideration of purposiveness or goal orientation in behavior. Behavior can be defined without introspection.

Criticism: Watson (radical behaviorist) criticised this method because it looked at the purpose of behavior.

Hull's hypothetico-deductive method and theory of learning and behavior

The hypothetico-deductive method uses deduction from a set of formulations that are determined. This method involves establishing postulates from which experimentally testable conclusions can be deduced. Hull believed that this method was the only appropriate method for psychology to become truly objective. Hull's learning theory focuses on reinforcement (essentially Thorndike's law of effect). His Law of Primary Reinforcement states that when a stimulus-response relationship is followed by a reduction in need, the probability increases that on subsequent occasions the same stimulus will evoke the same response. He called the strength of the S-->R response Habit Strength, refers to the persistence of conditioning.

Criticism: lack of generalizability, formed postulates obtained in a single experiment.

Skinner's operant conditioning

Skinner conditioned pigeons using reinforcement. To Skinner, Operant Conditioning is a learning situation that involves behavior emitted by an organism rather than elicited by a detectable stimulus. Operant behavior occurs without any observable stimulus so the response appears to be spontaneous. This does not mean there is no stimulus but that it may be internal to the organism, not detectable by the observer.

Criticism of Skinner: His behaviorism peaked in the 80's but lost ground in the 90's due to the impact of the cognitive approach. He was attacked for his extreme positivism and opposition to theory.

Bandura's social learning theory

His research observed human behavior during interaction. He did not use introspection, and he emphasized the importance of rewards or reinforcement in acquiring and modifying behavior. He system also focuses on cognition. He agreed with Skinner that behavior can be reinforced, he also suggested that individuals can learn through all kinds of behavior without experiencing reinforcement directly. He called this Vicarious Reinforcement. Bandura's approach is a Social Learning Theory because it studies behavior as formed and modified in social situations.

Rotter's locus of control theory

Locus of control is Rotter's idea about the perceived source of reinforcement. Internal locus of control is the belief that reinforcement depends on one's own behavior; External locus of control is the belief that reinforcement depends on outside forces. He believed that locus of control is learned in childhood from the behavior of parents or caregivers.

Gestalt studies of learning by Kohler

Kohler studied the intelligence of chimpanzees and their ability to problem solve. He considered problem solving to be a matter of reconstructing the perceptual field. His studies led him to the concept of Insight, where spontaneous understanding occurred. He criticised Thorndike's work with animal mazes because in Gestalt psychology, one must be able to perceive the relationships among various parts in order for insight learning to happen.

Field theory by Lewin

System using the concept of fields of force to explain behavior in terms of one's field of social influences. Lewin described human behavior in terms of its total physical and social context. He focused on social issues that affect how we live and work. The influence of physics led him to consider a person's psychological activity in terms of a psychological field. This he called the Life Space, which encompasses all past, present, and future events that may affect us.

Criticism: He used a mathematical model but was interested in the individual person. Statistics works with groups but not individual persons.