Exam 2 Study Guide: Behaviorist Theorists

What is Social Learning Theory?

Much of our learning occurs NOT by direct social reinforcement, but as a result of observing the behavior or others and by observing the consequences of those behaviors

According to Bandura, where does much of our learning take place?

through modeling or observing behavior and consequences of others

What is the meaning of observational learning?

the manner in which learning takes place

What is the relevance of observational learning to social learning theory?

SLT is the application of observational learning

Define social learning

Social learning theory involves the application of observational learning as a process by which children’s behavior can change

What is the father of social learning?

Albert Bandura

Does Bandura believe we learn that desirable behaviors are rewarded and undesirable behaviors are punished?

Yes

What is vicarious reinforcement?

When a child observes a model receiving positive reinforcement for a response. The child is ,ore likely to produce the same response.

What is vicarious punishent?

When a child observes a model receiving negative reinforcement for a response

What is imitation?

The first result of modeling: when children model what they have observed

What is selective imitation?

Imitations that are not precise reflections of what the child observed

What is response inhibition? What is it also known as?

It is a frequent result of vicarious punishment. Counter Imitation

What are the four processes of social learning theory?

Attentional, retention, production, motivational

What is the attentional process?

Although the child is exposed to a variety of behaviors only certain features of the observed behavior are modeled. These features that tend to be modeled most often are distinct enough to be easily recognized.

What is the process of retention?

Children often model the behaviors of others, not immediately after seeing the behaviors, but considerably later

What is the production process?

The physical capability of a child to reproduce the observed, modeled behavior

What is the motivational process?

observed behavior may not be modeled or activated if it is not reinforced

What are the components of the social cognitive analysis?

Person, person’s behavior, person’s environment

What is reciprocal determinism?

human development reflects the interaction of: a person, the person’s behavior, and the person’s environment

What was Bandura willing to incorporate into his theory that gave it more power/influence?

Cognitive aspects

What is behaviorist theory according to Watson?

Changes in behavior results from conditioning processes rather than innate biological processes

What were Watson’s topics of research in his earlier years?

Physiologic processes and animal psychology

Define introspection

Research method investigating the functions of the human mind by asking subjects to describe their mental experiences

Was Watson satisfied or dissatisfied with introspection?

Dissatisfied

What did Watson propel to the forefront?

Behaviorism

What positions did Watson hold as of 1908

 chairperson of the psychology department at JHU, president of APA, and editor of the Psychological Review

What is Watson’s most famous case study?

Little Albert

What is the CR, CS, UCS, and UCR of the Little Albert study?

Albert’s fear- CR; the white rat- CS; pain- UCR; sound from metal- UCS

What happened to little Albert?

Little Albert moved away before Watson could decondition Albert of his fear of White objects

What is the relevance of Bandura and Pavolov’s theories to Watson?

Watson argued: Learning occurs through the process of association as described in Pavlov’s research on stimulus response conditioning (the dog)

What is the condition reflex method?

The conditioning process that explains how human behavior changes over time

What happened to Watson’s career?

He moved into business and writing books for the general public as a result of an exposed affair with his graduate student

What is the name of Watson’s book?

The Psychological Care of the Infant and Child

Most methods of experimental psychology came from Watson’s theory. What were the 3 themes Watson identified from the methods?

Precise specification of experimental procedures, Emphasis on observable and measurable behaviors, The use of objective and verifiable measures rather than subjective measures

What theory did HH create?

Attachment development

When is attachment clearly formed?

6-8 months of age

What are the 3 stages of attachment

Indiscriminate social responsiveness, discriminate social responsiveness, focused attachment

Indiscriminate social responsiveness (age and developmental area)

Birth- 2 months; Babies do not focus their attention exclusively on the caregiver and will, at times, respond positively to anyone. They do behave in ways that will set the stage for attachment development to the caregiver.

Discriminate social responsiveness (age and developmental area)

2-7 months; The infant becomes much more interested in the caregiver and other familiar people, and these infants direct their social responses to them

Focused attachment (age and developmental area)

8-24 months; The attachment bond is clearly developed by the first year of life and remains very strong until the age of 2.

Which stage do stranger being to be classified in second class status?

discriminate social responsiveness

What stage speaks of cognitive representation and the internal working model?

stage 2: discriminate social responsiveness

What stage do babies develop a sense of self?

Discriminate social responsiveness

Which stage contains emotional attachment and physical development?

Focused attachment

What ages do babies go through emotional and physical development

Emotional- 8 months; Physical- 6-8 months

Describe weariness of strangers

a general fear of unfamiliar people that appears in a child around 8 months of age which clearly highlights the formation of attachment bonds and is a clear indicator of the attachment bond to the caregiver

What is separation anxiety?

also involves crying and seeking out the caregiver. A primary indicator that being close to the caregiver reduces the infants stress.

What is the role of crawling in attachment?

The ability to crawl gives the child their first opportunity for independence. The child no longer needs to rely on crying or other related behaviors to gain proximity to the caregiver.

What are the 3 determinants of attachment?

Responsiveness to the baby, attachment across generations, temperament

Responsiveness to the baby

Mothers who are more sensitive to their babies and who adjust their behaviors to that of their babies are more likely to develop a secure attachment relationship

Attachment across generations

To address this issue of attachment across generations, HH used an instrument he referred to as adult attachment interview. HH had mothers to describe their childhood attachment relationships (caregivers)

Temperament

Babies who are fearful and who have difficult temperaments are likely to show greater distress when separated from their caregivers

Autonomous mother

They present an objective and balanced picture of their childhood, noting both positive and negative experiences

Dismissive mothers

They claimed to have difficulty recalling their childhood, and also appeared to assign little significance to them (their childhoods)

Peroccupied mothers

They tend to dwell on their childhood experiences, often describing their experiences in a confused and highly emotional manner

What is the purpose of the Rhesus monkey study?

Determining the role that feeding plays in the attachment process.

What is the Rhesus monkey study about?

A group of rhesus monkeys were removed from their mothers immediately after birth and were raised in a laboratory with 2 surrogate mothers who were constructed out of wood and wire.

Were the Rhesus monkeys in an controlled or uncontrolled environment?

Controlled

What was the purpose of having two types of surrogate mothers?

He wanted to know what kind of comfort the different mothers could bring to the monkeys

What was the difference between the two surrogate mothers?

One was made of terrycloth and the other was made of wire

How much time did the monkeys spend with the cloth and wire mothers?

17-18 hours per day on the terrycloth mother and less than 1 hour on the wood and wire surrogate

What was found in fear producing situations?

When frightened the monkeys consistently sought out the terry cloth mother for security. When only the wood and wire surrogate was present the monkeys found little comfort in its presence.

What were the two measures of the Rhesus monkey study?

Amount of time spent with each mother, the degree to which the mother provided security in fear producing situations

What were the outcomes of the Rhesus monkey study?

the development of attachment in rhesus monkeys isn’t feeding, but the opportunity to cling and cuddle with the surrogate mothers

What is contact comfort?

Attachment is developed from the opportunity to cuddle and cling to the mother

How were HH, Pavlov and Skinner, and then HH and Watson compared?

Many research psychologists will note that this study encompasses the theories of reinforcement conditioning of Pavlov and Skinner as well as learning principles of Bandura and Watson’s theories

What was Skinner’s theory

Operant/Instrumental: an individual’s behavior can be shaped by selective rewards and punishment received from the environment

What did Skinner think about children?

They were unlearned when they were born

What was Skinner’s position on stimuli that leads to a behavior?

any stimuli or consequence that causes a behavior a response to occur again or not to occur again are effective in modifying that behavior or response

Positive reinforcers

stimuli that increase the probability of a given behavior or response to occur again if the stimuli are presented as a consequence of that behavior 

Negative reinforcers

stimuli that decrease the probability of a given behavior or response to occur again or not to occur again are effective if the stimuli are present as a consequence of that behavior

Punishers

another name for negative reinforcers

What is the meaning of punishment?

Punishment is intended to decrease rather than increase the probability of a given behavior from occurring again and involves the removal of negative behavior

What happened when the mouse pressed the bar?

The mouse received a food pellet

What is the behavior called and why?

The pressing of the bar is the operant behavior, meaning the mouse is acting on the environment

What does it mean when the mouse receives the food from pressing on the bar?

The receiving of the food pellet is the reward (the positive reinforcer)

What did Skinner discover from the results of the Skinner Box?

Behavior can be measured in discrete units, recorded and controlled, findings can be replicated

Identify the schedules of reinforcement

Continuous, intermittent (fixed ratio schedule, fixed interval schedule, variable schedule, variable ratio, variable interval)

What is the name of Skinner’s book?

Walden 2

What are the 5 stages if childrearing, according to Skinner, and their corresponding ages?

Lower Nursery Stage for infants: Birth - Age 1; Upper Nursery Stage: Age 1- Age 2; Middle Childhood Stage: Age 3 - Age 6; Later Childhood Stage: Age 7 - Age 13; Adolescent: Age 13 and beyond

What did Skinner label the US education system in the 1980s?

The shame of American education

What were the 3 ways Skinner said the educational system could be improved?

The aims of education were clarified, Each student was permitted to advance at his or her own pace, if the problem of motivation was solved with computer generated instruction

What kind of theorist was Pavlov?

Classical Conditioning

How and why did Pavlov expose the dog’s salivary glands?

Pavlov surgically exposed the salivary glands of a dog so that he could measure saliva secretion

What were Pavlov’s conditioning techniques?

During a consecutive number of trials of the UCS and the UCR Pavlov introduced a bell/tone. When he introduced the tone he would introduce the powder. After a consecutive number of trials P discovered he could withhold the powder, ring the bell, and the dog would immediately salivate.

How did Pavlov measure the dog’s salivary secretions?

Surgically exposed the salivary glands

What was the purpose of the harness-like apparatus?

To insert food powder and measure saliva secretion

What did Pavlov insert into the dog’s mouth?

Food powder

What was the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR of Pavlov’s experiment?

UCS- food powder; UCR- salivation; CS- Bell tone; CR- salivation

What happened when Pavlov entered the room?

Psychic secretions.; the dog became so familiar with the study and the dog would begin to salivate as soon as Pavlov entered the room

Was the dog permanently conditioned to the food powder?

No

How did Pavlov un condition the dog?

He surgically closed the glands, removed the dog from the environment, and fed the dog normally