7.2. Skinner

Skinner: Behavioral Analysis

Overview of Behavioral Analysis

• Emerged from laboratory studies of animals and humans.

• Minimized speculation to enhance scientific rigor.

• Focused exclusively on observable behavior.

• Avoided utilizing hypothetical constructs.

• Proposed that behavior is lawfully determined.

• Suggested that behavior is a product of environmental stimuli.

Biography of Skinner

• Born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania in 1904.

• Childhood interests included constructing gadgets, playing music, and writing novels.

• Attended Hamilton College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA).

• Obtained his PhD in psychology at Harvard in 1931.

• Accepted his first teaching job at age 32 at the University of Minnesota.

Biography (cont’d)

• Published The Behavior of Organisms in 1938, a significant work in behavioral science.

• Invented the controversial baby tender, a device for child care.

• Trained pigeons for a military application to guide bombs into enemy ships during WWII, demonstrated in 1944.

• Authored Walden Two, reflecting on his ambitions as a writer.

• Held teaching positions at Indiana University and Harvard.

• Died in 1990 from leukemia.

Precursors of Skinner’s Scientific Behaviorism

• E.L. Thorndike: Established the Law of Effect, emphasizing the outcomes of behavior.

• John B. Watson: Advocated for objective study of behavior, dismissing consciousness and introspection.

  • Suggested that the goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior.

  • Promoted the study of stimulus-response connections.

Scientific Behaviorism

• Philosophy of Science: Emphasizes behavioral interpretation over causal explanation.

• Characteristics of Science:

  • Cumulative: Builds on existing knowledge.

  • Valued empirical observation, rejection of authority, and demands intellectual honesty.

  • Science seeks order and lawful relationships through prediction, control, and description.

Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

• A process where a specific, identifiable stimulus elicits a response from an organism.

• Involves pairing a neutral (conditioned) stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus multiple times to generate a conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

• Shaping: A method where behavior is refined through successive approximations with rewards.

  • Three essential conditions:

    • The antecedent: The environment/set in which behavior occurs.

    • The behavior itself.

    • The consequence of the behavior.

• Operant discrimination: Recognizing environmental differences that affect behavior based on past consequences.

• Stimulus generalization: Occurs when a response is elicited by similar stimuli.

Operant Conditioning Effects

Reinforcement

• Strengthens behavior and provides rewards.

• Two types of reinforcement:

  • Positive Reinforcement: Introducing a favorable stimulus.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Removing an adverse stimulus.

Punishment

• Involves the presentation of an aversive stimulus to decrease behavior.

• Comparison between punishment and reinforcement involves conditioned and generalized reinforcers:

  • Primary reinforcers: Naturally satisfying stimuli.

  • Conditioned reinforcers: Environmental stimuli that become satisfying through association.

  • Generalized reinforcers: Associated with multiple primary reinforcers.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Types include:

  • Fixed-ratio

  • Variable-ratio

  • Fixed-interval

  • Variable-interval

• Extinction: Refers to the weakening of a previously reinforced behavior when reinforcement is withheld.

The Human Organism

The Role of Various Influences

• Natural Selection: The process influencing evolution.

• Cultural Evolution: How cultures shape behavior.

• Inner States: Include aspects like self-awareness, drives, emotions, purpose, and intention.

• Complex Behaviors: Encompass higher mental processes, creativity, unconscious behaviors, dreams, and social behaviors.

• Control of Human Behavior: Examines elements of social control and self-control.

The Unhealthy Personality

Counteracting Strategies

• Methods include:

  • Escape

  • Revolt

  • Passive Resistance

Inappropriate Behaviors

• Behaviors that manifest as either excessively vigorous or restrained, along with blocks to reality, self-delusions, and self-punishment.

Psychotherapy

• Viewed as a barrier to the scientific study of behavior.

• Therapists encourage behavior change through reinforcement of positive behavior modifications.

• Behavior therapists utilize techniques highlighting the positive consequences of behaviors and the negative effects of others.

Related Research

• How Conditioning Affects Personality (Tidey, O’Neil & Higgins, 2000): Reinforcers' value can shift over time.

• How Personality Affects Conditioning (Philip Corr, 2002): Individual personality traits affect responses to reinforcers.

• Reinforcement and the Brain (Beaver et al., 2009): High behavioral activation correlates with increased brain activation in response to rewards.

Critique of Skinner

• Skinner’s Theory Characteristics:

  • High generation of research, guiding action, and internal consistency.

  • High on falsifiability.

  • Moderate in organizing knowledge.

  • Difficulties in rating parsimony.

Concept of Humanity

• Aspects include:

  • Determinism vs. Free Will (determined behavior).

  • Optimism vs. Pessimism.

  • Causality vs. Teleology.

  • Unconscious vs. Conscious influences.

  • Social Influences vs. Biological factors.

  • Uniqueness vs. Similarity among individuals.

Refleksi

• Contemplate a behavior or habit that requires modification.

• Evaluate potential forms of reinforcement and punishment that may effectively alter said behavior or habit.