Foundations of Behaviorism: Classical and Operant Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov and the Foundations of Behaviorism
Historical Significance: Ivan Pavlov is one of the most famous figures in the history of psychology. His experiments contributed to the foundation of the behaviorist school of thought.
Behaviorism Defined: This school viewed psychology as an empirically rigorous science. It focused specifically on observable behaviors rather than unobservable internal mental processes.
Evolution of Psychology: While current psychology is defined as the science of both behavior and mental processes, Pavlov's influence remains tremendous for paving the path for experimental rigor in behavioral research.
Pavlov's Background:
Born in in Russia.
Originally intended to become a Russian Orthodox priest like his father but changed his path.
Earned a medical degree and spent nearly years studying the digestive system.
Won Russia's first Nobel Prize in his mid- for his research on how stomachs work.
His research subjects were dogs rather than humans, as he considered human procedures to be "terrible and cruel."
The Discovery of Associative Learning
Initial Observation: During his digestive research, Pavlov noticed dogs would salivate at the mere whiff of food. While initially found annoying, he eventually suspected this was a form of learning.
Definition of Learning: For psychologists, learning is the process of acquiring, through experience, new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
Adaptive Nature: Learning allows organisms to adapt to their environments and survive.
Associative Learning: This occurs when a subject links certain events, behaviors, or stimuli together through the process of conditioning. It is considered the most elemental and basic form of learning the brain can perform.
The Meat Powder Experiments: Pavlov paired the presence of meat powder (which naturally caused drooling) with various neutral stimuli:
Specific sounds.
Shining a light.
A touch on the leg.
Result: After several pairings, the dog would salivate at the sound, light, or touch alone, even in the absence of meat powder.
The Mechanics of Classical Conditioning
Phase 1: Before Conditioning:
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): The smell of food. This is a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.
Unconditioned Response (UCR): Slobbering/salivation. This is the natural, unlearned response to the unconditioned stimulus.
Neutral Stimulus (NS): A ringing sound (bell). At this stage, it means nothing to the dog and produces no drooling.
Phase 2: During Conditioning:
The Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) (food smell) is paired with the Neutral Stimulus (NS) (bell sound).
This pairing results in drooling.
Acquisition: This is the stage where the association between the stimuli is made through repeated pairings.
Phase 3: After Conditioning:
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The previously neutral stimulus (the bell) that now triggers a response after being associated with the UCS.
Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus. In this case, drooling at the sound of the bell.
Adaptive Survival: Classical conditioning is an adaptive form of learning that helps an animal survive by changing behavior to suit the environment (e.g., a bell signaling food/survival).
Methodological Impact: Pavlov demonstrated that learning can be studied through direct observation of behavior in real-time, avoiding "mentalistic concepts" like consciousness and introspection associated with Sigmund Freud.
Behaviorism and John B. Watson
Objective Psychology: American behaviorists like John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner embraced the idea that psychology should be about objective, observable behavior.
Watson’s Radical Claim: In his book Behaviorism, Watson claimed that given a dozen healthy infants, he could train any one of them to become a specialist (doctor, lawyer, artist) or even a thief, regardless of ancestry or talent.
The "Little Albert" Experiment:
Watson conditioned a young child ("Little Albert") to fear a white rat.
This was achieved by pairing the white rat with a loud, scary noise repeatedly.
Generalization: Albert's terror branched out to include other furry white objects, such as bunnies, dogs, and fur coats.
Ethical Concerns: This experiment would not be allowed by modern standards. "Little Albert" reportedly died a few years after these experiments.
Watson's Later Career: Watson eventually left academia for advertising, applying associative learning principles commercially.
Operant Conditioning and B.F. Skinner
Definition: Operant conditioning involves associating one's own behavior with consequences.
Behaviors increase when followed by reinforcement (reward).
Behaviors decrease when followed by punishment.
B.F. Skinner: The most well-known champion of operant conditioning.
The Operant Chamber (Skinner Box): A confined space containing a lever or button an animal (like a rat) can press to receive a reward (food), with a device to track responses.
Debunking Skinner Myths:
Skinner did not put his children in the Operant Chamber.
His daughter, Deborah Skinner, did not commit suicide; she is alive and had a good relationship with her father.
The Air Crib: Skinner invented a climate-controlled box with a window to keep babies warm/safe; this was distinct from the experimental Skinner Box.
Reinforcement and Shaping
Reinforcement: Any event that increases the behavior it follows (e.g., pushing a lever to get a snack).
Shaping: The process of guiding behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Successive Approximations: Rewarding the subject as they get nearer to the final desired action (e.g., rewarding a rat for getting closer to a bar, then for touching it, then for pressing it).
Positive Reinforcement: Strengthens a response by presenting a pleasurable stimulus after the response (e.g., a cookie for saying "please").
Negative Reinforcement: Strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive or upsetting stimulus.
Example: A car beeping until you fasten your seatbelt reinforces seatbelt-wearing by removing the annoyance.
Example: Painkillers reinforce the behavior of swallowing them by ending a headache.
Distinction from Punishment: Negative reinforcement is NOT punishment. Punishment decreases behavior; negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing a negative event.
Reinforcer Types and Schedules
Primary Reinforcers: Stimuli that are innately satisfying and make biological sense (e.g., food, ending pain).
Conditioned Reinforcers: Stimuli that gain reinforcing power through association with primary reinforcers (e.g., money/paychecks are used to buy food and shelter).
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs. This leads to fast acquisition but also fast extinction (when the behavior stops because reinforcement is removed).
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement: Reinforcing a response only part of the time.
Learning takes longer to acquire.
The behavior is much more resistant to extinction.
Real-World Examples of Intermittent Reinforcement:
A "buy get free" coffee card.
A free double shot every Tuesday morning.
A random lottery for free coffee.
Challenges to Behaviorism
Cognitive Processes: Critics argued that behaviorists like Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner ignored internal thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and memories.
Cognitive Influence: It became clear that internal cognitive processes also influence how we learn, a topic explored in subsequent psychological research.
Observational Learning: Future studies would look at how humans learn by observing others, such as children observing models (e.g., the Bobo doll experiments).