Behaviorists

B.F. Skinner - Conditioning

Alfred Bandura - Modeling soc. learning

• Ivan Pavlov- Classical conditioning. Biological response

  • Unconditional Stimuli (unlearned) - Food

  • Unconditional response- Salivation

  • conditioned (learned) Stimuli - Bell

  • Conditioned Response - Salivation upon hearing the bell

• acquisition: neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus

• Extinction: weakening conditioned response without unconditioned stimulus

• Spontaneous recover: reappearance of conditioned response after break

• Effective acquisition: conditioned stimulus just before/with unconditioned stimulus

• evolutionary value : quick learning to avoid harmful stimuli

• Taste aversion: powerful single-trial learning

Emotional responses to stimuli (Watson)

• Conditioned emotional responses: emotions linked to neutral stimuli

• Stimulus generalization: responding to similar stimuli

• Stimulus discrimination: differentiating between similar stimuli

• BF Skinner (reinforced behaviors)

• Skinner’s theory: behavior motivated by consequences

• “Skinner boxes”: demonstrating operant conditioning in animals

• Reinforcement preferred over punishment for behavior change

• Reinforcement effective in improving academic achievement

operant conditioning:

• Reinforcement: always increases behavior

• Punishment: always decreases behavior

• Positive: adding something (pleasant or unpleasant)

• negative: remove something (pleasant or unpleasant)

Schedules of reinforcement: timed & event-based

observational/modeling/social learning:

Vicarious punishment: learning from others’ consequences

cognition: mental processes for gaining knowledge and comprehension

meta cognition: reflecting on thought processes and learning strategies

learned helplessness: a psychological condition in which individuals believe they have no control over their situation, leading to a lack of motivation to change.