Transcript kiss cool bunny rabbit

PS210
History of Psychology
Unit 6
Nichola Cohen Ph.D.
What is behaviorism?
What is behaviorism?
 Based on stimulus-response patterns
What is behaviorism?
 Based on stimulus-response patterns
How did work with animals
influence behaviorism?
What is behaviorism?
 School of thought based on stimulus-response
patterns
How did work with animals
influence behaviorism?
 Animals demonstrated conditioned behavioral
responses
 Example – Clever Hans
Edward Lee Thorndike
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a
latch) to escape from a box
 Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
 Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a
latch) to escape from a box
 Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
 Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
 Trial and accidental success (trial and error learning)
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a




latch) to escape from a box
Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
Trial and accidental success (trial and error learning)
Law of effect:
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a




latch) to escape from a box
Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
Trial and accidental success (trial and error learning)
Law of effect: acts that produce a positive outcome
become associated with the situation, so when the situation
recurs, the act is more likely to recur
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a





latch) to escape from a box
Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
Trial and accidental success (trial and error learning)
Law of effect: acts that produce a positive outcome
become associated with the situation, so when the situation
recurs, the act is more likely to recur
Law of exercise:
Edward Lee Thorndike
 Studied connection between situations and
responses (connectionism)
 Thorndike puzzle box
 Animal has to learn specific behaviors (e.g. operate a





latch) to escape from a box
Animal will 1st display random behaviors and then stumble
across correct behavior by accident. Random behaviors
will be displayed less until learning is complete
Measured number of incorrect responses and time to
escape
Trial and accidental success (trial and error learning)
Law of effect: acts that produce a positive outcome
become associated with the situation, so when the situation
recurs, the act is more likely to recur
Law of exercise: the more the situation and response are
associated, the stronger the connection; the less they are
associated the weaker the connection
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov
 Classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
 Classical conditioning
 Accidental discovery – noticed that dogs
secrete saliva before they receive food
 When food is placed in an animals mouth it will
reflexively salivate
Ivan Pavlov
 Classical conditioning
 Accidental discovery – noticed that dogs
secrete saliva before they receive food
 When food is placed in an animals mouth it will
reflexively salivate – innate / unconditioned reflex
Ivan Pavlov
 Classical conditioning
 Accidental discovery – noticed that dogs
secrete saliva before they receive food
 When food is placed in an animals mouth it will
reflexively salivate – innate / unconditioned reflex
 Salivating at the sight of food is not reflexive, it is
learned
Ivan Pavlov
 Classical conditioning
 Accidental discovery – noticed that dogs
secrete saliva before they receive food
 When food is placed in an animals mouth it will
reflexively salivate – innate / unconditioned reflex
 Salivating at the sight of food is not reflexive, it is
learned – conditional/conditioned response
Who is the founding father of
behaviorism?
Who is the founding father of
behaviorism?
 John Watson
 Basic ideas did not originate with him, but he
organized and promoted it
 According to Watson, what was behaviorism?
Who is the founding father of
behaviorism?
 John Watson
 Basic ideas did not originate with him, but he
organized and promoted it
 According to Watson, what was behaviorism?
 Psychology dealing only with observable,
behavioral acts
 Things should be described in terms of stimulus and
response
 Rejected concepts such as consciousness
 “has never been seen, touched, smelled, tasted or
moved. It is a plain assumption just as unprovable as
the old concept of the soul”
Little Albert experiment
Little Albert experiment
 He demonstrated that you could elicit a
conditioned emotional response to a previously
neutral stimulus
 Concluded that adult fears, anxieties and
phobias are established in infancy
Little Albert experiment
 He demonstrated that you could elicit a
conditioned emotional response to a previously
neutral stimulus
 Concluded that adult fears, anxieties and
phobias are established in infancy
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMnhyGozL
yE
Peter and the rabbit
 Mary Cover Jones asked – can fear responses be
eliminated?
 3 year old Peter had a fear of rabbits
 Over a series of trials (lasting weeks) a rabbit was
brought into the room with Peter and gradually
moved closer
 They were able to eliminate his fear response
 Precursor to behavior therapy
Watson and child-rearing
Watson and child-rearing
 Watson’s views on children
 “never hug or kiss them, never let them sit on your
lap. If you must, kiss them once on the forehead
when they say goodnight. Shake hands with them
in the morning. Give them a pat on the head if
they have made an extraordinarily good job of a
difficult task…you will find how easy it is to be
perfectly objective with your child and at the
same time kindly. You will be utterly ashamed of
the mawkish, sentimental way you have been
handling it”
Watson on instincts
 Initially believed in instincts, but later rejected the
concept and argued that all behaviors are
conditioned responses
Watson on emotions
 Merely physiological responses to stimuli
 E.g. heart racing in response to a threat is a learned
response
 Denied conscious perception of the emotion
 Infants show 3 unlearned emotional response patterns
(fear, rage and love), other emotions are compounded
through these through conditioning
What ethical issues should be
considered when conducting
research on behavior?
What ethical issues should be
considered when conducting
research on behavior?
 What are the benefits?
 What are the risks?
 Do the benefits outweigh the risks?