Understanding Behaviorism and Social Learning Theories

2. Mini Quiz • 1. Behaviorists believe that all of the important causes of behavior can be found in an individual's a. unconscious mind. b. conscious mind. c. personality traits. d. environment.

3. Mini Quiz • 2. Behaviorism has its philosophical roots in a. associationism. b. empiricism. c. hedonism. d. all of the above

4. Mini Quiz • 3. It has been suggested that chronic anxiety is the result of a. pairing a primary reinforcer with a punisher. b. the law of effect. c. repeated exposure to stimuli that are unpredictable and random. d. second-order conditioning and stimulus generalization.

5. Mini Quiz • 4. When the presentation of a balloon is frequently preceded by the a loud sound, this will likely make one • a. salivate. • b. flinch at the sight of a balloon. • c. show no response to a balloon. • d. start to enjoy loud noises.

6. Mini Quiz • 5. Test 2 was ____ than test 1. • a. easier. • b. harder. • c. about the same.

7. Theories • Dollard and Miller’s Social Learning Theory • Rotter’s Social Learning Theory • Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

9. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory • Very similar to Rotter

10. Example • Your computer skills

11. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory • Efficacy Expectation • Like Rotter’s expectancies, but different • Rotter • The perceived probability that if you do something you will attain your goal • Bandura • The perceived probability that you can just do something

12. Efficacy Expectations • Do you think you can touch this snake? • High efficacy • You can do it! • Low efficacy • You can not do it!

13. Efficacy Expectations • A belief about self • What a person thinks they are capable of doing • Best psychological state is a match between • What a person thinks they can do • What a person can actually do

14. Example • Do you like math? • Why? • “Girls are bad at math”

15. Example • How do you increase a girl’s confidence in math? 1) Show her other girls doing math 2) Have her do it herself to show her she can do math! Increase her efficacy!

16. Observation Learning • Vicarious / observational learning • Bobo Doll studies • Children saw either • A) doll attacked • B) doll not attacked

17. Observation Learning • Children who saw doll attacked • All attacked Bobo • Children who did not see doll attacked • None attacked Bobo • Reinforcement or punishment of model also effected children’s behavior

18. Group Activity • List skills and habits you have learned from your parents and the media through observational learning • How did the behaviors become modeled.

19. Beyond Bobo • What do we model? Physical appearance “Math is hard” “Physical appearance is important” “Relationships are chaotic” “Your mind is important” “You can do math”

20. Reciprocal Determinism • When you go home to your family – what happens? • Do you think the environment changes? • You shape your own environment!

21. Reciprocal Determinism Self Your presence alters your environment Your personality alters your behavior Your environment shapes your personality How you behave alters your personality (especially your perception) Your behavior alters your environment Environment Behavior Your environment alters your behavior (Behaviorism)

22. Reciprocal Determinism • Behaviorism • Only looks at how the environment alters your behaviors • Bandura also emphasizes how our behavior shape our environment

25. Group Activity • 1) Memory experiment • 2) Personality perception experiment

26. Words

27. stubborn recklessness

28. Words

29. persistent adventurous

30. Experiment #1 • Write down • a) the word that comes AFTER one of your words • b) the word that comes BEFORE one of your words

31. Little Cat Run Sky Dog Track Ball Kite Talk Wind Lake Sun Hike Mile

32. Little Cat Run Sky Dog Track Ball Kite Talk Adventurous Stubborn Sun Hike Mile

33. End of Experiment #1 • Write down • a) the word that came AFTER one of your words • b) the word that came BEFORE one of your words

34. Experiment #2 • Personality Perception

35. Donald spent a great amount of his time in search of what he liked to call excitement. He had already climbed Mt. McKinley, shot the Colorado rapids in a kayak, driven in a demolition derby, and piloted a jet-powered boat – without knowing very much about boats. He had risked injury, and even death, a number of times. Now he was in search of new excitement. He was thinking, perhaps, he would so some skydiving or maybe cross the Atlantic in sailboat. By the way he acted one could readily guess that Donald was well aware of his ability to do many things well. Other than business engagements, Donald’s contacts with people were rather limited. He felt he didn’t really need to rely on anyone. Once Donald made up his mind to do something it was as good as done no matter how long it might take or difficult the going might be. Only rarely did he change his mind even when it might well have been better if he had.

36. Personality Perception • Write 2-3 sentences of your general impression of Donald • On a scale of 1 – 10 rate Donald • (1 = did not like; 5 = Neutral; 10 = Like very much)

38. Cognitive Processes and Personality

39. Cognitive Processes and Personality • How thoughts influence our personality • Our perceptions of the world • Our perceptions of ourselves • The goals we set

40. Cognitive Processes and Personality • How thoughts influence our personality • Perceptual processes • Self processes • Strategic and motivational processes

41. Perceptual Processes • “For some the world is a hostile place where men are evil and dangerous; for others it is a stage for fun and frolic.”

42. Perceptual Processes • Group Activity • Why? • Are your perceptions of the world accurate? • Why do some people perceive the world differently?

43. Perceptual Processes • Priming • The more often one perceives something, the more likely that something is to come to mind • Environment • Parents (honesty, fearless, etc.) • Television (violence)

44. How did you see Donald? • Imagine you always encountered issues surrounding: • “stubborn / recklessness” OR • “persistent / adventurous ”

46. Perceptual Processes Exposure to negative words External World Priming “negative network” “network” is activated See others as negative Perceptions of World

48. Scenarios • Pretend that you are standing on the playground playing catch with a bunch of kids. You throw the ball to another kid and the kid catches it. You turn around, and the next thing you realize is that the kid has thrown the ball and hit you in the middle of your back. The ball hit you hard and it hurts a lot.

49. Question • Why did the child / children do this? • Do you think the child / children were trying to be mean or not trying to be mean? • What would you do next?

50. Scenarios • Imagine that you are looking for your friend on the playground. You can’t wait to find your friend because you have an important secret to share. By the time you find your friend, your friend is already playing with someone else – a kid you don’t like very much.