1 / 30

Behaviorism

Behaviorism. http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/EDSPC715_MCINTYRE/cartoon12.JPG. Predecessors of Behaviorism. Animal psychology Thorndike Pavlov. Clever Hans, the clever horse. von Osten’s goal : prove humans and animals have similar mental processes. Clever Hans, the clever horse

solada
Download Presentation

Behaviorism

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Behaviorism http://maxweber.hunter.cuny.edu/pub/eres/EDSPC715_MCINTYRE/cartoon12.JPG

  2. Predecessors of Behaviorism • Animal psychology • Thorndike • Pavlov

  3. Clever Hans, the clever horse • von Osten’s goal: prove humans and animals have similar mental processes

  4. Clever Hans, the clever horse An Investigation • Used experimental approach • 2 groups of questioners • Group 1 knew the answers • Group 2 did not know the answers • Hans only answered correctly when questionersknew the answers

  5. Clever Hans, the clever horse An Investigation • Conclusion: • Hans was receiving some type of information from questioners • Hans had been unintentionally conditioned by his owner • Impact: • Scientists more skeptical of mental processes in animals But… • Provided proof that animals were capable of learning

  6. Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) • Believed psychology should study behavior, not elements/conscious experiences • Developed a theory of learning • Puzzle boxes • Measurements: • errors • time • Trial-and-error learning

  7. Theory of Learning • Connectionism • Association between stimuli and responses • Connection more likely to form if followed by a reinforcement • Response-units • simplest elements of behavior

  8. Formal Laws of Learning • Law of effect: • behavior that produces a good outcome becomes associated with a certain situation; • when the situation recurs, the behavior is likely to occur again (“stamping in”) • likewise, a behavior with a bad outcome is less likely to occur again (“stamping out”)

  9. Pavlov’s life (1849-1936) • Intended to study for the priesthood • Read about Darwin, chose to study animal physiology • Total dedication to research, unwilling to deal with everyday problems • 1904 Nobel Prize for work on digestion

  10. An Accidental Discovery

  11. Conditioned reflexes • Experimental Results • Salivating to the food in mouth is innate: unconditional reflex • Salivating to the sight of food is learned: conditional reflex http://www.sciencecases.org/behaviorism/title.jpg

  12. US (meat) NS (bell) UR (saliva) nothing Conditioned reflexes • Before conditioning

  13. US (meat) UR (saliva) Conditioned reflexes • After conditioning CS (bell) CR (saliva)

  14. Influences on Psychology • Shift of associationism from • subjective ideas • objective physiological responses • Provided Watson with a new method

  15. Toward a science of behavior • Background • 1892-1923: structuralism dominates, then first supplemented and finally replaced by functionalism • 1913: behaviorism declares war • Protest against both structuralism and functionalism • 1924: Watsonian behaviorism preeminent in US

  16. Three stages of behaviorism • 1913-1930: Watsonian behaviorism • 1930-1960: Neobehaviorism • Hull, Skinner • 1960-present: Sociobehaviorism • return to cognitive processes • Bandura, Rotter

  17. Watson’s Life (1878-1958) • Family: poor, father drank, frequently unemployed, ran off with another woman when Watson was 13 • Personality: • Delinquent as a teen • At 16, enrolled in university to become minister • Very ambitious but insecure

  18. Watson’s Life (1878-1958) • Academic career: • 1903: • youngest person at University of Chicago to receive doctorate (age 25) • married one of his students • 1909: • Chair of psychology at John Hopkins • Editor of Psychological Review

  19. Watson’s Life (1878-1958) • Academic career: • 1914: behavior: an introduction to comparative psychology • Argued for acceptance of animal psychology • Described advantages of animal subjects • Discussed importance of ridding psychology of the remnants of philosophy • 1919: psychology from the standpoint of a behaviorist • Most complete account of behaviorism to date • Argued methods and principles of animal research are appropriate for study of humans

  20. Watson’s Life (1878-1958) • Overview • Watson credited the work of others as originators of behaviorism • Saw himself as bringing together the emergent ideas • Goal: to found a new school

  21. Watson’s Life (1878-1958) • 1920: Scandal • Affair with student Rosalie Rayner • Watson forced to resign • Moved into advertising

  22. Watson’s behaviorism • Dealt solely with observable behavior • Rejected mentalistic concepts and terms such as consciousness and soul, declared introspection irrelevant • Desired practical applications • Goal: prediction and control of behavior

  23. Reactions to Watson’s Behaviorism Initial reactions • Behaviorism was not embraced 1920s • University courses in behaviorism • The word “behaviorist” appeared in journals • McDougall: issued a public warning against behaviorism • Other forms of behaviorism emerging

  24. The methods of behaviorism • Only accepted methods • Observation, with and without instruments • Testing methods • Verbal report method • Conditioned reflex method Behavior = individual stimulus-response units

  25. The subject matter of behaviorism • Responses can be explicit or implicit • Explicit • Overt, directly observable behavior • Ex. blinking, knee jerk • Implicit • Behavior that occurs internally, but • Has a physical manifestation and • Is potentially observable through the use of instruments • Ex. glandular secretions

  26. Instincts • 1925: eliminated the concept of instinct • Denied inherited capacities, temperaments, talents • Children can become anything one desires with the correct training • Seemingly instinctive behavior is actually a socially conditioned response

  27. Emotions • Emotions • Physiological reactions to stimuli, different for each emotion • Implicit behavior • Only unlearned emotional response patterns: • Love • Rage • Fear http://www.ssqq.com/stories/images/fear.jpg http://www.bebereviews.com/baby%20massage%20i%20stock.jpg http://erkansaka.net/blog/archive/Metallica-StAnger-thumb.jpg

  28. Watson & Little Albert • Albert conditioned to fear a white laboratory rat • Each time he reached for the rat, Watson made a loud clanging noise right above Albert • Albert’s fear generalized to anything white and furry • Including rabbits and Santa Claus • Study demonstrated conditioned (learned) emotional responses

  29. Behaviorism’s popular appeal • Watson called for a society based on scientifically shaped and controlled behavior • Free of myths, customs, and convention • Provided hope for a new, better society • Emphasis on childhood environment and minimization of heredity • Implied emotional disturbances in adulthood due to conditioned responses during earlier years

  30. Famous Watson quote "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief, and yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors"

More Related