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Behaviorism of Pavlov and Watson. Russian influence on American Psychology. Early 20 th century Sechanov - objective measurement of behavior as reflexes Pavlov – physiologist studying dog digestive system and the conditioned response American behaviorism based upon the S -> R relationship.
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Russian influence on American Psychology • Early 20th century • Sechanov - objective measurement of behavior as reflexes • Pavlov – physiologist studying dog digestive system and the conditioned response • American behaviorism based upon the S -> R relationship
Reports of the Conditioned Response • 1904 – Pavlov reported finding the conditioned response while accepting a Nobel prize in physiology • However: • 1902 – American Edward Twitmeyer reported similar behavior in humans in his dissertation • 1904 – He reported these findings at the American Psychological Association Conference
Why Pavlovian Conditioning and not Twitmeyer Conditioning? • Related to the discovery process in science • Discovery usually evolves – one discovery leads to another as you keep investigating it • While scientific discoveries evolve, there is no clear cut judgment as to the value of the evolution like natural selection – should it continue
The situation • Two research findings, both found accidentally, both report the same findings, and reported at the same time • One ignored for 70 years • One continued to become a major foundation of psychology
The Fame of Pavlov • Pavlov announced his finding and his intent to continue his research while accepting a Nobel prize • Twitmeyer – a lowly lecturer reported his findings as the last speaker at an APA session chaired by William James and others who showed no interest in his ideas
Reasons for Twitmeyer’s obscurity • Proposed reasons: • Most of his findings were uninteresting to his audience • Twitmeyer unable to promote his ideas • American psychology not ready to see the significance of his discovery • Poor introduction by James and lack of discussion • Blaming his obscurity on him personally is probably overly simplistic
Pavlov – highly respected scientist Established highly productive lab Other researchers interested Substantial support system encouraged him Twitmeyer – new with no reputation Small lab, no staff, little money No colleagues interested No security – junior faculty position Pavlov and Twitmeyer
Most important reason • American psychology not ready to see importance of his discovery and the need to follow-up on it • American psychologists were mostly dualists • Twitmeyer’s findings that that a mental process can cause a physical reaction was unimportant
Important aside • Neither Pavlov nor Twitmeyer 1st to report this type of conditioning • Animals salivating at he sight of food was reported in 1763, 1803, 1872, and 1878 • Pavlov’s fame is due to his continued study of the phenomenon and his enthusiasm
Pavlov, the driven scientist • Science was important than almost everything else • 1887-1891 – period of poverty – did his research at home • Lab assistant ½ hour late one morning during the Bolshevik revolution
Pavlov the surgeon • Recognized that standard lesion work had limited value • Introduced the use of sterile procedures during animal surgery • Major surgical procedures: • isolation of part of the stomach in a pouch outside a dog • Severed the esophagus so food would not go to stomach
Pavlov and classical conditioning • 1st noted in 1891 described a nuisance response • Later studies described what we know about classical conditioning: generalization, extinction, principles of reinforcement, etc.
Other studies in Pavlov’s lab • 1921 – Role of conditioning in neurotic behavior • Conditioned terror response • 1925 – Conflict induced neurosis • Pavlov’s conclusion was that neurotic behavior was an imbalance in the interaction of inhibitory and excitatory systems
Other studies in Pavlov’s lab • Individual differences • Impoverished versus enriched environments
John B. Watson • Adopted Pavlov’s objectivism • 1903 – awarded 1st PhD in Psychology from the University of Chicago • Early studies were on the neurological and behavioral development of the rat • Hampton Court Maze
Watson defines behaviorism • 1913 – publishes Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It • Rejected introspection and all mention of mental processing and consciousness • To be a member of the natural sciences, psychology needed to become more objective
Watson as the founder of behaviorism • Watson reported that most of the behavioral ideals were developed by a colleague, Knight Dunlap • Max F. Meyer published in 1911 Fundamentals of Human Behavior stated basically the same thing as Watson • Why is Watson given the credit?
Watson as the founder of behaviorism • Chairman of Psychology Department at Johns Hopkins • Good looking and an eloquent speaker • Able to take many ideas, crystallize them into a system of study, and had the position to promote it
Primary principles of behaviorism • Only study observable behavior • Verbal reports from subjects can be used, but only if supported by observations • Reaction time studies could be used • Some mental tests can be used, but not those that measure mental processes • Study of animal behavior is important
1919 study of the human infant • Fear conditioning in a human infant • Conditioning not just a laboratory phenomenon with animals • Attempted to answer 3 questions: • Can an infant be conditioned to fear an animal that appears at the same time with a loud fear producing sound? • Would such conditioning be transferred to other animals and inanimate objects? • How long would these fears persist?
The study • Albert healthy 9 month old showed no fear of live animals and inanimate objects placed near him. Showed fear to loud noise • 2 months later – fear conditioned by striking iron bar behind his head when he attempted to touch a white rat • 5 days later – generalization test – Albert shown animals and inanimate objects • 5 days later – 1 trial of pairing white rat with noise- Albert moved to different room – showed little fear t rat, rabbit or dog • 30 days later – length of time question
Inaccuracies about what happened in the study • Watson forced to leave academia still wrote many articles in the popular press without his data –he burned everything • Bottom line: study poorly controlled and badly confounded – interesting but uninterruptible
Watson after academia • Lost his position at Johns Hopkins due to affair with his graduate student Rosalyn Rainer • Never able to find another position • Turned to advertising and publishing psychology books for the public • Continued to study children and conditioned fear – decreasing fears