2. Psychology 3260: Personality & Social Development Don Hartmann, Spring 2007 Lecture 7: Skinner

3. Discussion Topic #1 IA. Making interpretations from classic theories: CIS: Summary due Friday, Feb. 3rd. Consider the following vignette: Sally, age 3 is visiting a petting zoo and is very interested in the gender of the animals (e.g., “Is this—pointing to a cow—a girl or a boy?”) and those parts of the animals that provide cues to gender (“How do you know that?). Take one of the theoretical positions discussed in chapter 2 of Shaffer and make what you can of this behavior. Also comment on one of the other contributor’s comments

4. WEB Discussion Topic #2 IB. Discussing a seminal issue. Growing Pains: Summary due Monday, Feb. 6th. Some have argued that Freud was all wet because he focused too much on the role of sex in development. Do you think that he was “all wet” on this issue? You might address the following sub issues: What do you think about the importance of sex in our lives? What did Freud mean by sex? Feel free to respond to other discussants.

5. Discussion Topic #3 IC. Instruction Implications of Piaget. Psyched. Summary due Tuesday, Feb. 7th. Assume that you are a junior high instructor. You are intrigued with Piaget’s theory, and are attempting to integrate his theory into your teaching practices. What implications for your teaching can you come up with from what you have learned about his theory?

6. WEB Discussion Topic #4 ID. Parental Implications of Bandura. Agrrrression. Summary due Wednesday, Feb 8th. You are intrigued with Bandura’s theory, and are attempting to integrate his theory into your parenting practices. What implications can you come up with from what you have learned about his theory? Which principles (e.g., modeling) provide the basis for your implications?

7. WEB Discussion Topic #5 IE. Personal Fable & Imaginary Audiences. Authoritarians. Summary due Thursday, Feb 9th. Two kinds of egocentrism that are limited to adolescents (unless we redefine that category) are the personal fable and the imaginary audience. Describe at least one instance of either of these or both that occurred either to you or to a close friend, and comment on someone else’s contributions. Note: A lot of examples of the personal fable can be found when listening to how individuals justify having unprotected sex and engaging in other risky behaviors.

8. WEB Discussion Topic #6 IF. Instruction Implications of Vygotsky. Divas. Summary due Friday, February 10th. Assume that you are a junior high instructor. You are intrigued with Vygotsky’s theory, and are attempting to integrate his theory into your teaching practices. What implications can you come up with from what you have learned about his theory? Which of his principles are implicated in the potential application?

9. Supplemental References http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/skinner.htm http://www.bfskinner.org/Operant.asp http://www.bfskinner.org/ A few of the interesting books by Skinner: Walden II (1948), Science and Human Behavior (1953), Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), and About Behaviorism (1974).

10. Overview of Skinner Lecture Overlap pp. 43-44 Lecture: Introduction to Skinner Methodological Contributions Principles of Behavior Minor Principle & Emphases Implications for Development Evaluation Summary Next: Lect. #8: Bandura

11. Introduction Most influential psychologist of the 20 th century Not a developmental theory—a psychology of action The Professor will Profess—Skinner is relevant to the course, despite warnings from Shaffer (text writer) Some Equivalences: Operant Psychology, Radical Behaviorism, Skinnerian Psychology

12. Methodological Contributions  Philosophy of Science: Behaviorism Behavior is the focus; no emphasis on the black boxes Use of objective, verifiable data The proper study for psychology is the behavior of individual organisms (e.g., people); as a result…  Single Subject Designs  Functional Definitions—rather than Procedural Definitions  Functional Analysis: The control of behavior is found by examining its function

13. Behavior is Controlled by It’s Consequences

14. Principles of Behavior: Strengthening Behavior Principle of Reinforcement Positive Reinforcer: If a behavior is strengthened when it produces a consequence, that consequence is a positive reinforcer. Negative Reinforcer: If a behavior is strengthened when it reduces or avoids or terminates a consequence, then that consequence is a negative reinforcer Reinforcers strengthen behavior.

15. Extinction Weakening of a behavior by following it with nothing (no consequence) Examples:  Decrease (weakening) of lecture preparation produced by unresponsive students.  The decrease in temper tantrums that occurs when parents don’t respond to the tantrums

16. Punishment Punishment WEAKENS behavior “Positive” Punishment: If a behavior is weakened by the presentation of a consequence, then that consequence is a punishment for that behavior “Negative” Punishment: If a behavior is weakened by the avoidance or reduction of a consequence, that consequence serves as a punishing consequence for that behavior

17. “Coercion” Illustrating Punishment & Negative Reinforcement Here is how it begins: (1) A girl teasing her older brother, who makes her stop teasing by yelling at her. [If she stops teasing, yelling serves as a punishing event or stimuli for her. Furthermore, his yelling is negatively reinforced (strengthened) as it terminates her teasing.] (2) A few minutes later, the girl calls her brother a nasty name. The boy then chases and hits her—and she stops calling him nasty names. [Because her name-calling is weakened, his chasing and hitting serve as punishing events. His chasing and hitting are negatively reinforced—strengthened—by the termination of her name-calling.] (3) She then whimpers and hits him back, and he withdraws. [Her whimpering/hitting serves as a punishment if it terminates his chasing/hitting. His withdrawal negatively reinforces her hits.]

18. Review of Principles of Reinforcement & Punishment R=Response, C=Consequence,  =Causes to occur, +=Add, & - =Lessen or remove Response Strengthening: If R  +C, then C is a positive reinforcer for R If R  -C, then C is negative reinforcer for R Response Weakening: If R  +C, then C is a punisher for R If R  -C, then C is a punisher for R

19. Minor Principles Immediate consequences are more effective than delayed consequences (immediate pleasure of nicotine vs. lung problems when older) Intermittent reinforcement is more effective for maintaining a response than is continuous reinforcement Principle of Shaping (reinforcing successive approximations) But check: http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/trained.asp http://www.snopes.com/college/pranks/trained.asp

20. Emphases Big Principle: Controlling behavior by arranging environmental contingencies Use Positive Control Avoid Negative Control (punishment): It excessive use results in avoidance of the user imitation of the negative control undesirable emotional behavior that interferes with learning +

21. Practical Implication Social Engineering Parenting Education & Training (e.g., sports) Behavior Modification in treatment centers

22. Contributions Practical (contingency management): Consequences Control Behavior Emphasis on Positive Consequences Shaping for Acquiring Complex Behaviors Behavior Modification Procedures Academic Behaviorism: Focus on observable behavior Functional Analysis N=1 Methodology: Behavior resides with the individual Functional Definitions

23. Summary & Conclusions Skinner’s notions are important to understanding behavior—its acquisition & maintenance. However, he does not have a developmental theory Next time: Lect. #8: Bandura Go in Peace!