Foundations of Psychology: Part 2 Intro to Psych Class #4 2/6/14

Behaviorism Made famous by BF Skinner In the 60s and 70s, his books were bestsellers He could often be found on talk shows Skinner made behaviorism popular, behaviorism made him popular

Behaviorism The Core Beliefs of Behaviorism Strong view on learning Everything you know/are is the result of experience There is no human nature What matters to what you are is what you learn & how you’re treated If there is no human nature, then by definition no one group of humans (race, gender, ethnicity, etc) can be etter than another

Behaviorism The Core Beliefs of Behaviorism Anti-mentalism Behaviorists are obsessed with science Stimulus, response, reinforcement, punishment, environment The internal mental states were considered unscientific Unscientific = vague, invisible

Behaviorism The Core Beliefs of Behaviorism Species differences No differences across species Might admit a human can do things a rat or pigeon can’t, but will say it’s because a human lives in a richer environment Studied animals to research their theories

Behaviorism & Learning 3 Learning Principles Habituation Classical Conditioning Operant/Instrumental Conditioning Were thought to explain all of human behavior

Habituation Definition: decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that are familiar due to repeated exposure Simplest form of learning Important: noticing something new and deciding if it’s safe or not You’ll stop noticing once it’s been around for a while Important for studying those that can’t talk (animals and babies) YELL! (startle) YELL! (less startled) YELL! (now I just look silly)

Classical Conditioning Definition: Learning of an association between one stimulus and another stimulus 2 types of conditioning: Unconditioned Conditioned Made famous by Ivan Pavlov & his dogs Unconditioned: Both stimulus and response are unconditioned, meaning they’re something you already know how to do (Example: someone pokes you with a stick. You yell ow! That person knew how to poke you and you know to respond with ouch) Conditioned: happens through learning. You learn the stimulus and the response is also learned

Pavlov & Classical Conditioning Pavlov studied saliva in dogs Would put food powder in the dogs’ mouth to get them to drool Noticed dogs would start drooling when the person who fed them came in to the room Added the ringing of a bell when the food person arrived Noticed that only the ringing of the bell would make the dogs start to drool

Pavlov & Classical Conditioning Questions! What is the stimulus that caused the dogs to drool? The food What type of response is it when the dogs drool for food at the beginning of the experiment? Unconditioned. The dogs already knew by instinct to drool at the sight of food What type of response is it when the dogs drool at the sound of the bell? Conditioned. They learned that the bell meant food, and food makes them drool Conditioned

Pavlov & Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning as depicted on “The Office” Want an Altoid? Pavlov in Real Life Classical Conditioning as depicted on “The Office” Want an Altoid? http://vimeo.com/35754924

Little Albert Little Albert was a baby who was classically conditioned to fear white lab rats http://youtu.be/FMnhyGozLyE

Classical Conditioning & the Human Response Behaviorists argued that classical conditioning underlies certain aspects of human responses Fear Like Little Albert Behaviorists believe this is how phobias are developed Also forms the basis of the theory on how to make phobias go away Unlearn the conditioned response Hunger Created in response to cues in the environment Smoking and/or drinking Fetishes Associating objects or acts with the achievement of sexual pleasure Classical Conditioning can be used to shape the focus of our desires Ex) a fear of dogs. A dog approaches you (neutral stimulus), dog bites you (unconditioned stimulus), it hurts you (unconditioned response). The presences of the dog has conditioned you to be afraid of dogs Eliminating phobias: Show the thing that would cause you to have fear but replace the fear feelings with those of relaxation. Smoking/drinking: Smokers & drinkers notice there are times of days or certain activities that happen where they find themselves wanting a smoke or a drink. They have been conditioned to want that smoke or drink.

Classical Conditioning Where does classical conditioning show up? The clip from The Office A Clockwork Orange Main theme is classical conditioning Hyper violent character Forced to watched horrible images Fed meds to make him nauseous What is the intended result of the classical conditioning in A Clockwork Orange? What is the unconditioned stimulus? What is the unconditioned response? What is the conditioned stimulus? What is the conditioned response? Intended result: to make the character sick to his stomach any time he thinks about being violent. He won’t want to be violent if that happens. Unconscious stimulus: the drug that makes him nauseous Unconscious response: nausea Conscious stimulation: violence Conditioned response: nausea

Operant/Instrumental Conditioning Definition: Learn the relationships between what you do and the rewards or punishments of those actions Different from classical conditioning: you don’t do anything in classical conditioning to learn. Here, you CHOOSE to learn the conditioning The Law of Effect: The tendency to perform an action is increased when rewarded; tendency decreases if not rewarded Learning what works and what doesn’t Everything you do in Operant Conditioning you do by your own choice. You CHOOSE to learn

Operant/Instrumental Conditioning Reinforcement Positive: give the subject something they want (treats, an object, etc) Negative: withhold treat, give back object not wanted, etc How often should reinforcement be used? Ratio: a reward a certain number of times it’s done (every 5th time) Interval: reward given for a period of time Variable: reward is given at different tines (every 8th time, every 4th time) Fixed: reward is given on a schedule (every 6th time) Operant Conditioning in effect! http://youtu.be/Mt4N9GSBoMI Interval: pig dances for 1 hour

Every one of these principles is mistaken Behaviorism 3 General Principles of Behaviorism Humans have no innate knowledge, all you need is learning Human psychology can be explained without mental states like desires & goals These ideas apply across all domains and species Every one of these principles is mistaken

Behaviorism Why are they mistaken? Lots of scientific evidence showing innate knowledge and desires in people Talking about mental states is not unscientific. Many sciences are all about the unobservable or unseen (like physics!) Animals don’t need reinforcement or punishment to learn. Reward helps, but isn’t necessary Not all stimuli & reinforcements are created equal The Garcia Effect Food aversions: Believing a food has made you sick and you develop an aversion to it (when you know it hasn’t) The Garcia Effect is specific to food and nausea (another negative reaction like a shock won’t cause an aversion) Garcia Effect: you come down with the flu and feel nauseous on the same day you try sushi for the first time. You know the nausea isn’t from the sushi, but you develop a dislike of sushi anyway

Phobias NOT! Certain phobias are part of our evolution Classical conditioning responsible for phobias? NOT! Certain phobias are part of our evolution Humans & chimps are prone to being afraid of snakes Phobias you’re likely to develop have less to do with your personal history and more to do with your evolutionary history

Legacy of Behaviorism The dominance of Behaviorism in psychology has faded, but it leaves an important legacy Mechanisms like habituation, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning are real and scientifically verifiable, but they don’t explain everything Behaviorists have provided powerful techniques for training, particularly for the nonverbal (animals, young children & babies, severely autistic or mentally retarded)