Behaviorism Chapter 11

Three stages of behaviorism : Watsonian behaviorism : Neobehaviorism 1960-present: Sociobehaviorism

What is Operationism? The idea that the terminology in a science must be precise A concept must have a physical referent A concept is defined by how it is measured (the operation or process) “pseudo-problems” must be discarded

Neobehaviorism 2 nd form of behaviorism Skinner (Tolman, Hull) The rat as an important research subject Assumption that one could generalize from rats to other animals and humans Simple, easy to study, readily available

Clark Leonard Hull ( ) Drives Motivation A state of bodily need Arises from a deviation from optimal biological conditions Drive reduction is the only basis of reinforcement

Primary drives Arise from a state of physical need Are vital to the organism’s survival Secondary drives Are learned Are situations or environmental stimuli associated with the reduction of primary drives As a result of the association with primary drives, become drives themselves

B.F. Skinner ( ) One of the most influential psychologists in the 20 th century Originally wanted to be a writer Became depressed after deciding he had “nothing to say” Began graduate studies in psychology 1938: wrote book, initially not very successful

B.F. Skinner ( ) However, people began to realize Skinner’s ideas had applied uses Beginning in 1950’s, he became the major embodiment of behaviorism Large and loyal group of followers 1972: Humanist of the Year Award Principle Skinner From The Simpson

Dealt only with observable behavior No presumptions about internal entities The “empty organism” approach Internal physiological and mental events exist but not useful to science Skinner advocated a system with no theoretical framework Not averse to all theorizing Warned against premature theorizing Large numbers of subjects / statistics not necessary Skinner’s behaviorism

Operant conditioning Operant behavior Response occurs b/c of a reinforcement Occurs without an observable external stimulus Behavior is voluntary Contrasted with respondent (Pavlovian) conditioning, which is elicited by a specific stimulus

Skinner box

Law of acquisition: “the strength of an operant behavior increases when it is followed by the presentation of a reinforcing stimulus” Key variable: reinforcement Differs from Thorndike's position Thorndike: explanatory Skinner: strictly descriptive Operant conditioning

Schedules of reinforcement Original experiments: Rat received reinforcement every time it performed certain behavior Later experiments manipulated: When reinforcement occurred (how many responses required) How often reinforcement occurred (time period after responses before reinforcement given) Operant conditioning

Successive approximation Operant conditioning

Applied Ideas 1945: aircrib Brought skinner public notoriety Mechanized environment invented to relieve menial labor Not commercially successful Daughter reared in it with no ill effects

Teaching machine Invented in the 1920’s by Pressey Promoted by Skinner Not enthusiastically received Surplus of teachers No public pressure to improve learning Applied Ideas

Resurgence of interest in 1950’s when Skinner promoted similar device Excess of students Public pressure to improve education so U.S. could compete with Soviet Union space program After the 1960s, computer-assisted instructional methods became dominant Applied Ideas

Pigeon-guided missiles Developed by Skinner during WWII Guidance system to steer bombs from warplanes to ground targets Pigeons housed in missile nose-cones Trained through prior conditioning to peck at target image Pecking affected angles of missile’s fins Resultant adjustments kept missile on target Pigeons very accurate Military not impressed Applied Ideas

Walden Two (1948)—a behavioristic society Novel of a 1,000-member rural community Program of behavioral control through positive reinforcement Behavior modification Uses positive reinforcement Applied in a variety of settings Works with people in same manner as with animals, by reinforcing desired behavior and extinguishing undesired behavior Problem: usually only effective within environment where training occurred Operant conditioning

Criticisms of Skinner’s behaviorism His extreme view that only observable behavior could be studied His opposition to theory His willingness to extrapolate beyond the data to possible real life solutions The narrow range of behavior studied His position that all behaviors are learned

Animal Training Circus acts Problem: Innate behaviors stronger than learned behaviors (instinctive drift) Ex. pigs trained to pick up a coin and drop it into a bank Pigs would start burying coin Criticisms of Skinner’s behaviorism

Sociobehaviorism: the cognitive challenge Sociobehaviorism Combination of behaviorism and cognitive theory Studies humans in social situations The third form of behaviorism

Albert Bandura (1925-) Social cognitive theory Research focus: observation of the behavior of humans in interaction Emphasizes the role of reinforcement in learning and behavior modification Reinforcer effective if Person is consciously aware of what is being reinforced Person anticipates the same reinforcer if the behavior is repeated

Observational Learning Bobo Doll study

Vicarious reinforcement learning by watching other people’s behavior seeing the consequences of their behavior Assumption: Humans anticipate outcomes Behavior can be regulated by Imagining consequences, and Making a conscious selection of the behavior to manifest Albert Bandura (1925-)

Self-Efficacy One’s sense of self-esteem and competency Affects how a person approaches problems and difficulties Albert Bandura (1925-)

Greater emphasis on cognitive processes than Bandura Four cognitive principles determine behaviors Expectation of amount and kind of reinforcement Estimation of probability the behavior will lead to a particular reinforcement Differential values of reinforcers and assessment of their relative worth Different people place different values on the same reinforcer Julian Rotter (1916-)

“beliefs about the source of our reinforcers” Internal locus of control: belief that reinforcement depends on one’s own behavior External locus of control: belief that reinforcement depends on outside forces such as fate, luck, or the actions of other people Is learned in childhood from the ways one is treated Locus of control

The fate of behaviorism Cognitive challenge to behaviorism from within modified the behaviorist movement Sociobehaviorists still consider themselves behaviorists Are contrasted with radical behaviorists like Watson and skinner who do not deal with presumed internal states Skinnerian behaviorism peaked in the 1980s Declined after skinner’s death in 1990 Today’s behaviorism, particularly in applied psychology, is different from forms it took from 1913 (Watson) to 1990 (Skinner) In an evolutionary sense, the spirit of behaviorism still lives