1. Learnıng Theorıes SkInner: BehavIoral AnalysIs
Assist. Prof. Merve Topcu
PSY335
Department of Psychology, Çankaya University
, Fall

2. Behavıorısm
Behaviorism emerged from laboratory studies of animals and humans
focused almost entirely on observable behavior.
thinking, remembering, and anticipating are all observable - by the person experiencing them
Skinner's strict adherence to observable behavior earned his approach the label radical behaviorism, a doctrine that avoids all hypothetical constructs, such as ego, traits, drives, needs, hunger, and so forth.
determinist and environmentalist
Human behavior does not stem from an act of the will, but like any observable phenomenon, it is lawfully determined and can be studied scientifically.
Psychology must not explain behavior on the basis of the physiological or constitutional components of the organism but rather on the basis of environmental stimuli.

3. Behavıorısm
The history of the individual, rather than anatomy, provides the most useful data for predicting and controlling behavior.
Project Pigeon
Skinner's Scientific Behaviorism
People generally do those things that have pleasurable consequences and avoid doing those things that have punitive consequences
1. law of effect by Thorndike
learning takes place mostly because of the effects that follow a response
Skinner (1954) acknowledged that the law of effect was crucial to the control of behavior
2. Watson (1913) argued that human behavior, like the behavior of animals and machines, can be studied objectively
The goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior and that goal could best be reached by limiting psychology to an objective study of habits formed through stimulus-response connections.

4. Behavıorısm Skinner's Scientific Behaviorism (cont’d)
human behavior should be studied scientifically.
cosmology, or the concern with causation
To be scientific, Skinner (1953, 1987a) insisted, psychology must avoid internal mental factors and confine itself to observable physical events
he did not deny internal states, but they are not explanations for behavior
Scientific behaviorism allows for an interpretation of behavior but not an explanation of its causes.
Generalize from a simple learning condition to a more complex one
According to Skinner (1953), science has three main characteristics
Science is cumulative
It is an attitude that values empirical observation
Rejects authority
Demands intellectual honesty
Suspends judgment
Science is a search for order and lawful relationships

5. Behavıorısm Skinner's Scientific Behaviorism (cont’d)
prediction, control, and description are possible in scientific behaviorism because behavior is both determined and lawful
Conditioning
Classical conditioning (respondent conditioning)
Operant conditioning (Skinnerian conditioning)
In classical conditioning, behavior is elicited from the organism, whereas in operant conditioning, behavior is emitted.

6. Classıcal Condıtıonıng
A neutral (then conditioned) stimulus is paired with-that is, immediately precedes-an unconditioned stimulus a number of times until it is capable of bringing about a previously unconditioned response, now called the conditioned response.
The simplest examples include reflexive behavior.
Light shined in the eye stimulates the pupil to contract
also be responsible for more complex human learning like phobias, fears, and anxieties
Little Albert
Discrimination
Generalization

7. Operant Condıtıonıng The immediate reinforcement of a response
Reinforcement, in turn, increases the probability that the same behavior will occur again
The reinforcement does not cause the behavior, but it increases the likelihood that it will be repeated.
Shaping
a procedure in which the experimenter or the environment first rewards gross approximations of the behavior, then closer approximations, and finally the desired behavior itself.
reinforcing successive approximations

8. Operant Condıtıonıng Antecedent (A) Behavior (B) Consequence (C)
the environment or setting in which the behavior takes place
Behavior (B)
This response must be within the individual’s repertoire and must not be interfered with by competing or antagonistic behaviors
Consequence (C)
Reward or desired outcome
Behavior is continuous, the organism moves slightly beyond the previously reinforced response, and this slightly exceptional value can then be used as the new minimum standard for reinforcement.
Operant discrimination
Environmental differences and the individual's history of reinforcement
Stimulus generalization
React to a new situation in the same manner that they reacted to an earlier one because the two situations possess some identical elements

9. ReInforcement Strengthens the behavior & rewards the person
E.g., Food is not reinforcing because it tastes good; rather, it tastes good because it is reinforcing
Produces a beneficial environmental condition & avoids a detrimental ones
Positive reinforcement
Any stimulus that, when added to a situation, increases the probability that a given behavior will occur
Negative reinforcement
The removal of an aversive stimulus from a situation increases the probability that the preceding behavior will occur

10. ReInforcement Conditioned and Generalized Reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers
E.g., attention, approval, affection, submission of others, and tokens (money
Generalized bc associated with more than one primary reinforcer

11. ReInforcement Schedules of Reinforcement
With a continuous schedule, the organism is reinforced for every response
Intermittent schedules are based either on the behavior of the organism or on elapsed time
the four basic intermittent schedules:
Fixed-ratio
FR#, the organism is reinforced intermittently according to the number of responses it makes
Variable-ratio
VR#, The organism is reinforced after every #th response
Fixed interval
FI#, the organism is reinforced for the first response following a designated period of time.
Variable-interval
VI#, the organism is reinforced after the lapse of random or varied periods of time

12. Punıshment Weakens target behaviour
The effects of punishment are not opposite those of reinforcement
Punishment somestimes does not work
Suppress behavior
Conditioning of a negative feeling
Associating a strong aversive stimulus with the behavior being punished
Spread of its effects
Any stimulus associated with the punishment may be suppressed or avoided.
Skinner recognized the classical Freudian defense mechanisms as effective means of avoiding pain and its attendant anxiety.
Positive punishment
presentation of an aversive stimulus
Negative punishment
the removal of a positive reinforcer

13. ExtInctIon
Once learned, responses can be lost for at least four reasons
they can simply be forgotten during the passage of time.
they can be lost due to the interference of preceding or subsequent learning
they can disappear due to punishment
Due to extinction
the tendency of a previously acquired response to become progressively weakened upon nonreinforcement.
Operant extinction
an experimenter systematically withholds reinforcement of a previously learned response until the probability of that response diminishes to zero.
behavior trained on an intermittent schedule is much more resistant to extinction

14. The Human OrganIsm
The behavior of laboratory animals can generalize to human behavior, just as physics can be used to interpret what is observed in outer space and just as an understanding of basic genetics can help in interpreting complex evolutionary concepts.
human behavior and human personality is shaped by three forces:
natural selection
cultural practices
the individual's history of reinforcement

15. Natural Selection
Human personality is the product of a long evolutionary history
Our behavior is determined by genetic composition and especially by our personal histories of reinforcement
Individual behavior that is reinforcing tends to be repeated
Those behaviors that were beneficial to the species tended to survive, whereas those that were only idiosyncratically reinforcing tended to drop out
The contingencies of reinforcement, especially those that have shaped human culture, account for most of human behavior
“the very complex social contingencies we call cultures”

16. Cultural Evolution
Selection is responsible for those cultural practices that have survived
Humans do not make a cooperative decision to do what is best for the society, but those societies whose members behaved cooperatively tended to survive.

17. Inner States
Skinner (1989b) did not deny the existence of internal states, such as feelings of love, anxiety, or fear.
What, then, is the role of such inner states as self-awareness, drives, emotions, and purpose?
Self-Awareness
Behavior is a function of the environment, and part of that environment is within one's skin
This portion of the universe is peculiarly one's own and is therefore private
Humans not only have consciousness but are also aware of their consciousness
They are not only aware of their environment but are also aware of themselves as part of their environment;
They not only observe external stimuli but are also aware of themselves observing that stimuli

18. Inner States Drives Emotions Purpose and Intention
To Skinner (1953), drives simply refer to the effects of deprivation and satiation and to the corresponding probability that the organism will respond
Emotions
Skinner (1974) recognized the subjective existence of emotions, of course, but he insisted that behavior must not be attributed to them
For survival, fear or anger were those escaped from
On an individual level, behaviors followed by delight, joy, pleasure, and other pleasant emotions tend to be reinforced
Purpose and Intention
exist within the skin, but they are not subject to direct outside scrutiny
A felt, ongoing purpose may itself be reinforcing.
Intention is physically felt stimuli within the organism and not mentalistic events responsible for behavior

19. Complex Behavior
Skinner believed that even the most abstract and complex behavior is shaped by natural selection, cultural evolution, or the individual's history of reinforcement
Accepts the existence of higher mental processes such as cognition, reason, and recall and complex human endeavors like creativity, unconscious behavior, dreams, and social behavior

20. Higher Mental Processes
Human thought is the most difficult of all behaviors to analyze
Thinking, problem solving, and reminiscing are covert behaviors that take place within the skin but not inside the mind
“Techniques of recall are not concerned with searching a storehouse of memory but with increasing the probability of responses“
Problem solving also involves covert behavior and often requires the person to covertly manipulate the relevant variables until the correct solution is found

21. Creativity
Creativity is simply the result of random or accidental behaviors (overt or covert) that happen to be rewarded
"As accidental traits, arising from mutations, are selected by their contribution to survival, so accidental variations in behavior are selected by their reinforcing consequences“
The concept of mutation is crucial to both natural selection and creative behavior.
Random or accidental conditions are produced that have some possibility of survival

22. Unconscious Behavior accept the idea of unconscious behavior
because people rarely observe the relationship between genetic and environmental variables and their own behavior, nearly all our behavior is unconsciously motivated
behavior is labeled unconscious when people no longer think about it because it has been suppressed through punishment
Behavior that has aversive consequences has a tendency to be ignored or not thought about
Supression, repression & denial

23. Dreams Social Behavior
Dreams as covert and symbolic forms of behavior that are subject to the same contingencies of reinforcement as other behaviors are
Dream behavior is reinforcing for repressed stimuli are allowed expression without any accompanying punishment
Social Behavior
Being in a group is reinforcing bc survival

24. Control of Human Behavior
An individual's behavior is controlled by environmental contingencies
the environment, not free will, is responsible for behavior
Social Control
Each of us is controlled by social forces and techniques
Operant conditioning
Describing contingencies
Language
Deprivation and satiation
even though deprivation and satiation are internal states, the control originates with the environment
Physical restraint
acts to counter the effects of conditioning

25. Control of Human Behavior
Self-Control
manipulate the variables within our own environment
use physical aids such as tools, machines, and financial resources to alter their environment
Using drugs
do something else in order to avoid behaving in an undesirable fashion
substitute behaviors are negatively reinforcing

26. The Unhealthy Personality
The techniques of social control and self-control sometimes produce detrimental effects, which result in inappropriate behavior and unhealthy personality development.
Counteracting Strategies
Inappropriate Behaviors

27. The Unhealthy Personality
Counteracting Strategies
When social control is excessive, three basic strategies for counteracting
Escape
withdraw from the controlling agent either physically or psychologically.
Those find difficult to become involved in intimate personal relationships, tend to be mistrusthl of people, and prefer to live lonely lives of noninvolvement.
Revolt
against society's controls behave more actively, counterattacking the controlling agent.
vandalizing public property, tormenting teachers, verbally abusing other people, pilfering equipment from employers, provoking the police, or overthrowing established organizations such as religions or governments
Passive resistance
more subtle
most likely to be used where escape and revolt have failed
Finding excuses

28. The Unhealthy Personality
Inappropriate Behaviors
Derived from self-defeating techniques of counteracting social control or from unsuccessful attempts at self-control, especially when either of these failures is accompanied by strong emotion.
Learned
Especially by the effects of punishment
Excessively vigorous behavior and excessively restrained behavior
No sense in terms of the contemporary situation
Avoiding the aversive stimuli associated with punishment
Blocking out reality by simply paying no attention to aversive stimuli
Defective self-knowledge & self-deluding responses
E.g., Prophet
Self-punishment
To be punished by others

29. Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is one of the chief obstacles blocking psychology's attempt to become scientific
Regardless of theoretical orientation, a therapist is a controlling agent
The shaping of any behavior takes time
Traditional therapists generally explain behaviors by resorting to a variety of fictional constructs such as defense mechanisms, striving for superiority, collective unconscious, and self-actualization needs.
Skinner reasoned that if behavior is shaped by inner causes, then some force must be responsible for the inner cause.
Using conditioning techniques in therapy sessions for behavioral change
Therapists play an active role in the treatment process, pointing out the positive consequences of certain behaviors and the aversive effects of others and also suggesting behaviors that, over the long haul, will result in positive reinforcement.