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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Pavlov & Classical Conditioning

12. Classical Conditioning as depicted on “The Office” Want an Altoid?
Pavlov in Real Life
Classical Conditioning as depicted on “The Office” Want an Altoid?

13. Little Albert
Little Albert was a baby who was classically conditioned to fear white lab rats

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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!
Interval: pig dances for 1 hour

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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)