Preface and Chapter One Introduction

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Preface and Chapter OneIntroduction
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Things people dont like about conditioning
principles!

• Manipulative!
• Evil!
• Irrelevant for understanding human behavior!

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So what is the truth?

• Are Behavioral approaches to learning useful and
  good things to study?

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A natural process that does apply to humans

• We ALL do it every day
• Best used wisely and thoughtfully
• Knowledge of these principles can help you
  enhance the quality of your life and the lives of
  those around you

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What is behavior?

• Behavior is any activity of an organism that can
  be directly or indirectly observed

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What is learning?

• A relatively permanent change in behavior (or
  potential behavior) that results from some kind
  of experience or practice.

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Why did I add behavior potential?

• Because of the fact that behavior changes are not
  always immediate.
• Every time you learn something new, you have the
  potential to behave differently!

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What are the two fundamental types of learning we
will study?

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning

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What are the key differences between these types
of learning?

• Classical conditioning is reflexive and
  involuntary while Operant conditioning involves
  the learners voluntary systems
• The learner has little or no control in Classical
  conditioning and some degree of control in
  Operant conditioning

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Lets think of some real-life examples of each!

• (The text has given salivation to a bell and a
  rat learning to press a bar for food as examples).

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There are other types of learning we wont study
very much. Examples include

• Observational learning
• Inherited patterns of behavior like fixed action
  patterns

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Historical Background

• Philosophers and Empiricists

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Philosophy Parent Discipline to Psychology

• Plato - Nativism, inborn, revealed
• Aristotle Empiricism, nurture, learned
• Descartes Mind-Body Dualism

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Contributions to Psychology

• Aristotle Nature vs. Nurture and Laws of
  Association
• Descartes rebelled from straight Age of
  Reason ideas
• Body machine involuntary/ reflex
• Mind free will - voluntary

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The British Empiricists All knowledge comes
from experience

• John Locke
• tabula rasa
• conscious mind has elements
• philosopher, not scientist

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Structuralism

• experiments to test element concept
• Introspection was the research method

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Functionalism

• Seeks to study how the mind helps us adapt
• Interested in adaptive animal behavior and what
  it might tell us about humans
• FOCUS Adaptive function of the mind

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Behaviorism

• John Watson disliked previous approaches
• Introspection an unreliable research method
• Cant study the mind scientifically
• Wanted Psychology to be a true science
• Direct observation NOT inference
• Observable behavior environmental events
• Law of Parsimony the simpler the explanation,
  the better!
• Learning is more important than genetics

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The Five Schools of Behaviorism
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Watsons Methodological Behaviorism

• Most extreme form
• Scientific method allows only for directly
  observable behaviors to be studied
• Psychologys mentalism must be stopped for the
  discipline to survive

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Methodological Behaviorism Role of Internal
Processes

• Internal processes consist of
• Conscious processes (examples)
• Thoughts
• Feelings
• Unconscious processes
• Drives
• Motives
• Internal processes exist, BUT
• dont cause behavior
• are not suitable subjects for study

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Other features of Methodological Behaviorism

• Called S-R Theory
• Learning the result of associations between Ss
  and Rs
• Mechanistic view
• Extreme position on the nature vs. nurture issue
• Watson thought nature view was used to justify
  racism

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Hulls Neobehaviorism

• Disagreed with Watson
• Rejected Watsons view that unobservable events
  (internal processes) couldnt be studied
• Thought internal processes could be studied once
  they were operationalized
• Believed some of these processes could mediate
  between the environment and behavior
• Called these mediating processes intervening
  variables
• Thought they were physiological (e.g. hunger and
  the sex drive)

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Hull also agreed with Watson in important ways

• Shared the view that Psychologys mentalistic
  emphasis must go!
• Took a pure S-R approach to learning
• Theory was mechanistic

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Tolmans Cognitive Behaviorism

• Disagreed with Watson and Hull
• Analyzed behavior more holistically NOT just as
  a series of S-R connections
• Viewed behavior to be goal directed
• Influenced by Gestalt psychologists
• Whole greater than the sum of its parts
• Believed that internal processes like
  expectations and hypotheses guided behavior
  instead of just physiological processes (like
  Hulls view)

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Concepts Central to Tolmans View

• Cognitive Map (see Maze on handout 2)
• Latent Learning (see Graph on handout 2)
• Distinction between learning and performance

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Tolmans Areas of Agreement with Watson and Hull

• Thought it was necessary but shameful to have
  to incorporate internal processes to explain
  behavior
• Believed it was only okay to include internal
  processes because they were inferred from
  observable behavior

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Banduras Social Learning Theory

• Most different from Watsons view
• Takes Tolmans inclusion of cognitive processes
  to a whole new level
• Interested in the influences of imitation and
  observation on learning
• Believed in reciprocal determinism
• Environmental Events (Ss), Observable Behavior
  (Rs) and Internal Person Variables (thoughts and
  feelings) ALL influence each other

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Influences of Banduras Theory

• Helped stimulate the development of Cognitive
  Theory by building on Tolmans approach
• Laid the groundwork for the popularity of
  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Led to research on the influence of television
  and other aspects of pop culture on behavior

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Skinners Radical Behaviorism

• Areas of disagreement with Watson
• Internal processes should be viewed as covert
  behavior with observable behavior viewed as
  overt behavior
• These internal processes (or private behaviors)
  can be included in an analysis of behavior

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Skinners Radical Behaviorism Generally Agreed
with Watson

• Disliked the increasing interest in internal
  processes
• Emphasized the influence of the environment on
  overt behavior
• Rejected the use of internal processes (or covert
  behaviors) to explain overt behavior
• Believed thoughts and feelings were
  themselves behaviors that needed to be explained
  by environmental events

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Interesting Aspect of Skinners View

• Chicken/Egg problem Which comes first??
• Do thoughts precede, follow, or happen at the
  same time as behavior? (ex. Seeing a mugger,
  running, and feeling fear)
• Not as mechanistic as Watson and Hull
• Countercontrol once we know how the environment
  influences our behavior, humans have the capacity
  to change the environment to have a more
  beneficial effect

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Skinners Bottom Line

• Environmental Events (Ss), Observable Behaviors
  (Rs), and Internal (Private) Behaviors (Rs) all
  can influence each other
• BUT . . .
• Environmental Events (Ss) are the ultimate cause
  of BOTH Observable (overt) and Private (covert)
  Behavior (Rs)

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Spend some time getting familiar with these
concepts and . . .

• You will find other concepts in the days to come
  easier to tackle!