Behaviourism Flashcards
What is Hume’s opinion on cause?
David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher, who was strong opponent to induction.
According to Hume, cause is unobservable, so you can’t talk about it.
What are the theoretical areas leading up to behaviourism?
- Introspection
- Psychoanalysis
- Psychophysics and gestalt processing
- Pragmatism
In common: The mind and its internal structure in focus.
When did behaviourism as a paradigm emerge?
The field of behaviourism emerged in the early 1900s and was the dominant school of thought in psychology until mid-1950s (cognitive revolution). Obs. behaviourist principles still used sometimes today.
Who is the founder of behaviourism?
John B. Watson:
- American psychologist at John Hopkins University.
- Published the paper “Psychology as the Behaviourist Views It” in 1913.
- Objective analysis of the mind is not possible.
- Focused on directly observable behaviour, control of behaviour.
- The Little Albert-experiment, i.e. classical conditioning to create a phobia, white rat and a loud noise.
What is behaviourism as a paradigm?
- Theory of learning: All behaviour is learned through interaction with the environment through a process called conditioning (classical or operant conditioning). All behaviour is a response to a particular condition/stimulus in the environment.
- Externalist paradigm: Psychology can be objectively studied through observable behaviour. Concerned with the stimulus-response behaviour rather than the behaviour-mind relation.
- The mind as a black box: Excludes the study of the mind, i.e. inner mental experience, mental activity, inner thoughts, consciousness, ideas, emotions. Such concepts are irrelevant and unknowable.
- Predict/control: Focus on predicting and controlling behaviour. Questions such as “What causes human behaviour?”, “Which conditions have an effect on behaviour?”
- Animal experiments: The assumption that was we can learn from animal behaviour can to some degree be applied to human behaviour.
- Important figures: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner
Who is Ivan Pavlov?
- 1849-1936
- Russian physiologist.
- Originally concerned with digestion and salivation (Nobel Prize winner).
- But was not able to explain psychic secretion (i.e. when the dog salivated without food being present).
- Learning is pure associations.
- You are born with a blank slate.
Pavlov’s Dogs?
Famous dog experiments (1890s).
The experiment: When Pavlov showed dogs some food, he also rang a bell at the same time. After a while, the dogs associated the bell with the food and knew that the sound of the bell meant they would get fed. Eventually, Pavlov substituted the food for the sound of a bell and made the dog salivate by only ringing the bell.
What is classical conditioning?
Developed by Ivan Pavlov.
The process of stimulus substitution.
- Normally, food (unconditioned stimulus) makes the dog salivate (unconditioned response).
- An unconditioned stimulus (food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (bell).
- Eventually this neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus) can cause the dog to salivate (conditioned response).
Examples of classical conditioning?
The sound of notifications of your smartphone.
Fear of dogs.
Punishment for driving too fast.
Praised for doing the dishes.
Who is B.F. Skinner?
- 1904-1990
- American psychologist.
- Behaviour is not stimulus and response (Pavlov) or trial and error (Thorndike). These theoretical concepts are too simple to explain the complexity of human behaviour.
- Behaviour is operations on the environment. The environment is responsible for shaping all behaviour.
- Acknowledgements/inventions: Operant conditioning, The Skinner Box, Dependent and independent variables, Schedules of reinforcement.
What is operant conditioning?
Idea: We can increase or decrease a certain behaviour by either reinforcing or punishing the behaviour. Reinforcement makes you more likely to do the same action again, and punishment makes you less likely.
Reinforcement and punishment can be either positive or negative.
What are schedules of reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement: The addition of a stimulus (e.g. giving the dog a treat for sitting).
Negative reinforcement: Removal of stimulus (e.g. removing your hand forcing the dog to sit).
Positive punishment (e.g. hitting the dog).
Negative punishment (e.g. removing the toy away from the dog, i.e. removing something that the dog likes).
What is extinction?
The process of stop doing the reinforcement or punishment and see how the animal reacts.
What is the Skinner Box?
Purpose: To investigate how the environment shapes behaviour. Predict and control behaviour of animals.
An operant conditioning box that contained
- a bar that an animal could press in order to receive food, water or some other form of reinforcement.
Skinner: Organisms are doing what they do naturally until they accidently encounter a stimulus that creates conditioning which results in a change of behaviour.
Example: A rat accidently hits the bar that releases food. As a response, the rat will keep pressing the bar to receive food.
What does Skinner say about the study of the mind?
Recognizes and accepts the existence of neural activity and inner thoughts.
Rejects mental and physic explanations because they are unnecessary and irrelevant to study.
Mental explanations are epistemic danglers (i.e. appear to be explanations, but they are not). Mental theory require a homunculus (leading to infinite regress).
