behaviourism Flashcards
who was Watson and what is the behaviourist manifesto?
Psychology as a natural science
❑Objective paradigm
How you conduct a study
Move psychology into a scientific methodology.
Objective natural science
Prediction and control of behaviour
❑(pragmatic) applicative goals
Looking at control behaviour from a clinical perspective.
Can we help people garner their behaaviour.
Rejected introspection-based approach.
Rejected introspection-based research
❑Quantifiable, objective methods
How you measure a paradigm→ statistics.
Actual methodology to allow us to test.
Evolutionary model
❑Biological-based theory
Moving into understanding organisms
Ground in evolution model, not theory.
Creating a new dialectic of brain and mind
watson; behaviourism
behaviourism; A direct relationship between cognition and behaviour
A mental life results in behaviour that is adaptive to one’s environment
watson
behaviourism: Methods & Measures
Method: what is acquired (behaviour), when (under what conditions), and how (process)
Measures:
1. Observation without or with instruments
Objective quantifier; counting
- Without would be an observation; how many times rat press lever
- With an instrument, a clock, or a computer
- No introspection; we are doing something quantifying, number counts (stats)
- Slashes out internal component and contradict himself here because, in behaviourism, we measure the explicit to understand the implicit, but the implicit is the why.
2. Testing methods
- the assessment was a sample of behaviour, not an indicator of mental quality (i.e. personality, intelligence)
3. Verbal report method
- Speech is a meaningful motor action because it is explicit when referring to verifiable situations.
- Aligning with titchner saying, you can report it verbally.
- A verbal report is explicit and useful in verifiable situations.
4. Conditioned reflex method
-Mechanistic approach
Watson Emotions
Emotions
- Fear, Rage, Love
- Innate Reflexes
- The “reward/punishment” of behaviour
- Could be described objectively
James-Lange definition
- Fact-check: approach/avoidant behaviours
- Little Albert Experiment: “evidence” for humans –Systematic Desensitization (Jones, 1924b)
- Pairing an aversive stimulus with a positive stimulus while decreasing the proximity of the aversive stimulus
Fact-check: reconditioning (SD involves extinguishing)
- Logical positivism
Empirical validation of natural phenomenon
- Operationism: concepts could be defined in relation to the - operations used to measure them
- Observable and theoretic events could be related (e.g. hunger and motivation)
- Operational definition: a precise description of procedure, measurement, and variables
- Allows for replication and increased confidence in results
- Converging operations: when several operational definitions produce a similar outcome
Skinner; behaviourism: operant conditioning
Skinner
Operant Conditioning
- Shaping: successive consequences as behaviour changes
Reinforcement schedule.
- Instinctive Drift (Breland XXXX)
- Learned behaviours gravitated to instinctual behaviours * Debate: similarity of behaviours.
- Autoshaping (Sign-Tracking)
- Engaging with the CS as if it were the reward; resistant to extinction
what is sub-vocal speech watson
**Sub-vocal speech = thinking **
- Measured via S-R relationship
- Consciousness was a philosophical construct.
- All behaviour emerged from conditioning (Pavlov)
what is reflex vs. acts watson
Reflexes vs. Acts
- Motor/glandular responses could be connected to higher-level behaviours.
- Differentiate between lower-level behaviours such as reflexes → bases for higher-order action.
- Kind of like James, but Watson actually explained it.
what is implicit vs explicit watson
Explicit vs implicit
- Overtly observable and objectively measurable output
- Explicit; how long it takes to reach a cup (observable)
- Implicit; overtly measure how quickly I move my hand (timer) and grab the cup)
- People who reach for their cup faster are thirstier.
- Implicit behaviour is thirst.
- Way to interpret behaviour in service of goals.
- Use behaviour as a means to measure implicit stuff.
- Implcit stuff changing or affecting explicit stuff.
- Method: what is acquired (behaviour), when (under what conditions), and how (process)
Measures; behaviourism
Measures:
1. Observation without or with instruments
Objective quantifier; counting
Without would be an observation; how many times rat press lever
With an instrument, a clock, or a computer
No introspection; we are doing something quantifying, number counts (stats)
Slashes out internal component and contradict himself here because, in behaviourism, we measure the explicit to understand the implicit, but the implicit is the why.
2. Testing methods
the assessment was a sample of behaviour, not an indicator of mental quality (i.e. personality, intelligence)
3. Verbal report method
Speech is a meaningful motor action because it is explicit when referring to verifiable situations.
Aligning with titchner saying, you can report it verbally.
A verbal report is explicit and useful in verifiable situations.
4. Conditioned reflex method
Mechanistic approach
Relied from the past
Skinner took this and put it in effect (pigeons, rats)
Behaviourism: Emotions
Emotions
Fear, Rage, Love
Innate Reflexes
The “reward/punishment” of behaviour
Could be described objectively
James-Lange definition
Fact-check: approach/avoidance behaviours
Reaction time; if animal is really hungry they will get the food even if itll shock them.
Behaviourism: Little albert experiment
Little Albert Experiment: “evidence” for humans –Systematic Desensitization (Jones, 1924b)
Emotions could be learned or associated with a scenario. (how we treat phobia)
Pairing an aversive stimulus with a positive stimulus while decreasing the proximity of the aversive stimulus
Learning for humans is emotional.
Experience of emotions that encapsulates if something is bad or good. (approach or avoid)
behaviourism: fact check
Fact-check: reconditioning (SD involves extinguishing)
Logical positivism
Empirical validation of natural phenomena (observation of natural phenomenon)
Operationism: concepts could be defined in relation to the operations used to measure them
Procedure measurement and variables.
Observable and theoretic events could be related (e.g. hunger and motivation)
How much food you could eat (quantification; how many grams) (variables; time & age, body weight, cuisine) (precise procedure; come into lab, give buffet and measure how much food they take on their plates, how much food remains as a quantification of hunger) where operational definitions occurred- it allowed for replication because of this.
Operational definition: a precise description of procedure, measurement, and variables
Allows for replication and increased confidence in results
Converging operations: when several operational definitions produce a similar outcome
Skinner: conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Shaping: successive consequences as behaviour changes
Change the behaviour based on the representation of a reward.
Skinner against punishment- only looked at the reward.
Punishment only taught avoidance behaviour.
stimulus= response given.
Operant condition = Behaviour and outcome; when a behaviour has a reward (outcome) that is good, animals will continue that behaviour.
If you continue rewarding, you can shape behaviour by selectively rewarding certain behaviours.
Evidence for shaping; dog training.
The upper limit for shaping is based on the contingency of reward.
Reinforcement schedule; skinner
Fixed interval; doesn’t matter how many times an animal produces behaviour; it will get a reward regardless of every 7 seconds or so.
What you’re shaping is anything that happens within that interval; the contingency is not direct.
Variable interval; motivation increased; individuals were likely to prince more behaviours despite the fact they weren’t being reinforced.
Fixed ratio; contingency developed; every time an individual did something, they got a treat (contingency was reasonable); however, it wasn’t the best ratio.
**Variable ratio; **
**Continuous; **ratio at best- animal would produce behaviour- continue to perform and demand a reward.
Fixed and variable ratio; entraining behaviour
Continuous; you’re entraining contingency.
Limitation of reinforcement schedule
Limitations
Instinctive Drift (Breland XXXX)
Learned behaviours gravitated to instinctual behaviours.
Debate: similarity of behaviours.
Autoshaping (Sign-Tracking)
Engaging with the CS as if it were the reward; resistant to extinction
Some instinctive drift happened in the animal’s mind, but behaviorists did not discuss this.
Sigmund Freud; psychoanalysis
Association between Brain and Body
❖Meynert
Will-impulse (motivation) guided the search for pleasurable outcomes and avoiding painful experiences.
Understand how motivation (3 fs) had animals motivated to find pleasurable outcomes while avoiding painful experiences.
primal and secondary ego
❑Primal Ego – learned but biologically driven, pleasurable physical sensations.
Primal ego can be said it is a manifestation of some cortical structures that give rise to sensation.
❑Secondary Ego – higher-order associations associated with new circuitry
Boycott basic contingencies.
The urge is the cortex; go for food despite the pain.
The development of a secondary ego was the ability to reflect on the contingency between sensation and action and therefore associate new behaviours with those actions.
Freud background
Association between Brain and Body
❖Jackson; psycholinguist.
Language was both sensory-motor (speech) and psychological (understanding) –
Propositions: meaningful unit ; The propostion is the most basic unit of meaning in a representation. It is the smallest statement that can be judged either true or false
Language (internal rep); was either emotionally or intellectually driven.
❑speech is associated with communication and a reflection of language
Emotionally driven – determined by biological needs/states
Intellectually driven - functions as a result of association
Emotions give rise to language; internal sensations let us attribute meaning to things. When I’m hungry, an apple is awesome, but when I’m angry apple can be a weapon
My internal state is how we interpret objects.
Language allows us to choose propositions. → engage w propositions
Association between Brain and Body
Combining Meynert and Jackson’s approach
Motivations become learned associations b/wn emotions and actions, whose meaning is thus coded in Language.
langue & proposition: frued
Freudian slip (paraphasia); slip of the tongue→. The primal ego wanted something, but after the language proposition, it changed.
Primal ego emerges from a slip of tongue.
Paraphasia emerged from an emotional state.
Paraphasia had to be linguistic.
For Freud, strictly linguistic, for modern psych, can extend to action as well.
Ego ideal (superego); shaping someone’s language→ affects secondary ego and gives secondary ego something to strive for.
Fact check: Associated Mind and Body
freud fact check
Intrusive Thoughts
Unwelcome involuntary thoughts that are cue-dependent, perceptual, and specifically related to emotional content
Mind popping: Involuntary semantic memories (Kvavilashvili & Mandler, 2004) (slip of tongue)
❑Continuous activation of semantic information results in priming that emerges as seemingly random.
Talking and forgetting a word but the word coming to you randomly 3 hours later.
Priming of semantic networks, the mind is looking for the ord even after you’ve given up, and once you engage in some behaviour that allows you to draw the connection, the word pops into your brain.
Seemingly random but not so random.
Some sort of trigger that managed to get through and help you locate the word.
Prousts: Involuntary autobiographical memories (Rasmussen & Berntsen, 2009)
❑Disinhibition results in emotionally charged responses “breaking through”
Embarrassing moments come back while you’re doing random tasks known as prousts.
Many people reported they were tired, upset, and distracted; that’s when emotional, negative, embarrassing autobiographical memories would come and remind them.
Associated Mind and Body
charcot
Charcot
“auto-induced hypnotic state”
Hypnotic because not being in tune with reality (disassociating) result in abnormal actions - dealing with panicky thoughts. Manifest behaviours associated with failing course.
Stress was a psychological factor
thoughts issued the “commands,” not sensory input or motor output
❑Mismatch b/wn expectations and intentions
Stress was a psychological factor; people’s thoughts got them into a position where the emotional responses seemed out of line when it wasn’t because if you’re actually failing, then the action is reasonable (in the auto-induced state)
Thoughts issue commands.
An early explanation of anxiety; someone’s thoughts can induce stress; stress can induce certain actions because indiv. Believes that the action is happening.
Breur
Talking Cure: self-analysis and recollection (introduce reassuring action instead)
expectations were not conscious as they were emotional
As they talk, reach catharsis, see how the action impinged, how ridiculous the actions were.
Fact-Check: Associated Mind and Body
Reconsolidation Therapy (Brunet, 2013)
Semanticization - Transforming episodic memories to declarative (semantic) ones
Dissociated from an emotional response
❑PTSD Treatment
Associated Mind and Body
charcot: fact check
Charcot
Relied on genetic/hereditary explanations of illness (inbreeding)
Susceptibility was a “weakness” in the genetic code perpetuated by inbreeding.
Was looking at illness from a biological standpoint.
Fact-check: Diathesis-Stress Model
Genes respond differently in different environments.
Genetic susceptibility in a negative environment responds negatively, whereas in a positive environment. Adapting to the environment.
Charcot looked at the biological component and looked at the genetic background.
Modern theories, diathesis, is not just genetics because genetics interact with the environment, there is susceptibility, but it can be turned on and off depending on what’s going on in the environment.
The interplay between biological and behaviour (modern)
This builds resilience. Adapting.
Interactions between Biology (diathesis) and Stress
Diathesis: Vulnerability (inherent, stable)
Stress: Life event (disrupts equilibrium, discrete or chronic)
Protective factors - Support/adaptive outlet (mitigate)
Resilience is the ability to mitigate/modulate stress
freud: dialectic tensions
Id (Primal Ego): impulses to maintain (survival) and reproduce
Pleasure principle→ Subjective approach to impulses
Ego (Secondary): a mediator between demands of ID and Superego (language based)
Reality principle
Navigate the world to give to the id→ wants pleasure
Super-Ego (Ego-Ideal): Internalization of social norm; comes from culture
Morality principle
Problem solver
