Behaviourism Flashcards
What is the introduction to Behaviourism?
-Development: Emphasis on the ability to culminate and synthesize previous work
–building off of what we already know
-Early debates - behaviour, biology, and consciousness
–behaviour & biology = what we observe; consciousness = what happens in the mind; what do I answer to, because I am aware of it.
-Objective psychology: studying only things that are directly measurable
–emphasizing that psychology is a science, because we can directly observe behaviour
-James McKeen Cattel: within the functionalist framework - study of both consciousness and behaviour with emphasis on the practicality of the knowledge
–a lot of information can be obtained without introspection; because its subjective
-Thorndike: laws of learning derived from working on nonhumans to humans - created a strain between introspectionists and animal researchers (objective vs subjective)
Ivan Mikhailovich Sechnov’s impact on Russian objective psychology?
-founder of Russian Objective Psychology (where behaviourism was birthed)
-insisted that external stimulations cause all behaviours
–an external stimulation is our environment
-did not deny consciousness but said there was nothing mysterious about it so explained it from in terms of a physiological process triggered by external events (external stimulation)
-both overt behaviour and mental processes are reflexive - they are both triggered by external stimulation filtered through physiological processes in the brain
-inhibitions - psychology can be studied in terms of physiology - inhibitory mechanisms in the brain
-the only valid way to study psychology involves objective methods of physiology
-influenced neurophysiologists - inhibition studies became central
-behaviour is best understood as reflexive (shift from mind to just behaviour; if its reflexive we can condition, we can learn and unlearn)
Eduard Weber’s impact on Russian objective psychology?
-frog research - vagus nerve stimulated would slow the frog’s heart beat (physiology incorporated with psychology)
-first observation that increased activity in one part of the neuromuscular system caused decreased activity in another (system: increase one, decrease one)
-certain brain centers when stimulated would inhibit reflexive behaviours
Who was Ivan Petrovich Pavlov?
-born in Ryazan near Moscow
-comes from a family of priests
-he too studied priesthood
-changed his mind and studied natural science then pursued medicine
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What is Pavlov’s Conditioned Reflex?
-Pavlov’s method of studying the digestive system was collecting gastric juices - saliva
-studied this in response to substances such as meat powder
-became aware that objects or events associated with the meat powder also caused stomach secretions
-referred to these responses as conditional - depended on something else
-received little attention
-conditioned reflexes could be explained by the associated principles contiguity and frequency
-realized studying conditioned reflexes (psychic reflexes) entering the realm of psychology
What was Pavlov findings on Unconditioned and Conditioned Relfexes?
-we respond to the environment in terms of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes
-unconditioned reflex: innate and triggered by an unconditioned stimulus
-ex: US - food powder - Unconditioned Response (UR) - saliva produced
-connection determined by the biology
-Conditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that can eventually elicit a conditioned response
-Conditioned Response: a response that becomes associated with unrelated stimulus
What was Pavlov view on Excitation?
-Excitation - all central nervous system activity can be characterized by either excitation or inhibition
–all behaviour is reflexive - caused by antecedent stimulation
–though experience, we learn to inhibit reflexive behaviour
–we are constantly experiencing a wide array of stimuli - some elicit behaviour and some inhibit behaviour
How to get rid of conditioned responses?
-Extinction - CS presented continually and no longer followed by a US the CR will gradually diminish and finally disappear
-Spontaneous recovery - if a period of time is allowed after extinction and the CS is again presented the stimulus will elicit a CR
-Disinhibition: after extinction has taken place, presenting a strong, irrelevant stimulus causes the conditioned response to return
What is experimental neurosis and 1st and 2nd signal system?
-Experimental neurosis: the breakdown of behaviour of animals in an experiment when faced with an impossible problem
–abnormal behaviour could be produced in the lab by producing conflicting tendencies - the neurotic behaviour looked different in different animals
-First signal system - stimuli that come to signal biologically significant events - reflexes
-Second signal system - words that come to symbolize reality
Who was Vladimir Bechterev?
-created the first Russian experimental psychology lab - Wundt influence
-chair of the Psychic and Nervous disease department - St Petersburg Military Medical Academy
-an expert on brain anatomy and over the years his views on psychology diverged from Wundt’s
-argued for a completely objective psychology and focused on the relationship between environmental stimulation and behaviour
-founded the Psychoneurological Institute later names Bechterev Institute for Brain Research
-Reflexology: strictly objective study of human behaviour that seeks to understand the relationship between environmental influences and overt (visible) behaviour
Who was John B. Watson?
-born in Greenville South Carolina
-american Psychologist
-father of behaviourism (responsible for shift from focus on the mind to focusing on behaviour)
-objective analysis of the mind was impossible
-observable behaviour
-shift the focus of psychology from the mind to behaviour
-observing and controlling behaviour - behaviourism
-focus on learned behaviour in connection with inborn qualities
-experiments done with animals assuming they would be transferable to humans
What was Watson’s objective psychology?
-both Russian and Watson’s psychology rejected introspection and any explanation of behaviour based on mentalism
-less interested in physiology and more on correlating stimuli and responses
-called the brain a mystery box - when the real cause of behaviour was unknown
-goal of psychology - prediction and control behaviour (of the 4 goals, he focused on these)
What are the 4 types of Behaviour?
-Explicit learned behaviour - talking, writing, and playing baseball
-Implicit learned behaviour - increased heart rate caused by a needle for a shot; just the sight of something, such as seeing a rollercoaster; test anxiety, getting nervous before even seeing the exam.
-Explicit unlearned behaviour - blinking, sneezing (we don’t have to be taught this)
-Implicit unlearned behaviour - when you’re hungry you start to salivate (you can’t see it/observe it)
~ Everything a person did falls under these categories
What were Watson’s 4 methods of studying behaviour?
-Observation (gaining into a classroom and observing)
-Condition reflex method (something like Pavlov did)
-Testing (bystander effect)
-Verbal reports
What were Watson’s views on language and behaviour?
-language and Thinking - these were a form of behaviour (language affects how we think about things)
-instincts and behaviour - experience vs instincts
-change experience and you change personality
–he said that if you change someone’s experience you can change their personality
