Behaviourism & Humanistic Psychology Flashcards
methodological behaviourism
based on studying only what is directly observable (behaviour)
behaviourism is based on 2 types of learning
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
conducted an experiment with dogs, wherein he conditioned them to associate a bell and to respond to it; developed the idea of classical conditioning
Edward Thorndike
performed a classic puzzle box experiment, in which a box filled with animals was used to test how they’d learn to escape via operating a lever; developed the idea of operational conditioning
Thorndike’s laws of operant conditioning
- learning is incremental
- learning occurs automatically
- all animals learn the same way
- law of effect
- law of use
- law of disuse
- law of recency
- multiple response
- set/attitude
- prepotency of elements
- response by analogy
- identical elements theory of transfer
- associative shifting
- law of readiness
- identifiability
- availability
operant conditioning
based on how an organism tends to repeat behaviours it’s rewarded for
law of disuse
the longer an association is unused, the weaker it is
law of effect
if an association is followed by satisfaction, it will be strengthened; if followed by annoyance, it will be weakened
law of use
the more an association is used, the stronger it is
law of recency
the most recent response is likely to occur
response by analogy
responses from a related or similar context may be used in a new one
multiple responses
animals try diff responses (trial and error) if the first doesn’t lead to a specific state of affairs
set/attitude
animals are predisposed to act in a specific way
prepotency of elements
subject can filter out irrelevant aspects of a problem and focus on and respond to significant elements
identical elements theory of transfer
the more similar situations are, the greater the amount of info that will transfer; if situations have no commonalities, info learned in one won’t be valuable in the other
associative shifting
it’s possible to shift any response from occurring with 1 stimulus to occurring with another
law of readiness
quality in responses and connections that results in readiness to act; behavior and learning are influenced by (un)readiness and its strength
identifiability
identification/placement of a situation is the first response of the nervous system, which can recognize it; connections can be made to each other or to another response, and these depend on original identification
availability
ease of getting a specific response
John B Watson
coined “behaviourism” and believed that psych should be a natural, empirical science with no place for introspection
Little Albert experiment
one of Watson’s unethical experiments, wherein he classically conditioned a child to be scared of rats and animals
2 big ideas related to free will
- inherent tendencies: much of who you are is already based on genetic and biological tendencies (Watson didn’t believe in this, arguing instead that we were blank slates)
- environmental influences: we are affected by our env
Burrhus F. Skinner
associated with the Skinner box, which investigated operant conditioning wherein ppl learn to repeatedly perform or not perform a behaviour based on the response to it; operant conditioning also studies how an organism operates on its env
key terms in Skinner’s theory
- reinforcement
- punishment
- positive / negative reinforcement
- positive / negative punishment
- escape
- active avoidance
reinforcement
increases behaviour
positive reinforcement
adds a stimulus
negative reinforcement
removes a stimulus
escape
removes noxious stimuli
active avoidance
avoids noxious stimuli
punishment
decreases behaviour
positive punishment
adds noxious stimuli
negative punishment
removes a good stimulus
Skinner’s idea of a world that reinforces best behaviours
encouraged looking at social determinants of behaviour and argued that we admire those who succeed despite bad environments, bc their environmental controls are less conspicuous/conscious
dignity
extent to which you take credit for success and blame for failures
soft determinists
believe that only some things are under our control
Albert Bandura
argued that we seem to choose our goals and the ppl we surround ourselves with, but that we don’t choose our genes or the env we’re born into
gamification
adding of badges, prompts, and competition to natural behaviours
humanistic psychology
emerged as the 3rd force after psychodynamic psych and behaviourism, holds an optimistic view of humanity of its substantial capacity to be self-determining, strives ot enhace quality of choice, creativity, interaction of body, mind, and spirit, and capacity to become more aware, free, responsible, and self-directing
key leaders of humanistic psych
- Carl Rogers
- Rollo May
- Abraham Maslow
- Fritz Perls
Carl Rogers
one of the first to discuss client-centred (collaborative) care that focuses on a collaborative relationship with clients to create the Rochester experience (assuming they are the expert of their own lives and can explain their thoughts and behaviours)
3 major aspects of Rogers’s work
- method of counselling
- theory of personality
- ideas of the good life
Rogers’s theory of counselling
- there are necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic personality change that leads to understanding solutions
- congruence - therapist is authentic and not putting on a façade
- unconditional positive regard - deep, genuine caring for the client
- empathy - sensitively and accurately understanding the client’s experiences
6 conditions for personality change
- 2 persons are in psychological contact
- the client is experiencing incongruency
- the therapist is congruent and integrated in the relationship
- therapist experiences UPR for the client
- therapist experiences empathy for the client’s internal frame of reference and endeavors to communicate this to the client
- communication to the client is achieved to a minimal degree
Rogers’s theory of personality
- organized and consistent
- prone to environmental influences
- causes behaviours and reactions to others
- patterns of thoughts, behaviours, and feelings that make you unique
Rogers’s conception of the good life
- growing openness to experience (moving away from defensiveness)
- increasingly existential lifestyle (living each moment fully)
- freedom of choice (not being restricted by incongruence and ability to make a wide range of choices to feel responsible for own behaviour)
- higher levels of creativity
- reliability and constructiveness (experiencing joy, pain, love, heartbreak, etc. more intensely)
important terms in Rogers’s theory
- phenomenology
- authenticity
- self-actualization
phenomenology
seeking to understand the outside world as it’s interpreted by and thru human consciousness. one of the ways distress occurs is when there’s a difference between who we think we are, who we are, and who we’d like to be (incongruence between the ideal self, self-image, and true self)
phenomenal field
space of perceptions that’s constructed by our outer world experiences as filtered thru our personal needs, goals, and beliefs
authenticity
ideal self is based both on subliminal messages perpetuated by society and listening to ourselves; all of us have a personality and a desire to honour that personality but what we get rewarded for (conditions for worth) often conflict with who we authentically are (organismic valuing process) which creates distress
self-actualization
to fulfill one’s full potential and achieve the highest level of ‘human-beingness’ possible; Rogers believed that the 2 based human needs are self-actualization and positive regard (UPR leads to self-actualization, whereas conditional PR leads to self-discrepancies)
Rollo May
influenced by Kierkegaard’s philosophy that it’s thru facing anxiety that freedom is achieved, distinguished between normal and neurotic anxiety (over-responding to a threat), developed existential therapy
existential therapy
focuses on our freedom to choose the life we want and overcome anxiety about death and things we can’t control, emphasizes present choices and future situations to enable a new freedom and responsibility to act; by accepting limitations and mortality, we can overcome anxiety and view life as moments in which we’re fundamentally free
Fritz Perls
developed gestalt therapy
gestalt therapy
form of psychotherapy centred on increasing a person’s awareness, freedom, and self-direction, focuses on the present instead of past experiences, utilizes active techniques like client roleplay , creative arts to go beyond fixing a problem and become more aware of who you are
other gestalt techniques and their users
- Mary Whitehouse - movement
- Janine Rhyne - art
- Gendin - assessed where stress resided in clients’ bodies
Abraham Maslow
established the hierarchy of needs, travelled to Calgary and found that extremely high levels of ‘cooperation, minimal inequality, restorative justice, full bellies,…and life satisfaction’ amongst the Blackfoot nation
hierarchy of needs
categorized human needs in a pyramid form
deficiency needs
the bottom 4 levels of Maslow’s pyramid (esteem, love and belonging, safety, and physiological needs) that don’t have significant effects when satiated
growth need
self-actualization to be all you can be, when satiated, this results in feelings of joy or contribution, only a small minority of ppl can do so bc it requires uncommon qualities like honesty, independence, objectivity, etc.
