B.F. Skinner - Behaviorism Flashcards
Behaviourism
Cause and Effect
A “cause” refers to a “change in an independent variable.”
An “effect” denotes a “change in a dependent variable.”
Different events tend to occur together in a certain order.
In behaviorism, cause is attributed to human behavior.
Inner Causes
Psychology typically explains behavior with internal or inner causes.
Example: “He is hungry” as a cause for “He is eating.”
Other sciences also attribute objects to internal causes, such as “properties of the body” due to “The essence or principle.”
Behaviorists challenge this, partly because observing inner states is difficult and it can limit critical thinking by accepting an inner solution.
Variables of Behavior (The inner condition)
Introspective psychology is deemed unscientific due to subjectivity and the impossibility of recalling the unconscious (per Freud).
Variables include operations performed upon the organism (e.g., water deprivation), inner conditions (e.g., physiological or psychic thirst), and types of behavior (e.g., drinking).
Independent information about the second link directly explains the third event without considering the first variable.
The inner condition refers to the current condition.
Functional Analysis
Some argue that the social intention behind an act is more important than the act itself.
Independent variables must also be described in physical terms.
Reflex Action
Reflex involves a stimulus (external agent) and a response (controlled behavior).
Reflexes may fatigue with repeated measures.
Spontaneity indicates the weakness of a current scientific explanation.
Control shifts from a hypothetical inner entity to the external environment.
Range of Reflex Action
Examples include lemon juice triggering saliva production and a flashlight causing the pupil to contract.
Involuntary reflexes like the knee jerk or squinting in the sun.
Reflexes cannot be generalized to all behavior because organisms are not solely under primitive stimulus control.
Conditioned Reflexes
“Psychic secretion” refers to saliva production in the mouth before eating.
Conditioning involves stimulus substitution and extinction learning.
All conditioned reflexes are based on unconditioned reflexes.
Learning Curves
Thorndike’s law of effect: Behavior that brings closer to a solution occurs more frequently.
Learning involves trial and error, distinct from human thought processes.
Operant Conditioning
Involves the probability of response and tendencies toward certain behaviors.
Terms like “excitatory potential,” “habit strength,” or “determining tendency” characterize behavior.
Operant conditioning strengthens responses to make them more probable or frequent.
Improves behavior efficiency and maintains its strength long after acquisition or efficiency has ceased to be of interest.
