Ch 2: Early Behaviourism

Question 1

What part of psychology fascinated Wilhelm Wundt the most?

Answer 1

Wundt was curious about how the anatomy of the brain played a role in understanding learning and psychology. As a result he came up with structuralism, which is the idea that each structure of the brain allows for a specific function to occur.

Question 2

Why was introspection implemented?

Answer 2

Introspection is the idea of looking inwards. It was implemented in an attempt to find out what part of the brain had what function (i.e. it was used for structuralism). They had the belief that, who best to ask about what is going on inside the brain of an individual than the individual themself (i.e. introspection).

Question 3

Why do we not use introspection today?

Answer 3

We no longer use introspection because we have imaging techniques that can allow us to link specific structures of the brain to different functions.

Question 4

Describe one limitation of introspection.

Answer 4

One limitation of introspection is that we can never guarantee that the data we collect is too dependent on the participant. For example, he or she may be withholding information or may just be too young to understand the questions being asked.

Question 5

Psychology is a hard science. What may have given off that indication that it is now considered a hard science?

Answer 5

James Mark Baldwin discovered the first psychological laboratory in University of Toronto. Laboratories were only given for the hard sciences, which implied that psychology was beginning to be considered a hard science.

Question 6

What did Baldwin strive to discover?

Answer 6

Baldwin wanted to explore functionalism. Functionalism is the idea of understanding behaviours by analyzing the goals/purposes of that behaviour.

Question 7

Provide an example that explains functionalism.

Answer 7

Habit formation is an example. Habit formation involves a cue which then triggers a specific action/routine and following through with that routine leads to a reward. The purpose of engaging in cue, routine and reward is so that we can form habits.

Question 8

Why is sensation and perception so important?

Answer 8

Sensation is the process of our senses detecting visual, auditory, or sensory stimuli and transmitting it to the brain. Perception is the processing of those signals (from sensation) through interpretation. Sensation and perception are important because without participants being able to sense and perceive signals, we will not have data. In the early psychophysics, to establish psychology as science, data must be collected.

Question 9

What was early psychophysics focused on?

Answer 9

It was focused on boundaries and thresholds.

Question 10

Define absolute threshold.

Answer 10

Absolute threshold is the least amount of stimulation required for a stimulus to be detected at least 50% of the time. For example, if you are sitting in a dark room, and they dim the light. If you see the light at a certain point for at least half the number of trials, then that is the absolute threshold.

Question 11

What is another name for differential threshold?

Answer 11

Another name for differential threshold is just noticeable difference (JND). JND is the least amount of change in the intensity of a stimulus that can actually be detected by an individual. For example, if a blindfolded person was holding 2 kg weight, if you added 500g they would notice. Meanwhile if a blindfolded person was holding 50 kg weight, and you added 500g, the person would not notice. This is JND.

Question 12

What is Weber’s law?

Answer 12

Weber’s law, created by Max Weber states that the intensity of the stimulation is proportionate to the JND

Question 13

Describe Pavlov’s experiment using relevant terms.

Answer 13

The dog would begin to salivate (UR) as soon as the it received its food (US). What Pavolv discovered was that by associating another stimulus (CS - ex.bell) with the US (i.e. by presenting the bell noise along with the food), after a number of trials, the CS will also begin to elicit the same UR (which is now called CR). This is what he called classical conditioning.
The salivation (response) which previously had nothing to do with the bell (neutral stimulation) can be paired together by practice.

Question 14

Describe classical conditioning. Provide an example.

Answer 14

Classical conditioning, created by Pavlov, describes how responses to previously neutral stimulation can be learned as a result of the repeated pairing of stimuli. This is how reflexes were once created.

Question 15

What is the difference between contiguity and contingency?

Answer 15

Contiguity is when two events occur close together in time. Contingency is when occurence of one event depends on the occurrence of another but is not bound by time. Pavlovian conditioning is based on contiguity rather than contingency.

Question 16

What are the four different variations in contiguity? Provide an example of each.

Answer 16

Delayed pairing is when the CS is presented first but continues to stay on until the US has finished. For example, when you are in a room and the experimenter switches the light on (CS) and then a few minutes later an electric shock (US) follows, then they both turn off. Trace pairing is when the CS is presented and is gone before the US is presented. For example, the light (CS) is turned on and then turned off, then the electric shock (US) is presented and then turned off. Simultaneous pairing is when the CS and US start and end at the exact same time. For example, the light (CS) is presented at the exact same time as the electric shock (US). Lastly, backward pairing is when the US has already been presented and removed prior to the presentation of the CS. For example, electric shock is given (US) and once it is off, the light (CS) goes on.

Question 17

Define acquisition.

Answer 17

Acquisition is the formation of the stimulus-response association.

Question 18

What happens if you were to present the dog with the noise of the bell (CS) and not the food (US)? How about if it was done a number of times?

Answer 18

The first time the dog would salivate - anticipation salivation. However, after a number of trails, the dog would not salivate. This process is called extinction, the association between the once neutral stimulus and the response is lost. However, if you were to perform it again, the dog would begin to salivate - i.e. spontaneous recovery.

Question 19

Bertha is afraid of big dogs after being chased by one when she was younger. However, the other day when her friend brings over her puppy, Bertha also gets scared and screams. What is this called?

Answer 19

This is called stimulus generalization. It is defined as making the same or very similar responses to a range of related stimuli.

Question 20

What is the opposite of stimulus generalization?

Answer 20

Stimulus discrimntation. It is when the individual makes different responses to related but distinctly different stimuli.

Question 21

Define higher order conditioning.

Answer 21

Higher order conditioning follows the idea of using additional stimuli in connection with that learning. For example, you can add a light as a second stimulus to generate salivation for the dog. However, if you the second stimulus stops being paired with the food, the dog may still respond to the first stimulus.

Question 22

What is Watson most famous for?

Answer 22

Watson is most famous for this study that he conducted - Little Albert.

Question 23

What was Watson’s thoughts on classical conditioning?

Answer 23

He agreed with Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning, however he also placed on emphasis that some things are genetics (i.e. inheritable), such as reflexes. Humans are born with a number of physical and emotional reflexes that can be brought about by environmental stimuli.

Question 24

Jenny was diagnosed with a phobia in which she fears spiders. What did Watson believe started this phobia?

Answer 24

Watson believed that all phobias are most likely conditioned. He believed in this concept called transfer, in which the making of similar responses for a variety of related stimuli. He describes that phobias were probably either a fear of the original stimuli or as the years went by it may have transferred to another similar stimuli.

Question 25

What did Watson want people to take out from his case study of Little Albert?

Answer 25

Little Albert was a young boy who was not afraid of white, furry mice. So when presented with one, he showed no fear. Watson then began to strike a hammer against a steel bar (which elicited fear in Albert) everytime they presented the mouse. After a couple of trails, as soon as the white mouse was presented to Albert, he would get scared because he was able to associate the white mouse with the clanging noise. Watson stated that if previously neutral stimuli can be trained to elicit fear, then the opposite can be done too.

Question 26

Shirley’s little sister is three years old, and she always wets the bed. Her parents are desperate to get their daughter out of that habit. What is this condition called? What can be done?

Answer 26

This condition is called enuresis. Classical conditioning can be used to stop her from wetting the bed. So the baby will sleep on a pad on the bed, and as soon as she wets the bed, the electric circuit will cause the bell to ring (US) and she will wake up (UR). After a number of trials, the baby will automatically wake up (CR) as soon as she feels the need to urinate (CS) so she can go to the bathroom.

Question 27

What is one way farmers can prevent coyotes from eating sheep?

Answer 27

They can use conditioned taste aversion which is when an animal associates its prey with a negative feeling, hence avoiding that prey. They first gave coyotes sheep meat (CS) sprinkled with a chemical (UCS) that produces a stomachache (UCR). After coyotes ate the sheep meat, they avoided the live sheep (CR).

Question 28

What was another application of classical conditioning that researchers performed to improve immunity of animals?

Answer 28

They injected guinea pigs with foreign agents (antibodies) which boosts their immune system. They associate this with a light turning on. After a couple of trials, when the light gets turned on alone, it resulted in a better immune system. They were able to test this by injecting guinea pigs with prior conditioning and guinea pigs with no conditioning with lethal cholera drug. The guinea pigs with prior conditioning had a better survival rate than the later - i.e. better immunity.

Question 29

What did some critics have to say about Watson?

Answer 29

It was believed that Watson was too set on repetitive behaviours forming habits - i.e. higher/complex learning. Critics claimed that he was underemphasizing the role of heredity. They claimed that in order to even form habits, they must have some sort of basic abilities. They believed that genetics are also important.

Question 30

What did Guthrie want to discover? What theory did he come up with to explain it?

Answer 30

Guthrie was thinking about how quickly learning occurred. The explanation for this question is what he called Guthrie’s Law of One-Shot Learning. This means that full strength of the association between stimuli and response will occur after the first pairing, and by practicing it again it will neither strengthen it or weaken it. An example of this is when we get food poisoning we tend not to eat the food we ate prior to the incident ever again

Question 31

What concept of his did Guthrie use to explain the national anthem?

Answer 31

The national anthem can be explained by the concept called movement produced stimuli (MPS). When we hear the national anthem begin to play (stimulus), we slowly rise (response) which then acts as a stimulus creating the next response of raising our hand and placing it on our chest, and so on. MPS is about the stimulus not being just one sensation, but multiple sensations, and the response of being not just one response, rather it is a sequence of actions that follow. There is contiguity in MPS as all the stimuli-response following in a timeline.

Question 32

Define one-shot theory of contiguity learning.

Answer 32

Guthrie claimed that our responses to stimuli (cues) are never forgotten, but they are merely replaced with another alternative response. In order to break habits, we must learn our cue, figure out our response, and identify the reward from performing that response. Then we must change the in between - we must change the response to the cue.

Question 33

List the three techniques for breaking habits. Use an example to explain each technique.

Answer 33

The three techniques are fatigue technique, threshold technique, and incompatible stimuli technique. For example, if you have a horse that does not like having people on its back because it’s too heavy, and as a result throws the people off. The fatigue technique would break this habit by placing the rider on the horse until it gets so tired that it stops fighting back and allows the man to sit. Basically it involves presenting the stimulus repeatedly to elicit continued repetition of the undesired response. The threshold technique, would start by adding small weights to the horse and then eventually the rider. It is when you present the stimulus that triggers the undesirable habit, but it is presented so faintly that it does not elicit the undesired response. Lastly, the incompatible stimuli technique involves forcing the horse into a position, so that when the rider gets on, it has no choice but to sit still. It involves presenting the stimulus when the unwanted response cannot occur.