Chapter 10

Question 1

Determinism

Answer 1

is the belief that an event is caused by, or determined by, some prior event, with the cause being something that can be understood according to basic laws of science. (IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO FREE WILL)

Question 2

Behaviorists view on the person

Answer 2

people are “machine-like”. Anti-free will.

Question 3

Two Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism

Answer 3

1. Behavior must be explained in terms of the causal influence of the environment on the person
2. An understanding of people should be built entirely on controlled laboratory research, where the research could involve either people or animals

Question 4

Behaviorist’s thoughts on environmental factors vs. behavior

Answer 4

Humans are physical objects in a physical universes, therefore they act according to the environment, not by choice. Science can explain behavior.

Question 5

Feelings and Emotions via behavior

Answer 5

irrelevant. Also created by environment. (Not self-produced or felt)

Question 6

Environmental Determinism

Answer 6

highlights the potential for situational specificity of behavior

Question 7

Behaviorist approach to psychopathology

Answer 7

assumes that maladaptive, “abnormal” behavior is caused by maladaptive environments to which the person has been exposed

Question 8

Behaviorist emphasis on observation

Answer 8

must be able to see the environmental and behavioral variables, so they can measure them with accuracy and systematically relate them to one another

Question 9

Challenges in experimental research

Answer 9

impractical and unethical to manipulate environment
complexly related variables that are hard to isolate
study simple organisms rather than humans

Question 10

John B. Watson

Answer 10

founder of behaviorism

drew on findings of Pavlov for most notable work

Question 11

Ian Pavlov

Answer 11

first to show important information about the classical conditioning processes of animals and humans
Digestive process in dogs
Nobel Prize 1904

Question 12

Classical Conditioning

Answer 12

a process in which a stimulus that initially is neutral (the organism does not respond to in any significant way) eventually elicits a strong response because it becomes associated with some other stimulus that does produce a response

Question 13

neutral stimulus

Answer 13

a stimulus that an organism doesn’t respond to in any notable way by itself

Question 14

unconditioned response

Answer 14

an innate response to a stimulus such as salivating when you smell food

Question 15

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 15

a stimulus that is innately correlated with an unconditioned response

Question 16

conditioned stimulus

Answer 16

a once neutral stimulus that was learned by the organism to create a conditioned response but is otherwise not innate

Question 17

conditioned response

Answer 17

the learned response of a conditioned stimulus

Question 18

generalization

Answer 18

a response that had become conditioned to previously neutral stimuli would also become associated with similar stimuli

Question 19

discriminiation

Answer 19

when only some stimuli are followed by the unconditioned stimulus, the animal recognizes differences among stimuli

Question 20

extinction

Answer 20

when the originally neutral stimulus is presented repeatedly without being followed at least occasionally by the unconditioned stimulus, thereby weakening the conditioning

Question 21

systematic desensitization

Answer 21

If the existing response to a stimulus is fear or anxiety, then the goal might be to have the person learn a new response such as relaxation. (training them to react differently to the problematic stimulus)

Question 22

B.F. Skinner

Answer 22

The most influential behavioral researcher, theorist, and spokesperson (Harvard)
Principles of scientific methodology

Question 23

5 principles of scientific methodology

Answer 23

1. When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it
2. Some ways of doing research are easier than others.
3. Some people are lucky
4. problems can also lead to….
5. Serendipity- the art of finding one thing while looking for something else

Question 24

2 reasons why Skinner deemphasized structure

Answer 24

1. Behaviorists view behavior as an adaptation to situational forces so they expect situation specificity in behavior
2. Their general approach to constructing a theory

Question 25

Skinner beliefs…

Answer 25

The environment doesn’t cause the organism to respond, it is within the organism to begin with

Question 26

reinforcer

Answer 26

something that follows a response and increases the probability of the response occurring again in the future

Question 27

schedules of reinforcement

Answer 27

this refers to the relation between behavior and when a reinforcement occurs

Question 28

shaping

Answer 28

a step-by-step process of successive approximations. (building a desired response in an organism)

Question 29

punishments

Answer 29

aversive stimuli can influence behaviors

Question 30

Skinner’s view on psychopathology

Answer 30

behavioral pathology is not a disease. It is a response pattern learned according to the same principles of behavior as are all response patterns

Question 31

behavioral approach to treatment

Answer 31

to re-condition the negative responses, re-train the patient to respond differently to environmental stimuli.
Studied and assessed patient in normal environment, not 1 on 1.

Question 32

ABA research Design

Answer 32

measure behavior at one point in time, introduce a reinforcer and measures behavior again at a second point in time, and then take away the reinforcer to see if the behavior returns to its original level
**Skinner believed that this was a more powerful method of research

Question 33

token economies

Answer 33

A behavioral technician rewards, with tokens, behaviors that are considered desirable. The tokens can then be exchanged for desirable products at a later time (form of operant conditioning)

Question 34

Skinner’s view of free will?

Answer 34

we DO NOT have free will. Everything is an environmental response.