Chapter 10 Flashcards
Determinism
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)
Behaviorists view on the person
people are “machine-like”. Anti-free will.
Two Basic Assumptions of Behaviorism
- Behavior must be explained in terms of the causal influence of the environment on the person
- An understanding of people should be built entirely on controlled laboratory research, where the research could involve either people or animals
Behaviorist’s thoughts on environmental factors vs. behavior
Humans are physical objects in a physical universes, therefore they act according to the environment, not by choice. Science can explain behavior.
Feelings and Emotions via behavior
irrelevant. Also created by environment. (Not self-produced or felt)
Environmental Determinism
highlights the potential for situational specificity of behavior
Behaviorist approach to psychopathology
assumes that maladaptive, “abnormal” behavior is caused by maladaptive environments to which the person has been exposed
Behaviorist emphasis on observation
must be able to see the environmental and behavioral variables, so they can measure them with accuracy and systematically relate them to one another
Challenges in experimental research
impractical and unethical to manipulate environment
complexly related variables that are hard to isolate
study simple organisms rather than humans
John B. Watson
founder of behaviorism
drew on findings of Pavlov for most notable work
Ian Pavlov
first to show important information about the classical conditioning processes of animals and humans
Digestive process in dogs
Nobel Prize 1904
Classical Conditioning
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
neutral stimulus
a stimulus that an organism doesn’t respond to in any notable way by itself
unconditioned response
an innate response to a stimulus such as salivating when you smell food
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that is innately correlated with an unconditioned response
conditioned stimulus
a once neutral stimulus that was learned by the organism to create a conditioned response but is otherwise not innate
conditioned response
the learned response of a conditioned stimulus
generalization
a response that had become conditioned to previously neutral stimuli would also become associated with similar stimuli
discriminiation
when only some stimuli are followed by the unconditioned stimulus, the animal recognizes differences among stimuli
extinction
when the originally neutral stimulus is presented repeatedly without being followed at least occasionally by the unconditioned stimulus, thereby weakening the conditioning
systematic desensitization
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)
B.F. Skinner
The most influential behavioral researcher, theorist, and spokesperson (Harvard)
Principles of scientific methodology
5 principles of scientific methodology
- When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it
- Some ways of doing research are easier than others.
- Some people are lucky
- problems can also lead to….
- Serendipity- the art of finding one thing while looking for something else
2 reasons why Skinner deemphasized structure
- Behaviorists view behavior as an adaptation to situational forces so they expect situation specificity in behavior
- Their general approach to constructing a theory
Skinner beliefs…
The environment doesn’t cause the organism to respond, it is within the organism to begin with
reinforcer
something that follows a response and increases the probability of the response occurring again in the future
schedules of reinforcement
this refers to the relation between behavior and when a reinforcement occurs
shaping
a step-by-step process of successive approximations. (building a desired response in an organism)
punishments
aversive stimuli can influence behaviors
Skinner’s view on psychopathology
behavioral pathology is not a disease. It is a response pattern learned according to the same principles of behavior as are all response patterns
behavioral approach to treatment
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.
ABA research Design
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
token economies
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)
Skinner’s view of free will?
we DO NOT have free will. Everything is an environmental response.
