Chapter 4 - Origins of Criminal Behavior: Learning and Situational Factors

Question 1

Types of Learning

Answer 1

1) Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning
2) Instrumental Learning, or Operant Conditioning
3) Social Learning

Question 2

Overview of Classical conditioning

Answer 2

• presumes that the human being is an automaton that acts in a monotonous routine w/out active intelligence
• the pairing of a neutral stimulus with a closely followed rewarding or painful event, which will eventually connect the stimulus with the reward or pain

Question 3

Overview of Instrumental Learning

Answer 3

• the learner must do something to the environment in order to obtain a reward or avoid punishment
• based on the consequences of behavior

Question 4

Overview of Social Learning

Answer 4

• the most complex of all 3 learning types
• learning by watching others and organizing social experiences in the brain
• most representative of contemporary psychology
• integration of knowledge from biological and social environments as well as cognitive environment

Question 5

Behaviorism

Answer 5

• John B. Watson, 1913
• Roots back to Aristotle, and inspired by Pavlov
• the “science of behavior”

Question 6

Stimulus

Answer 6

A person, object, or event that elicits behavior

Question 7

Response

Answer 7

The elicited behavior from exposure to a stimulus

Question 8

Skinner’s Theory of Behavior

Answer 8

• believed the primary goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior
• believed environmental and external stimuli are primary or sole determinants of all behavior
• introduced use of dependent and independent variables
• did not deny thought and mental events, but said that mental activity can be explained by observing what a person DOES, since it is what one does that counts

Question 9

Independent Variables

Answer 9

environmental stimuli

Question 10

Dependent Variables

Answer 10

The behaviors elicited by the independent variables

Question 11

Variable

Answer 11

Any entity or behavior that can be measured

Question 12

Situationism

Answer 12

Refers to the belief that all behavior is at the mercy of stimuli in the environment, and individuals have virtually no control or self-determination. Independent thinking and free will are myths

Question 13

Reductionism

Answer 13

The breaking down of complex human behavior into more simple behavior.

Question 14

Operant Conditioning

Answer 14

Learning to either make or withhold a particular response because of its consequences. This is a fundamental learning process that is acquired or eliminated by the consequences that follow behavior.

Question 15

Reinforcement

Answer 15

Anything that increases the probability of future responding. May be positive or negative.

Question 16

Positive reinforcement

Answer 16

We gain something we desire as a consequence of certain behavior

Question 17

Negative reinforcement

Answer 17

We avoid an unpleasant event or stimulus as a consequence of certain behavior

Question 18

Punishment

Answer 18

When an organism receives noxious or painful stimuli as consequences of behavior, such as being slapped or hit for “being bad”. Skinner argued that this method of reinforcement is a less effective way to eliminate behavior, since it will only suppress it temporarily

Question 19

Extinction

Answer 19

When a person or animal receives neither reinforcement or punishment. Believed to be more effective than punishment, since once the organism learns that a behavior brings no reinforcement at all, the behavior will likely be dropped from the repertoire of possible responses for that situation.

Question 20

Social Learning Theory

Answer 20

Suggests that to understand criminal behavior, we must examine perceptions, thoughts, expectancies, competencies, and values. Each person has his or he own version of the world and lives by that version. Internal factors, as well as external ones, play significant roles in behavior.
** believes that the social environment is the main factor in the acquisition of behavior, although reinforcement is necessary for the maintenance of said behavior.

Question 21

Julian Rotter

Answer 21

theorist well known for drawing attention to the importance of expectations about the consequences of behavior, including the reinforcement that will be gained from it.

Question 22

Expectancy Theory

Answer 22

Argues that a person’s performance level is based on that person’s expectation that behaving in a particular way will lead to a given outcome. As in…when people act violently, they do so because that approach has been used successfully in the past.

Question 23

Albert Bandura

Answer 23

Theorist associated with observational modeling or learning

Question 24

Observational learning

Answer 24

Belief that much of our behavior is initially acquired by watching others, who are called models - significant persons in the social environment who provide cues for how to do something.

Question 25

Imitational learning

Answer 25

Also called modeling or observational learning - When the behavioral pattern for something exists in our repertoires, even if we have never received direct reinforcement for acquiring it.

Question 26

Ronald Akers

Answer 26

theorist who suggested the DAR theory - differential association-reinforcement

Question 27

Differential Association-Reinforcement theory (DAR)

Answer 27

States that people learn to commit devious acts through interpersonal interactions with their social environment

Question 28

Discriminative stimuli

Answer 28

Social signals transmitted by subcultural or peer groups to indicate whether certain kinds of behavior will be rewarded or punished within a particular social context.

Question 29

Positive discriminative stimuli

Answer 29

The signals - verbal or nonverbal - that communicate that certain behaviors are encouraged by the subgroup. Follow the principle of positive reinforcement, with the individual engaging in them gaining societal rewards from the group

Question 30

Neutralizing / justifying discriminative stimuli

Answer 30

Neutralizes the warnings communicated by society at large that certain behaviors are inappropriate or unlawful

Question 31

Frustration

Answer 31

aversive internal state of arousal, that is particularly intense if an individual has a high expectancy of meeting a goal.

Question 32

Leonard Berkowitz

Answer 32

divided criminals into two categories, socialized offenders and criminal offenders.