Chapter 9: Behaviorism Antecedents

Question 1

iHow did psychology evolve since it’s inception?

Answer 1

Introspection less prominent, existence of mental elements questioned, debates on whether psychology should remain a pure science.

Question 2

What were John B. Watson’s ideas on behaviorism?

Answer 2

Focus is on actions that can be seen, heard, or touched. Actions (or responses) driven by stimuli rather than conscious thought. Basic tenets a mix of objectivism, mechanism, animal psych and functional psych.

Question 3

How did Rene Descartes influence behaviorism?

Answer 3

Provided mechanistic explanations for the operations of the human body
Reflex action theory as a precursor to ideas behind stimulus-response.

Question 4

How did Auguste Comte contribute to behaviorism?

Answer 4

Positivism: The only valid sources of knowledge are that which are objectively observable.

Question 5

What is animal psychology?

Answer 5

Aimed to demonstrate the existence of the mind in animals and establish similarities to the human mind. Initially “anecdotal relationships”

Question 6

Why was it difficult to be an animal psychologist at the time?

Answer 6

Not well respected in academia, therefor always concerned with funding and poor career prospects.

Question 7

Who was Jacques Loeb?

Answer 7

Physiologist and zoologist, argued against introspection by analogy

Question 8

What is Loeb’s idea of tropism?

Answer 8

Animal theory of behavior based on an involuntary forced movement. Animals react to a stimulus directly and automatically- reactions not tied to any sense of consciousness (but didn’t reject consciousness outright).

Question 9

How did Loeb believe animal consciousness functioned?

Answer 9

Revealed through associative memory- animals learn to react to certain stimuli in a desirable way.

Question 10

Who wanted to study with Loeb?

Answer 10

Watson, but was dissuaded.

Question 11

Who was Willard Small?

Answer 11

First to use the rat maze to assess how rats learned their surroundings- hungry rat placed in a maze and wandered freely until it found food. Interpreted rat’s ideas as mental immages. Briefly influenced Watson.

Question 12

What did Watson write about for his dissertation?

Answer 12

The conscious experience of sensation in rats.

Question 13

Who was Charles H. Turner?

Answer 13

Studied insect behavior of ant and honeybees. Watson reviewed and praised this paper and then used behavior for the first time in print.

Question 14

Who was Margaret F. Washburn?

Answer 14

Wrote The Animal Mind. Most comprehensive overview of animal psychology, but the last to use the approach of inferring mental states from behavior.

Question 15

Who was Wilhelm von Osten?

Answer 15

Wanted to prove that animals were intelligennt beings- tried to (unsuccessfully) teach a cat and a bear the fundamentals of human intelligence. Successfully (?) taught Clever Hans

Question 16

What were some of the things that Clever Hans was supposedly able to do?

Answer 16

Add and Subtract, use fractions and decimals, read, spell, and memorize sentences, identify coins and play cards, recognize objects, discriminate between colours and shades. Judged to have a reasoning ability equivalent to a 14 year old boy.

Question 17

Was Hans really that clever?

Answer 17

Oskar Pfungst investigated and found that Hans was receiving unintentional cues from his owner and the audience. Correct responses were reinforced with carrots and sugar cubes.

Question 18

What did we learn from Clever Hans?

Answer 18

Animals are capable of learning and we are capable of modifying their behavior. Studying animals is a worthwhile endeavor. Pfungst’s report was reviewed by Watson, further influenced him to promote psychology dealing only with behavior.

Question 19

Who was Edward Lee Thorndike?

Answer 19

Studied under William James at Harvard after reading Principles of Psychology. Trained chicks to run through mazes. Adapted animal research techniques for children and adults.

Question 20

What journal did Edward Lee Thorndike found?

Answer 20

Journal of Educational Psychology.

Question 21

What is the idea of connectivism according to Thorndike?

Answer 21

PSychology must study observable behavior and not mental elements. Experimental approach to learning based on connections between situations and responses- behavior must be reduced to it’s simplest elements: The stimulus, and the response

Question 22

What was Thorndike’s puzzle box?

Answer 22

Had cats observe other animals escaping from a box and compared the times to cats who did not observe.

Question 23

What were the results from Thorndikes puzzle box experiment?

Answer 23

No difference between two groups, however noticed that after having escaped once, cats were able to escape much faster.

Question 24

What was Thorndike’s second experiment using the puzzle box?

Answer 24

Placed hungry cats inside box, rewarded them with food for escaping. Found that escaping was slow and accidental at first, but on subsequent trials, behaviors were less random and escape was faster. Once learning was complete, escape times stopped improving.

Question 25

What is the idea of trial and error learning (Thorndike)

Answer 25

Learning based on the repetition of response tendencies that lead to success- unsuccessful response tendencies eliminated- results in the S shaped curve of learning.

Question 26

What are Thorndike’s 2 laws of learning?

Answer 26

Law of Effect and Law of Exercise

Question 27

What is the law of effect?

Answer 27

Satisfactory acts in a specific situation become associated with that situation- when the situation recurs, the act is likely to recur. Acts that produce unsatisfying results are less likely to occur in the same situation.

Question 28

What is the law of exercise?

Answer 28

The more an act or response is used in a specific situation, the association between the act and the situation is strengthened. The longer an association is unused, the weaker it becomes.

Question 29

How did thorndike contribute to psychology?

Answer 29

Human and animal learning theory
Objective and mechanistic methods used in research important contributor to behaviorism.
Watson wrote that Thorndike’s research laid the foundations for behaviorism.

Question 30

Who weas Ivan Pavlov?

Answer 30

Hard life- helped foster a sense of responsibility and a drive to work hard. Read Darwin, studied animal physiology. Spent all his money on research, had a volatile and restless nature. Treated his student’s well and they treated him like loyalty. Allowed women and jews to study with him and openly opposed the soviet union.

Question 31

What did Pavlov’s research focus on mainly?

Answer 31

Physiology, function of the nerves of the heart and primary digestive glands

Question 32

What was Pavlov’s claim to fame in psychology?

Answer 32

Research on conditioned reflexes

Question 33

What did Pavlov use to avoid confounds?

Answer 33

conducted all his studies in a lab known as the Tower of Science (designed to eliminate vibrations, noise, temperature extremes, odors, and drafts.

Question 34

How did Pavlov accidentally discover the conditioned reflex?

Answer 34

Was doing dog research on digestive system, noticed they had began salivating before receiving food. Dogs are aroused by stimuli associated with food rather than the food itself. Called this the psychic reflex and credited Descartes nervous reflex.

Question 35

What is the psychic reflex?

Answer 35

A reflex dependent on the formation of a connection between stimulus and response.

Question 36

What did the Zeitgeist direct Pavlov to explain the psychic reflex as?

Answer 36

Mentalistic experience, but eventually abandoned this.

Question 37

Who was Edwin Burket Twitmyer?

Answer 37

Former student of Witmer. Presented on the knee-jerk reflex. Noticed a conditioned reflex to stimuli other than the knee hammer, paired the delivery with a bell. Study was ignored as it didnt fit the mold of the day.

Question 38

How did Pavlov contribute to psychology?

Answer 38

Higher mental processes explained without a discussion of conscoousness
Furthered a purely objective approach to psych
Promoted growth of behaviorism
Provided Watson with a method for studying behavioral modification

Question 39

Who was Vladimir M. Bekheterev?

Answer 39

Studied with Wundt at Leipzig, professor of mental diseaseds. Founded the psychoneurological institute, now called the Bekheterev psychoneurological research institute. Accepted women and jews as students and colleagues, opposed the Russian Monarchy and supported Soviet Union. Examined Stalin and diagnosed him with severe paranoia, then died.

Question 40

What were Vladimir’s research objectives?

Answer 40

Focused on physiology, neurology, and psychiatry.
Applied Pavlov’s conditioning principles to muscles (they later became enemies after Pavlov published a negative review of one of Vlad’s books)

Question 41

What was Vlad’s idea of the associative reflex?

Answer 41

Reflexive movements such as withdrawing a finger from electric shock could be elicited by stimuli associated with the original

Question 42

How did Vlad contribute to psychology?

Answer 42

Supported the objective approach
Against use of mentalistic concepts
Watson used some of his findings.

Question 43

What is functional psychology?

Answer 43

Objective psychology focusing on behavior instead of consciousness. Psychology as a science of behavior. Watson saw this opportunity and used it.