Lecture 3+4 Flashcards
What are the four points of Watson’s Behaviourist manifesto?
- psychology must be objective and empirical
- psychology should only be observable, not mental life
- evolutionary continuity
- the infant is a blank slate - purely shaped by environment
In Pavlovian Condition (dog experiment) was is the US, UR, CS, CR?
US - food
UR - salivation
CS - bell
CR - salivation
What is personality to Watson?
What we habitually do
What is one problem with classical conditioning?
It is purely reflexes - does not explain voluntary behaviour
What did Skinner’s behaviourist approach add to Watson’s theory?
A theory of voluntary behaviour
What are the four main points of Skinner’s theory?
- study of observable behaviour
- deterministic theory
- all behaviour results from the physical environment
- rejection of mental processes & mentalistic expectations
What is operant conditioning?
behaviour operates upon the environment to generate consequences
What is positive reinforcement?
Something good added after action (e.g. reward)
What is negative reinforcement?
Something taken away after action (e.g. take away xbox)
What is reinforcement?
Something that increases the frequency of a desired behaviour
What is positive punishment?
Presenting an unfavourable outcome after an action (e.g. being reprimanded after wearing cap to class)
What is negative punishment?
Taking something desirable away after an action to reduce a bad behaviour
What is Skinner’s anti-mentalistic approach?
Rejects ‘thoughts’, ‘minds’, ‘feelings’ ‘mental images’ etc - - rejects mental events as causes for behaviour
What is learning according to Skinner?
An increase/decrease in a response
What does Skinner think of the psychoanalytic theory?
It is too complicated - rejects anxiety/guilt as causes for behaviour - unobservable.
