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PSYC 305 > Lesson 8 - Behaviourism > Flashcards

Lesson 8 - Behaviourism Flashcards

1
Q

Define comparative psychology

A

the study of similarities and differences in behavioural organization among living beings, paying attention to the psychological nature of human beings in comparison with other animals.
Addressed questions about consciousness and intelligence

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2
Q

What led to the rise of comparative psychology?

A

Darwin’s theory of animal / human difference + functionalism (allowed animal research)

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3
Q

What are the disadvantages of introspection? Why is there no introspection with animals?

A

The accuracy of the method is questionable and

the results are not replicable

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4
Q

In what other domains will experimental comparative psychology extend?

A

Medicine, learning and behaviour, motivation, effects of drugs and brain functioning

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5
Q

George John Romanes wrote the first book about comparative psych. What is it about?

A

Documenting higher level animal intelligence and analyzing the similarity to human intellectual functioning

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6
Q

What is Romanes’ anecdotal method?

A

Observational report about animal behaviour

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7
Q

How is Romanes defining the animal mind?

A

In terms of its learning ability - it will become a criteria for intelligence

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8
Q

What method did Romanes use after his anecdotal method? Give an example of this

A

Introspection by analogy - assuming that the same mental processes that occur in the observer’s mind also occur in the animal’s mind

Example: one ant killed, other ants tried to come help the dead ant by moving the rock - demonstration of empathy (we anthropomorphize bc it’s hard to know what the ants are thinking)

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9
Q

What is Romanes’ mental ladder concept?

A

He realized that species had different levels of intellectual development (cats were the smartest animals according to him)

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10
Q

According to Conwy Lloyd Morgan, what were the weaknesses of Romanes’ methods of anecdotal and introspection by analogy? What did he do to remedy this?

A

Believed that those methods were too subjective - like Wundt’s introspection

Romanes was ignoring the lower levels of intelligence (not following Ockham’s razor)

Therefore, Morgan wanted to reduce the use of anthropormorphism and introspection

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11
Q

Define Morgan’s Canon

A

Animal behaviour must not be attributed to a higher mental process when it can be explained in terms of a lower mental process
(law of parsimony)

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12
Q

Summarize Margaret Floy Washburn’s contribution

A

• 1st woman to get PhD in Cornell
• APA president
• 1st woman psychologist elected to the National Academy of Sciences
• Motor theory of consciousness
Thinking is based on movement; consciousness is linked to motor activity

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13
Q

Who was the first to develop psych’s first major learning theory?

A

Thorndike

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14
Q

Thorndike’s work combines associationism and hedonism, what are the 3 laws he is credited with?

A

• Readiness: a person can only learn when physically and mentally ready to receive stimuli
• Exercise: repetition is basic to development of adequate responses
• Law of effect: Association followed by “satisfying state of affairs” = response strengthened
Association followed by a “annoying state of affairs” = response weakened

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15
Q

What were the results of Thornidke’s puzzle box experiments with cats?

A

Conclusion that animals learn solely by trial and error and by reward and punishment

Random behaviour > Accidental response > Immediate response

Contributes to the validity of the law of effect
• Squeeze out of the box = frustrating
• Using levers = food = rewarding

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16
Q

What is Objective psychology from Russia? Who founded it?

A

experimentation based on quantifiable observations

Ivan Sechenov founded it

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17
Q

What did Sechenov’s “Reflexes of the Brain” book explained in terms of behaviour?

A

It sought to explain all psychic phenomena based on associanism and materialism. He suggested that thoughts cannot cause behaviour; they were only relfexes and therefore the cause of behaviours is always external

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18
Q

Explain Sechenov’s concept of central inhibition? How did he discover it?

A

The main purpose of the CNS is to inhibit reflexive behaviour; human development is simply the establishment of inhibitory conrtol over reflexive behaviour

Discovered it by numbing some parts of a frog’s brain with salt

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19
Q

What is the contributions of Pavlov’s work in the field of behaviourism?

A

It helped shift associanism from its emphasis on subjective ideas to objective and quantifiable physiological events

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20
Q

What apparatus did Pavlov use to study digestive secretions? What were his findings?

A

He used a fistula, a tube in either the cheek, throat or stomach that allowed to collect liquids

He discovered that gastric juices were produced even when there was no food in the stomach, therefore the production was mediated by the nervous system

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21
Q

What is the typical behaviour involved in classical conditioning?

A

All classical conditioning involves reflexive behaviour, that is made by the nervous system and does not need to be learned (requires no thought)

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22
Q

What is a secondary conditioned reflex?

A

Second order conditioning - pairing the metronome with a black square

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23
Q

What is a psychic reflex according to Pavlov?

A

a reflex elicited by something other than the original stimulus

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24
Q

How were the attempts at third order conditioning going?

A

Did not work with food, but with pain yes (avoidance reflex)

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25
Q

What is important in conditioning? What does that mean?

A

The salience of the stimulus

This means that aversive responses are easy to condition

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26
Q

Why is it easy to condition an aversive response?

A

Because it is natural for an organism - it is adaptive

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27
Q

What is Pavlov’s cortical mosaic?

A

The inhibition and excitation happening at the same time in the brain, mediated by external stimuli

He believed in the same theory as Sechenov - we learn to inhibit reflexive responses

28
Q

What is the generalization of a response?

A

• A conditioned response may generalize (be triggered by slightly different stimulus) - adaptive

29
Q

What is discrimination of a response?

A

• Discrimination: when the stimulus is too different therefore there is no response (also adaptive)

30
Q

Define extinction

A

Extinction: elimination or reduction of a conditioned response

31
Q

Define spontaneous recovery

A

Spontaneous recovery: reappearance of a conditioned response (after it has been extinguished) - may be of a lesser intensity

32
Q

What conditions led the behaviourism movement to rise?

A

Issues with introspection methods + Pavlov’s objective measure of conditioned responses + Thorndike’s laws of learning based on associationism and hedonism + Russian objective measures = Perfect timing for behaviourism to rise

33
Q

Who is known as the founder of behaviourism?

A

John B Watson

34
Q

What is the Kerplunk experiment?

A

T maze for rats - when the maze it shortened, the rats are so used to the longer maze that they slam in the end

Proving the the behaviour of rats in a maze is simply the result of a series of associations between movements rather than from stimuli of the outside world

35
Q

What were Watson’s critiques of psychology so far?

A
  • Failed to live up to its natural science expectations
  • Failed to address problems that vitally concern humans
  • the fialure to replicate findings using the introspective method is a big flaw
36
Q

What were Watson’s suggestions for the future of psychology?

A
  • We should stop using the introspective method if we want psych to become a science
  • the behaviour of animals and man can be investigated without appeal to consciousness and must be considered as being equally essential to a general understanding of behaviour
37
Q

What exactly is behviourism?

A

Approach to psych that in focused on observable behaviour and was more scientific than introspection in Watson’s opinion

38
Q

Name the 4 types of behaviour according to Watson

A
  • Explicit (overt) learned - ex talking and writing
    • Implicit (covert) learned - ex: increased hart rate caused by a feared stimulus
    • Explicit unlearned - ex: reflexive instincts such as blinking
    • Implicit unlearned - ex: glandular secretions and other metabolic changes
39
Q

What is the Little Albert experiment about? What were some of the findings?

A

Conditioned a fear response to a white rat
• The fear extended to other white furry things
Suggests that phobias may be issued from associations

**It is now possible to condition emotions, not just reflexive responses

40
Q

Define Watson’s theory of emotions

A

Theory: we are born with 3 basic emotions
○ Fear
○ Rage
○ Love
• These emotions are like reflexes and can be associated
All other emotions build up from these

41
Q

What did Watson suggest regarding child-rearing?

A

• Suggested not to give too much attention to their children, in order not to rear them as needy adults
Said that motherly love is dangerous
Wanted parents to have scientific principles in mind when rearing children

42
Q

Explain Mary Cover Jones and her “Peter and the rabbit” experiment, and what does it prove regarding behaviourism

A

• De-sensitized a kid who was afraid of pets using snacks

Associated the pet with snacks

Proved that we can use humans with pre-made associations to study behaviourism

43
Q

Name 2 reasons why we prefer to do animal research than human research

A
  • Humans with no prior associations are rare

* Unethical to scare ppl

44
Q

What was the shift in the field of psychology that behaviourism induced?

A

• Shift from studying the mind with subjective techniques, to studying behaviour with objective techniques
Watson said Psych could be a natural science if it focused on behaviour

45
Q

Which corrections did the neobehaviourists brought to the field of psych?

A
  • Agree that psych is about studying behaviour
    • BUT behaviour cannot be fully understood simply in terms of observable stimuli and reactions
    • Psych must adopt logical positivism, operationism and physicalism
46
Q

Compare the original positivism of Auguste Comte with the logical positivism of neobehaviourists

A

Comte: science only deals with what is directly observable (empiricism only)

Vienna circle (new): Theories are used to explain what is observed (rationalism + empiricism)

47
Q

Define operationism

A

doctrine that a physical concept can be defined in precise terms related to the set of operations or procedures by which it is determined

48
Q

Define operational definition

A

defining of an abstract, theoretical concept by the procedures used to measure it

49
Q

Define physicalism

A

material monism with the physical, observable properties being of importance, nothing further

50
Q

What were the “rules” of neobehaviourism?

A
  • THeories must be used in ways demanded by logical positivism
  • Theoretical items must be operationally defined
  • Non-human animals should be used as research participants
  • LEarning processes are of prime importance because learning is the primary mechanism by which organisms adjust to a changing environment
51
Q

Summarize what Clark Hull did

A

Watson’s work was not sufficient, since it was based on second hand reports from Pavlov

Tried to incorporate behaviourism into psychoanalysis

52
Q

Hull was the first to use the hypothetico-deductive method; what is that?

A
  • Summarized the literature
  • identified problem areas
  • formulated hypotheses
  • defined constructs
  • established a research design
  • collected data
  • analyzed data
  • interpreted the results
  • refined his theory
53
Q

define Hull’s drive reduction theory, and what principle does it work on

A

Drive reduction theory: learning occurs when a behaviour is motivated by an unpleasant state that is solved after the problem is solved

Works on the principle that the body actively works to maintain a state of balance (homeostasis)

Ex: hungry (unpleasant) - unbalanced - eat - balanced

54
Q

Define Hull’s concept of intervening variables

A

Physiological processes that are causally related to behaviour - need to be operationalized

55
Q

Deifne Hull’s mathematico-deductive method

A

Suggests that reaction potential, or the probability of a learned response being elicited in a given situation, is a function of the habit strength, or the strength of the association between the stimulus and the response drive

56
Q

Define Edward Chase Tolman’s purposive behaviourism

A

Combined the objective study of behaviour with the consieration of purposiveness or goal direction in behaviour

57
Q

Explain the difference between molecular and molar behaviour

A

• Molecular (discrete, can be measured, like responses rates) - used by Skinner
Molar (behaviour of the organism as a whole) - Used by Toleman

58
Q

What is Tolman’s version of intervening variables?

A

not only physiological but also cognitive (inferred factors that actually determined behaviour)

59
Q

Define latent learning according to Tolman

A

Reward is not always needed - sometimes we learn without realizing it and without really “needing” it
• Latent Learning

60
Q

Explain BF Skinner’s view on Neobehaviourism

A

A person’s behaviour and the environmental factors that influence it are much more crucial to the fundamental understanding of a person’s physiological state

61
Q

Define Skinner’s law of acquisition

A

The strength of an operant behaviour is increased when it is followed by the presentation of reinforcing stimulus (operant conditioning)

62
Q

Name the 4 types of reinforcement

A

POsitive reinforcement: add something pleasant
Negative reinforcement: remove something unpleasant
POsitive punishment: add somehting unpleasant
Negative punishment: remove something pleasant

63
Q

Are continuous or intermittent schedules of reinforcement more efficient? What are the other parameters of schedules of reinforcement?

A

• Intermittent = more effective, reinforces behaviours
Types of schedule
• Ratio or interval
• Fixed or variable

64
Q

What is shaping?

A

Shaping = showing the animal the desired final behaviour

65
Q

What is superstitious behaviour?

A

Superstitious behaviour = associations that are unintentional

Ex: pigeon that learned accidentally to raise its leg before turning, will always do it even though it is not required

66
Q

What is the other version of the Skinner box?

A

Heir conditioner or baby tender (for human babies)

67
Q

Name some critiques of Skinner

A
  • Data fishing
    • Where is free will? - totalitarianism
    • Is reinforcement THAT powerful? Maybe not

PSYC 305 (12 decks)

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