M3 Week 12: Skinner Flashcards
Early pioneers of Behaviorism
E.L. Thorndike and John B. Watson
Skinner’s Behavior analysis focused almost entirely on ________ behavior
observable
He earned the label _________ because of his strict adherence to an observable approach
RADICAL BEHAVIORISM
TRUE or FALSE
Skinner is a determinist and an environmentalist.
TRUE
TRUE or FALSE
He rejected the notion of free will.
TRUE - Behavior can be studied lawfully scientifically
Who recognized that genetic factors are important but he insists that because they are fixed at conception, they are of no help in the control of behavior
B.F. Skinner
Who held that psychology must not explain behavior based on the physiological or constitutional components of the organism but rather based on environmental stimuli
B.F. Skinner
TRUE or FALSE
The history of the individual rather than anatomy provides the most useful data for predicting and controlling behavior
TRUE
________ was born on March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
The first child of William Skinner and Grace Mange Burrhus Skinner
B.F. Skinner
TRUE or FALSE
Skinner grew up in a comfortable, happy, upper-middle-class home where his parents practiced the values of temperance, service, honesty, and hard work.
TRUE
After reading the works of Watson and Pavlov, Skinner became determined to be a _______.
behaviorist
In 1933, Harvard created the _______, a program designed to promote creative thinking among young intellectually gifted men at the university. Skinner was selected as a Junior Fellow and spent the next 3 years doing more laboratory research.
Society of Fellows
Skinner married ______ and had two daughters.
Yvonne Blue
Skinner’s Project ________ obtained him a grant from the University of Minnesota and financial aid from General Mills.
Pigeon
Condition pigeons to make appropriate pecks on keys that would maneuver an explosive missile into an enemy target.
Project Pigeon
The________ was another of his projects, an enclosed crib with a large window and a continual supply of fresh warm air.
Baby-tender
It provided a physically and psychologically safe and healthy environment for his second daughter and freed the parents from unnecessary tedious labor.
Baby-tender
TRUE or FALSE
His frustrations with the Project Pigeon and the baby-tender let to a second identity crisis, this one at midlife.
TRUE
In 1945, Skinner became _________ at Indiana University.
Chair of the Psychology Department
In the summer of 1945, he wrote ______. It was published 3 years later, the book provided its author with immediate therapy in the form of an emotional catharsis.
Walden Two
A utopian novel that portrays a society in which problems were solved through behavioral engineering.
Walden Two
TRUE or FALSE
In 1948, Skinner returned to Harvard where he taught mostly in the College of Education and continued with some small experiments with pigeons.
TRUE
In 1964, at age 60, he retired from ______ but retained faculty status.
Teaching
Skinner wrote several important books on human behavior and helped attain the status of _________
America’s best-known living psychologist
Skinner received a Citation for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology, the only person to receive such an award in the history of ______.
APA
Other honors and awards of Skinner:
- William James Lecturer at Harvard
- APA Distinguished Scientific Award
- President’s Medal of Science.
On August 18, 1990, Skinner died of _______
leukemia
Scientific influences:
Learning takes place mostly because of the effects that follow a response.
El Thorndike LAW OF EFFECT
Scientific influences:
Consciousness and introspection must play no role in the scientific study of human behavior.
JB Watsons LAW OF EFFECT
Scientific influences:
The goal of psychology is the prediction and control of behavior and that goal could best be reached by limiting psychology to an objective study of habits formed through stimulus-response connections.
JB Watsons LAW OF EFFECT
Scientific influences:
Stimuli that are followed immediately by a satisfier tend to be stamped in.
Satisfier (El Thorndike LAW OF EFFECT)
Scientific influences:
Stimuli that are followed immediately by an
annoyer tends to be stamped out.
Annoyer (El Thorndike LAW OF EFFECT)
Skinner called classical conditioning as ________
RESPONDENT CONDITIONING
A response is drawn out of the organism by a specific, identifiable stimulus.
CLASSICAL / RESPONDENT CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning also called ________
SKINNERIAN CONDITIONING
A behavior is made more likely to recur when it is immediately reinforced.
OPERANT / SKINNERIAN CONDITIONING
Behavior is elicited or drawn from the organism
Classical conditioning
Behavior is emitted or simple appears
Operant conditioning
TRUE or FALSE
Emitted responses previously exist inside the organism
FALSE - they simply appear because of the organism’s individual history of reinforcement or the species’ evolutionary history.
A procedure in which the experimenter or the
environment first rewards gross approximations of the behavior, then closer approximations, and finally the desired behavior itself.
Shaping
Breaking down the complex behavior into simple segments. After the behavior is learned, reinforcement need not follow every successful trial, the new ability or behavior becomes a reward in itself.
SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS
3 CONDITIONS (SHAPING)
A - Antecedent
B - Behavior
C - Consequences
Refers to the environment or setting in which the behavior takes place.
Antecedent
The response must be within the capacity and not interfered with by competing or antagonistic behaviors.
Behavior
Reward
Consequences
Increases the probability that the same behavior will occur again.
Reinforcement
It does not cause the behavior but it increases the likelihood that it will be repeated.
Reinforcement
2 EFFECTS (REINFORCEMENT)
- It strengthens the behavior
- It rewards the person
*Not every behavior that is reinforced is rewarding or pleasing to the person.
Any stimulus that when added to a situation,
increases the probability that a given behavior will occur is termed a positive reinforcer. Ex. Food, water, sex, money, social approval, physical comfort.
Positive Reinforcement
The removal of an aversive stimulus from a
situation also increases the probability that the preceding behavior will occur.
Negative Reinforcement
TRUE or FALSE
The effect of negative reinforcement is identical to that of positive reinforcement - both strengthen behavior.
TRUE
Negative reinforcement is not the same as _______.
Punishment
the presentation of an aversive stimulus, such as an electric shock, or the removal of a positive one such as disconnecting an adolescent’s internet.
Punishment
It does not weaken the behavior. It is less predictable than reward.
Punishment
There are many problems with using punishment, such as:
- Punished behavior is not forgotten, it’s suppressed
- behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.
` - Causes increased aggression
- shows that aggression is a way to cope with problems. - Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear of school.
- Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior
- reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.
5 Schedule of Reinforcement
- Continuous Reinforcement
- Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
- Fixed Interval Reinforcement
- Variable Ratio Reinforcement
- Variable Interval Reinforcement
An animal/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behavior occurs.
Continuous Reinforcement
- Response rate is SLOW
- Extinction rate is FAST
Continuous Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: Every time a lever is pressed a pellet is delivered, and then food delivery is shut off.
Continuous Reinforcement
Behavior is reinforced only after the behavior occurs a specified number of times.
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
- Response rate is FAST
- Extinction rate is MEDIUM
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: One reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: After every 5th response. For example, a child receives a star for every five words spelled correctly.
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement
One reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response has been made
Fixed Interval Reinforcement
- Response rate is MEDIUM
- Extinction rate is MEDIUM
Fixed Interval Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: Being paid by the hour.
Fixed Interval Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: Every 15 minutes (half hour, hour, etc.) a pellet is delivered (providing at least one lever press has been made) then food delivery is shut off.
Fixed Interval Reinforcement
Behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times.
Variable Ratio Reinforcement
- Response rate is FAST
- Extinction rate is SLOW (very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability)
Variable Ratio Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: Gambling or fishing
Variable Ratio Reinforcement
Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time has passed
Variable Interval Reinforcement
- Response rate is FAST
- Extinction rate is SLOW
Variable Interval Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: On average every 5 minutes
Variable Interval Reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement:
EX: A self-employed person being paid at unpredictable times.
Variable Interval Reinforcement
Critique of Skinner
- Ability to generate research - very high
- Falsifiability - high
- Organize - moderate
- Guide to action - very high
- Internal consistency - very high
- Parsimonious - difficult to rate
Concept of Humanity
- Deterministic
- Optimistic
- Causality
- Unconscious
- Uniqueness
- Social
TRUE or FALSE
According to Skinner’s interviews, behavior modification is a technique used to propose positive rewards in changing behavior.
TRUE
TRUE or FALSE
Token economy is a good reinforcement technique that you can use all the time as long as you please.
FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
Introspection according to Skinner is good to look at but you can’t get much out of it. There should be an explanation for behavior.
TRUE
TRUE or FALSE
Is it true that Skinner used the Skinner Box to study her own daughter’ behavior when they wree babies?
FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
Skinner tried to train rats as funded research by the government to be used in the war.
FALSE - pigeons
