Q2: Discuss the historical foundations of behaviourism, examining its emergence as a reaction to structuralism and functionalism. Flashcards
Q2:
Discuss the historical foundations of behaviourism, examining its emergence as a reaction to structuralism and functionalism. Evaluate how behaviourism addressed the limitations of its predecessors and shaped the landscape of psychology.
Introduction
- B emerged in the 1920s (founded by Watson) as a reaction to the dominant schools of psych: S & F
- The historical foundations of B lie in its rejection of introspection (used by S & F) and its focus on observable, more scientific methods
- This essay aims to explore the emergence of B, its deviation from S & F, and its impact on the future of psych
Historical foundations of behaviourism:
Main Points
- Pressure for psychologists to push a scientific agenda
-phrenology, mesmerism, spiritualism - Research on animal learning & reflexes
-Thorndike, Skinner
-Pavlov
-Watson - Watson
-founder of B
-criticised Titchener
-behaviourist manifesto (1913): criticised introspection, structuralism, and how this could affect future of psych
-little albert study - Tolman
-radical B
-latent learning - Hull
-hypothetico-deductive learning theory
-formulae
Timeline of Psychologists in B
- Wundt (1832-1920)
- Titchener (1867-1927)
- James (1842-1910)
- Pavlov (1849-1936)
- Thorndike (1874-1949)
- Watson (1878-1958)
- Skinner (1904-1990)
- Hull (1884-1952)
- Tolman (1886-1959)
Historical Foundations of Behaviourism:
Skinner:
- Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behaviour and a consequence (Skinner, 1938)
- work based on
Thorndike’s (1898) ‘law of effect’
-(behaviour that is followed by
pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behaviour followed by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated)
-Skinner added ‘reinforcement’ to this theory - Skinner box - exp on rats (1948)
Historical Foundations of Behaviourism:
Pavlov
Pavlov’s Dogs (1897):
Classical conditioning:
Before Conditioning:
* UCS (food) -> UCR (salivation)
* NS (light) -> no response
Conditioning Procedure:
* NS (light on) & UCS (food presented) -> (UCR) dog salivates
After Conditioning Trials:
* CS (light on) -> CR (dog salivates)
Historical Foundations of Behaviourism:
Watson
- founder of B
- uncomfortable when teaching from Titchener’s (S) texts
- rat maze exp (Carr & Watson, 1907)
-damage to senses did not affect ability greatly
-ability based on muscle sensations - little albert study (Watson & Rayner, 1928)
-dev of phobias via CC
-highly unethical -
behaviourist manifesto (1913)
-criticised introspection - not scientifc
-B is “purely objective” & focuses on “prediction and control of behaviour”
Historical Foundations of Behaviourism:
Tolman
Latent Learning (1930s):
* learning that is not apparant in behaviour at the time of learning but manifests when motivation & circumstances appear
* e.g. child watching parents drive, then mimics when playing with toy cars
Tolman & Honzik (1930):
* rat maze exp
* learnt maze layout with a reward, with a delayed reward, and with no reward (i.e. reinforcements)
* therefore demonstrated latent learning
* actively process info rather than operating on a stimulus response relationship
Historical Foundations of Behaviourism:
Hull
Hull, 1952:
Formulae:
* used formulas to predict the likelihood of specific behaviors
* probability that a particular stimulus would lead to a particular response (the “excitation potential”) using a formula
Hypothetico-Deductive Learning Theory:
* explain learning from a few simple axioms
Reaction to structuralism and functionalism:
Main Points
Structuralism:
* Wundt (introspection)
* Titchener
Functionalism:
* James
Reaction to structuralism and functionalism:
Structuralism: Main Ideas & Psychologists
Structuralism:
* First school of psych
* established by Wundt
* Titchener later established the name
Wundt (1832-1920):
* introspection (1879)
* used introspection to understand or quantify conscious experiences
* the need of a “scientific use” of introspection
* studied perception & apperception
Titchener (1867-1927):
* studied with Wundt
* “the aim of the psychologist is threefold” (1896):
-analyse mental experience into its elements, the laws governing those elements, and how elements connect to physiological conditions
* the stimulus error
-must describe conscious elements to understand how concepts are perceived
Reaction to structuralism and functionalism:
Functionalism: Main Ideas & Psychologists
Functionalism:
* concerned with practical functions of the mind, not its constituent parts
* emphasised how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment
* influenced by evolutionary theory
-functions of the mind for survival
James (1842-1910):
* psychology is “the science of mental life”
* pragmatism
* James-Lange theory of emotion
* theory of self
* work on religious belief
* favoured introspection
* did not favour experimental research
How do Behaviourists Define Psychology in Comparison to Wundt & James?
Wundt: Psychology = “the experimental study of consciousness”
James: Psychology = “the science of mental life”
Behaviourists (Watson): Psychology = “the science of behaviour”
Evaluate how behaviourism addressed the limitations of its predecessors:
Structuralism
Introspection:
* criticised by Watson
-behaviourist manifesto (1913)
* often relies on language
-e.g. diff experiences = diff labels
Need for Scientific Methods:
* behaviourist manifesto (Watson, 1913)
-“psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science”
Further Criticisms:
* approach criticised by the Wurzberg school
* some conclusions reached without a conscious trace
* criticisms of S led to rise of F
Evaluation:
How did Wundt criticise his own work?
Wundt recognised that only some aspects of consciousness could be studied by experimental/introspective methods
Evaluate how behaviourism addressed the limitations of its predecessors:
The Change from Structuralism to Functionalism
- criticisms of S led to the rise of F
- while an improvement over S, F still relied heavily on subjective accounts and lacked empirical rigor
Evaluate: how behaviourism shaped the landscape of psychology:
- led to emergence of Cog Psych & Cog Revolution
- the need for an applicable science of psych (Watson, 1929)
- led to development of the learning theory & SLT - e.g. Bandura
- hypothetico-deductive learning theory
-influential
-method used by future psychs - e.g. Popper/Kuhn
Evaluation of Behaviourism:
Strengths:
* introduced influential concepts
-e.g. CC & OC
* concepts provided framework for understanding how behaviour is shaped by enviro stimuli & reinforcement
* advocated for a more obj & scientific approach
* laid groundwork for exp psych by focusing on observable behaviour
* had signif impact on many fields
-e.g. token economies in education
-e.g. systematic desensitisation for phobias
Criticisms:
* focus on observable behvaiour neglected internal cog processes
-led to cog rev in 50s-60s
* psychs such as Piaget criticised B
-argued for importance of studying mental processes
Conclusion
- B emerged as a reaction to the limitations of S & F
- advocated for a more obj & scientific approach
- laid groundwork for exp psych by focusing on observable behaviour
- however led to cog rev due to criticisms and need to study internal mental processes
