task 6 Flashcards
functionalistic movement in USA
- scientific psychology expanded rapidly (1892-1900)
- -> founding of American Psychological Association > 41 psychology laboratories
- psychology changed to address concerns prevalent in American society
- -> functionalism
- second half of 19th century:
- -> science was associated with:
1. PHRENOLOGY
2. MESMERISM
3. SPIRITUALISM
> > America did not participate in war at first -> greater development of science
Functionalism
|»_space; PHRENOLOGY
- derived from theories of F. J. Gall
- hypothesis:
- -> different parts of brain control different functions
- gave rise to personality assessment on basis of scalp analysis (locating bumps & troughs)
Functionalism
|»_space; MESMERISM
- after Mesmer: claimed he could treat patients by restoring “animal magnetism”
- equals hypnosis
- demonstrations of mesmeric power were presented as psychological experiments
Functionalism
|»_space; SPIRITUALISM
- belief that spirits of dead could be contracted by mediums
anthropomorphic interpretation
- according to George Romanes
- attribution of human motives & human-like intelligence to other living creatures
Edward Thorndike
- 1874-1949
- puzzle box experiment
- published PhD thesis on animal learning
- -> “birth of comparative psychology”
> LAW OF EFFECT:
- behaviours followed by positive consequences are strengthened & repeated
- behaviours not followed by such consequences are not repeated
> INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING:
- refers to learning on basis of law of effect
- called operant conditioning by Skinner
> MECHANOMORPHISM & THERIOMORPHISM
- replaced anthropomorphism with mechanomorphism & theriomorphism
- introduced laboratory experiment for theriomorphic studies
anecdotal evidence
- evidence collected in a casual or informal manner and relying heavily or entirely on personal testimony.
Edward Thorndike
|»_space; PUZZLE BOX EXPERIMENT
- put hungry animals in puzzle box
- food was presented outside of box
- if animal solves puzzle and opens door > rewards
- -> measured how long it took animal to get out of box
- not based on anecdotal evidence
- relied on careful observation of animals in controlled environment & based on conclusions on animal’s behaviour
> LAW OF EFFECT
- naïve cats did not perform better when watching other cats who had learned how to get out of puzzle box quickly
–> learning consisted of making association between situation & performing appropriate act
» INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING
Ivan Pavlov
- 1849-1936
- psychologist who studied digestive system of dogs
- strengthened study of animal’s behaviour rather than mind
- thinking could be reduced to physiology
- -> thinking consisted of reflexes
- saliva dog experiment
> CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
- neutral stimulus which is presented shortly before stimulus that automatically elicits reflex response
- after few pairings starts to elicit response as well
–> big impact
Behaviourism
- observable behaviours are most important aspect of human functioning to be understood
- denies to various extent relevance of information processing of mind
- impact of evolutionary theory on development of behaviour
- -> survival because of acts not thoughts
- embedded in POSITIVISM
- -> experimental science is the only way of truth
Behaviourism
|»_space; JOHN WATSON
- 1878-1958
> in charge of psychological review journal
- influenced by Thorndike’s approach
- “behaviourist manifesto”: criticising lack of scientific rigour in psychological laboratories
- in order to become real science:
- -> psychology has to focus on observable behaviour & ignore subjective sources
- introduced vivisection
- -> practice of performing operations on live animals for purpose of experimentation/scientific research
Behaviourism
|»_space; PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
- philosophical branch that studies foundations of scientific research
- -> to better understand position of it relative to other forms of information acquisition/generation
3 principles that increased objectivity of psychological research:
- OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
- definition of a variable in terms of how it has been measured (quantitatively/mathematically expressed laws) - INDEPENDENT vs. DEPENDENT variables
- psychological research could be defined as study of impact of STIMULUS (indep. var.) on RESPOnSE (dep. var.)
- -> R-S psychology - VERIFICATION
- statements were only useful if they could be verified by empirical observation
Neo-Behaviourism
|»_space; B.F. SKINNER
- 1904-1990
- “father” of OPERANT CONDITIONING
- defended RADICAL BEHAVIOURISM
- animals acquire behaviours because association between an environmental cue & particular behaviour is strengthened by subsequent reinforcement
B.F. Skinner
|»_space; OPERANT CONDITIONING
- examines way of behaviour changes as function of reinforcement or punishment that follows
B.F. Skinner
|»_space; RADICAL BEHAVIOURISM
- extremist version of behaviourism
- denies relevance of information processing in mind
- holds that all human behaviour can be understood on basis of S-R associations
- -> simply responding to events in environment and do not take initiative themselves
Neo-Behaviourism
|»_space; EDWARD TOLMAN
- operant conditioning cannot be interpreted in simple S-R terms
- criticism on Skinner
- -> argues that rats who are not reinforced should not learn
> THE MAZE (Blodgett)
- 3 conditions:
1. hungry rats placed in maze that contained food at end of maze
2. food was introduced on 3rd day
3. food was introduced on 7th day
- cond. 1: rats showed higher learning curve
- cond. 2/3: rats showed massive & instantaneous learning after introduction of food
–> rats learned layout of maze & used this knowledge when had reason to do so
> LATENT LEARNING
Maze experiment (Blodgett) >> LATENT LEARNING
- acquisition of knowledge that is not demonstrated in observable behaviour
Purposive behaviourism
- animal & human behaviour is motivated by goals
- -> Maze experiment: rats only used knowledge when provided with goal
operant conditioning
|»_space; INTRINSIC/EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION:
- gets encouraged to the extent that the reinforcement can be the activity itself
EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION:
- gets encouraged because part of reinforcement comes from consequences/experiences not inherently part of activity or behaviour itself
conditioning
|»_space; EXTINCTION / GENERLAISATION / DISCRIMINATION
> EXTINCTION
- disappearance of a link between the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response
> GENERALISATION
- original conditioned stimulus was not the only neutral stimulus that elicited the conditioned response
- -> tendency for similar stimuli to elicit a conditioned response = generalisation
> DISCRIMINATION
- Generalization among similar stimuli can be REDUCED if only ONE of the similar stimuli is associated consistently with the unconditioned response, while the others are not
view of behaviourists on psychology
- psychology failed to become natural science
- -> mental states are object of study // introspection = only direct method
- data is valuable for more
- findings become functional correlates of structure
- -> explanations in physiochemical terms - it has been preoccupied with questions that are not open to experimentation
- psychology through behaviourist lens:
- purely objective & experimental branch of natural science - psychology has to neglect complex forms of behaviour
- -> until behaviourist methods become better
data to measure psychology must be determined:
laws of behaviour / range of responses / determination of effective stimuli / habit formation / persistency of habits /. interference / reinforcements of habits
mechanomorphism & theriomorphism
> MECHANOMORPHISM
- exclusive attribution of mechanistic properties to psychological phenomena
> THERIOMORPHISM
- attribution of qualities of nonhuman animals to human
introduced laboratory experiment by Thorndike
- early research focused on learning & sensory capacities of animals
- animal environment was standardised
- apparatus assisted in manipulation of motives
- -> fear/hunger/constraint
- Robert Yerkes = introduction of electric shock as stimulus
