Test 3 Flashcards
Positivism
Science should only be concerned with objective, publicly observable events
Agreement among neo-behaviorist a
- evolutionary assumption of continuity between species
- learning research most important
- mythological behaviorists
Logical positivism
Uninsurable mental events can be used as explanatory agents, as long as they are explanatory, operationally defined, and logically tied to observable events
Operational definition
Defines an abstract concept in terms of the procedures used to measure it
Radical behaviorism
Unobserved internal events cannot be used to explain behavior
Methodological behaviorism
It’s okay to posture internal events as explanatory agents as long as they can be validated in overt behavior
Purpose behaviorism: who and what
Edward Chace Tolman; emphasizes goal-directed behavior that ceases when the goal is reached
Tolman believed:
Behavior is purposeful; not a passive and automatic conditioned reflex
Intervening variables
Used to represent internal unobservable events
Cognitive maps
Mental representations of environment, acquired through experience
Vicarious trial and error (VTE)
Their inability to make a decision becomes less and they repeat the maZe
Place learning
Rats learn to go to a specific place rather than simply repeat a sequence of motor responses
Latent learning
Tolman beloved that reinforcement is not necessary for learning
Learning v. Performance
Learning can occur in the absence of reinforcement, but performance is affected by reinforcement
Clark hull
Disagreed with Tolman’s use of mentalistic concepts; used the hypothetico-deductive model- general postulates from existing learning research
SER
reaction potential (likelihood of learned response occurring in a given situation)
SHR
Given number of reinforcements
D
Current strength of dominant primary drive
Drive
Non-specific arousal arising from physiological need
Hull’s learning theory
Epitome of logical positivism; scientifically impeccable, but too complex; not readily applicable to real world
Frederic skinner
Behavior or organisms; wanted to observe and describe behavior unfettered by cognition or physiology
Behavior-skinner
The movement of an organism or its parts in a frame of reference provided by the organism itself or by various external objects or fields of force
Explanatory fiction
Using a hypothetical internal factor mediating between a stimulus and response and then using that factor to explain behavior
Hypothetico-deductive model
Generated postulates from existing learning research
Skinner’s research paradigm:
Lab based; single subject; control conditions; look for easier ways to do things
Shaping
Procedure where successive approximations to a desired response are reinforced until the response is achieved
Project pigeon
First attempt to apply Skinner’s system to a real world problem; america’s answer to kamikazes
Baby-in-a-box
Developed by skinner; sound proof; curtain; got a lot of negative response
Walden II
Novel written by skinner; utopian society based on operant conditioning
Teaching machines
Mechanical teacher; focused on reinforcement; no one would manufacture these things
Applied behavioral analysis
Application of operant conditioning to modify overt behavior
Three major principles of gestalt theory
1,2,3
Wolfgang Koehler
Intelligent behavior instead of mechanized behavior; gestalt concept of insight
Mechanized behavior
Once intelligent or occurred by chances, but has come automatic by reputation
Intelligent behavior
Behavior appropriate to a new situation and relatively independent of past experience
Law of pragnanz
Minimum principle of the law of simplicity; ultimate meaning of experience and tendency to organize cognitive experience in a good and meaningful way
Figure ground
Figure is the part of the perceptual field that is attended to and the ground is the remainder
Principle of continuity
Refers to the perceptual tendency to follow elements of a figure that appear to be going in some direction