Unit 4 - Chapter 13 - Neobehaviourism

Question 1

Define logical positivism

Answer 1

theoretical concepts are admissible if they are tied to the observable world through operational definitions.

Question 2

Describe logical positivisms historical origins, including the positions of Comte, Mach, and the Vienna Circle.

Answer 2

Comte & Mach
- wanted to avoid metaphysical speculation.
- argued for close-to-the-data approach.

Vienna Circle
- combined positivism of comte & mach with formal logic.
- developed logical positivism.

Question 3

What are observational terms and theoretical terms?

Answer 3

observational terms: refer to empirical events.

theoretical terms: explain that which is observed.

Question 4

Define an operational definition and operationism.

Answer 4

operational defintion: every abstract concept is defined in terms of the procedures used to measure the concept.

operationism: insistence that all abstract scientific terms be operationally defined.

Question 5

Contrast positivism with logical positivism.

Answer 5

main difference: logical positivism allows abstract scientific concepts as long as they are operationally defined.

similarity: ultimate authority is empirical observation.

Question 6

Define neobehaviourism and describe its historical origins.

Answer 6

behaviourism + logical positivism.

origins;
- terms should be operationally defined.
- use nonhuman animals bc variables are easier to control & info can be generalized.
- learning process is of prime importance.

Question 7

Describe Edwin Ray Guthrie’s a) single law of learning, (b) his concept of one-trial learning

Answer 7

a) all learning can be explained using law of contiguity.

b) one-trial learning = association between a pattern of stimuli and a response develops at full strength after just one pairing of the two.

Question 8

Describe Edwin Ray Guthrie’s (c) his distinctions between movements, acts, and skills, and his explanation of why practice improves performance

Answer 8

movement = specific response made to a specific configuration of stimuli.

act = a response made to varying stimulus configurations.

skill = consists of many acts.

• learning an act involves learning a specific response under varying conditions so practice improves performance.

Question 9

Describe Edwin Ray Guthrie’s d) his concept of the nature of reinforcement, (e) his view of the forgetting process, (f) his notion of habit and how to break habits, (g) his concept of punishment

Answer 9

d) reinforcement changes the stimulating conditions & prevents unlearning explained by recency principle.

e) forgetting occurs when an old S-R association is displaced by a new one.

f) break habits by observing the stimuli that elicits the undesirable act and perform another act instead.

g) effective punishment elicits behaviour incompatible with the undesirable behaviour.

Question 10

Describe attempts of Voeks and Estes to formalize Guthrie’s theory.

Answer 10

Guthrie’s theory = drives provide maintaining stimuli that keep an organism active until a goal is reached.

Voeks
- found considerable support for G’s theory.

Estes
- developed of stimulus sampling theory -> showed G’s theory was sophisticated.

Question 11

Briefly describe Clark Leonard Hull’s a) hypothetico-deductive theory and b) his views on reinforcement.

Answer 11

a) hypothetico-deductive theory: set of postulates from which empirical relationships are deduced.
- If the empirical relationships are as predicted, the theory gains strength.

b) needs create drives, diminution of drives constitutes reinforcement.
- involves habit strength & reaction potential

Question 12

Habit strength (SHR)

Answer 12

an intervening variable, the number of reinforced pairings between an environmental situation and a response.

• Hull

Question 13

Reaction potential

Answer 13

The probability of a learned response.

• habit strength x drive = reaction potential.

Question 14

Summarize Clark Leonard Hull’s influence on the development of psychology.

Answer 14

• most cited experimental studies
• influenced Kenneth Spence

Question 15

Behaviour of Organisms work:

Answer 15

established Skinner as an experimental psychologist.

Question 16

Describe Skinner’s a) version of positivism, b) functional analysis of behaviour, and c) operant behaviour

Answer 16

a) - influenced by Bacon (descriptive & inductive science)
- followed Mach’s positivism (use functional analysis)
- refrain from trying to explain causation of behaviour.

b) - studying the systematic relationship between behavioral and environmental events.
- focuses on the relationship between reinforcement contingencies and response rate

c) operate on the environment to produce consequences.
- behavior is emitted & controlled by consequences.

Question 17

Describe Skinner’s d) nature of reinforcement, e) view of the role of the environment, and f) view of the positive control of behaviour

Answer 17

d) - desirable behaviour is reinforced by desirable consequences = increase in behaviour.
- what is a reinforcer depends on the individual.

e) environment selects behaviour –> provides context for whether something is a reinforcer or not.

f) reinforcement and punishment do not have same effects.
- reinforcement strengthens behaviour, but punishment does not weaken behaviour.
- best way to weaken behaviour is to ignore it.

Question 18

Schedules of reinforcement

Answer 18

• variable interval
• fixed interval
• variable ratio
• fixed ratio

fixed = determined amount, variable = a range.
interval = time, ratio = number

Question 19

Describe Skinner’s position with respect to theories

Answer 19

• rejected logical positivism & abstract theorizing.
• embraced empty organism approach in line with descriptive behaviourism (describes relationships between environmental events and behaviour rather than attempting to explain them).

Question 20

Describe applications of Skinnerian principles.

Answer 20

• behaviour therapy –> uses reinforcement to unlearn undesirable behaviours.
• use of token economies in mental institutions –> use tokens to reward desired behaviour.

Question 21

Describe Edward Tolman’s (a) purposive behaviourism, (b) use of rats in his research, (c) use of intervening variables

Answer 21

a) purposive behaviourism: emphasizes molar (purposive) behaviour.
- opposed to introspection.

b) use rats to guard against possibility of indirect introspection.

c) intervening variables: cognitive events that intervene between environmental events & behaviour.
- theoretical concepts that are operationally defined.

Question 22

Describe Edward Tolman’s use of hypotheses, expectancies, beliefs, and cognitive maps

Answer 22

hypothesis: expectancy that occurs during early stages of learning.

expectancy: hypothesis that has been tentatively confirmed.

belief: expectation that experience has been consistently confirmed.

cognitive map: awareness of all possibilities in a situation & mental representation of the environment.

• intervene between experience and behavior

Question 23

Describe Edward Tolman’s d) view of reinforcement, (e) learning-performance distinction, and (f) concept of latent learning.

Answer 23

a) learning occurs constantly as we observe environment, without reinforcement.

b) performance is the translation of learning into behaviour, determined by motivational state.

c) rat experiment shows that learning remains latent until organism has a reason to use it.

Question 24

Summarize Tolman’s influence on psychology.

Answer 24

• gave metaphysical concepts operational definitions.
• research on selective breeding maze-learning ability in rats.

Question 25

Describe the contemporary state of behaviourism.

Answer 25

• current interest in cognitive psych.
• influence of behaviour has now reduced.
• subject matter of psych is overt behaviour.