Behaviourism & The Cognitive Revolution

Question 1

Timeline of Psychologists in Behaviourism

Answer 1

• 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)

Question 2

Behaviourism:
Pavlov’s Dogs

Answer 2

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)

Question 3

Roots of Behaviourism:

Answer 3

Criticism towards previous psych approaches:
* psych has the science of consciousness
-what about unconscious mental states?
* only methodology is used (introspection)

Pressure for psychologists to push a scientific agenda:
* phrenology
* mesmerism
* spiritualism

Research on animal learning & reflexes:
* Thorndike (1874-1949)
* Pavlov (1849-1936)

Question 4

Behaviourism:
Key Psychologists

Answer 4

• Watson
• Skinner
• Hull
• Tolman

Question 5

Behaviourism:
Who is Watson?

Answer 5

Watson (1878-1958):
* Founder of Behaviourism

Question 6

Behaviourism:
When did Watson feel Uncomfortable?

Answer 6

When teaching from Titchener’s text

Question 7

Behaviourism:
2 Studies by Watson

Answer 7

1. Rat Study
2. Little Albert Study

Question 8

Behaviourism:
Watson’s Rat Study

Answer 8

Carr & Watson (1907):
* rats learned to escape maze
* then damaged rats’ sight/hearing/smell
* did not affect performance greatly
* conclusion: ability is based on muscle sensations

Question 9

Behaviourism:
Watson’s Little Albert Study

Answer 9

• investigated dev of learning & reflexes in children
• dev of phobias

Question 10

Behaviourism:
Criticisms of Watson’s Little Albert Study

Answer 10

• Albert died of what seemed to be brain abnormalities
• Only one ppt - no replications
• Ethical concerns of exp:
  -no protection from harm
  -child can’t give informed consent
  -Watson had an affair with student

Question 11

Behaviourism:
‘Behaviourist Manifesto’

Answer 11

Watson (1913):
* became frustrated with the focus on introspection
* “Psychology as the behaviourist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behaviour. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness.”

Question 12

How do Behaviourists Define Psychology in Comparison to Wundt & James?

Answer 12

Wundt: Psychology = “the experimental study of consciousness”
James: Psychology = “the science of mental life”
Behaviourists (Watson): Psychology = “the science of behaviour”

Question 13

Behaviourism:
What did Watson Argue for the Need of?

Answer 13

The need for an applicable science of psychology
-(Watson, 1929)
* “The Behaviourist asks: Why don’t we make what we can observe the real field of psychology? Let us limit ourselves to things that can be observed and formulate laws concerning only the observed things. Now what can we observe? Well, we can observe behaviour – what the organism does or says”.

Question 14

Development of the Learning Theory

Answer 14

• It was thought that a set of simple laws could account for all learning
• Emphasis on animal research
• same principles should apply to humans
• easier to control/manipulate
• less ethical issues (?)

Question 15

Key Psychologist for the Learning Theory & how their ideas differ to Watson’s

Answer 15

Skinner:
* emphasised importance of observable behavior
* rejected study of internal mental processes
* Watson believed all behavior is learned, & aimed to explain how it could be understood & controlled
* Skinner expanded on Watson’s work & developed the concept of operant conditioning

Question 16

Learning Theory:
Skinner’s Study

Answer 16

Skinner’s Rat Box (1948):
* operant conditioning chamber
* used to objectively record animal’s behavior in a compressed time frame
* animal can be rewarded or punished for certain behaviors, such as lever pressing

Question 17

Learning Theory:
3 Responses Identified in Operant Conditioning

Answer 17

Skinner (1948):

Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated

Reinforcers: responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated
-can be either positive or negative
-pos is added, neg is removed

Punishers: responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated

Note: secondary reinforcers (e.g. money)

Question 18

Learning Theory:
Another example of the Skinner Box

Answer 18

Skinner (1948):
* pigeons ‘played tennis’
* rewarded for knocking the ball into the opposite slot

Question 19

Learning Theory:
Schedules of Reinforcement

Answer 19

Ferster and Skinner (1957):
different patterns (schedules) of reinforcement had different effects on the speed of learning (the response rate & the extinction rate)

Variable Ratio:
* behavior is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times
* e.g. gambling

Fixed Ratio:
* behavior is reinforced only after the behavior occurs a specified number of times
* e.g. every 5th response

Variable Interval:
* reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time has passed
* e.g. after 5 mins, then after 2 mins, then after 10 mins

Fixed Interval:
* one reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response has been made
* e.g. every 15 mins

Question 20

Learning Theory:
What Schedules of Reinforcement tell us about Behaviour?

Answer 20

• If expect a reward, it has less impact than an unexpected reward (know it is coming but can’t expect when)
• expected reward is more effective in/more likely to in motivating/producing behaviour
• e.g. gambling success (variable ratio)

Question 21

Learning Theory:
Hull

Answer 21

Hull (1884-1952):
* hypothetico-deductive learning theory
-explain learning from a few simple axioms (unfalsifiable info)
* formulaic approach

Question 22

Learning Theory:
Hull’s Formulae

Answer 22

• used specific formulas to predict the likelihood of specific behaviors
• specified that the probability that a particular stimulus would lead to a particular response (the “excitation potential”) using a formula
• Reaction potential (sEr) is determined by sEr = D x V x K x sHr
  -Drive x stimulus intensity dynamism x Incentive motivation x habit strength

Question 23

Behaviourism:
Type of Learning proposed by Tolman

Answer 23

Tolman (1886-1959):

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

Question 24

Behaviourism:
Tolman’s Study

Answer 24

Tolman & Honzik (1930):
* rats learnt maze layout with a reward, with a delayed reward, and with no reward (i.e. reinforcements)
* therefore rats demonstrated latent learning
* rats actively process info rather than operating on a stimulus response relationship