Ch 2: Early Behaviourism Flashcards
What part of psychology fascinated Wilhelm Wundt the most?
Wundt was curious about how the anatomy of the brain played a role in understanding learning and psychology. As a result he came up with structuralism, which is the idea that each structure of the brain allows for a specific function to occur.
Why was introspection implemented?
Introspection is the idea of looking inwards. It was implemented in an attempt to find out what part of the brain had what function (i.e. it was used for structuralism). They had the belief that, who best to ask about what is going on inside the brain of an individual than the individual themself (i.e. introspection).
Why do we not use introspection today?
We no longer use introspection because we have imaging techniques that can allow us to link specific structures of the brain to different functions.
Describe one limitation of introspection.
One limitation of introspection is that we can never guarantee that the data we collect is too dependent on the participant. For example, he or she may be withholding information or may just be too young to understand the questions being asked.
Psychology is a hard science. What may have given off that indication that it is now considered a hard science?
James Mark Baldwin discovered the first psychological laboratory in University of Toronto. Laboratories were only given for the hard sciences, which implied that psychology was beginning to be considered a hard science.
What did Baldwin strive to discover?
Baldwin wanted to explore functionalism. Functionalism is the idea of understanding behaviours by analyzing the goals/purposes of that behaviour.
Provide an example that explains functionalism.
Habit formation is an example. Habit formation involves a cue which then triggers a specific action/routine and following through with that routine leads to a reward. The purpose of engaging in cue, routine and reward is so that we can form habits.
Why is sensation and perception so important?
Sensation is the process of our senses detecting visual, auditory, or sensory stimuli and transmitting it to the brain. Perception is the processing of those signals (from sensation) through interpretation. Sensation and perception are important because without participants being able to sense and perceive signals, we will not have data. In the early psychophysics, to establish psychology as science, data must be collected.
What was early psychophysics focused on?
It was focused on boundaries and thresholds.
Define absolute threshold.
Absolute threshold is the least amount of stimulation required for a stimulus to be detected at least 50% of the time. For example, if you are sitting in a dark room, and they dim the light. If you see the light at a certain point for at least half the number of trials, then that is the absolute threshold.
What is another name for differential threshold?
Another name for differential threshold is just noticeable difference (JND). JND is the least amount of change in the intensity of a stimulus that can actually be detected by an individual. For example, if a blindfolded person was holding 2 kg weight, if you added 500g they would notice. Meanwhile if a blindfolded person was holding 50 kg weight, and you added 500g, the person would not notice. This is JND.
What is Weber’s law?
Weber’s law, created by Max Weber states that the intensity of the stimulation is proportionate to the JND
Describe Pavlov’s experiment using relevant terms.
The dog would begin to salivate (UR) as soon as the it received its food (US). What Pavolv discovered was that by associating another stimulus (CS - ex.bell) with the US (i.e. by presenting the bell noise along with the food), after a number of trials, the CS will also begin to elicit the same UR (which is now called CR). This is what he called classical conditioning. The salivation (response) which previously had nothing to do with the bell (neutral stimulation) can be paired together by practice.
Describe classical conditioning. Provide an example.
Classical conditioning, created by Pavlov, describes how responses to previously neutral stimulation can be learned as a result of the repeated pairing of stimuli. This is how reflexes were once created.
What is the difference between contiguity and contingency?
Contiguity is when two events occur close together in time. Contingency is when occurence of one event depends on the occurrence of another but is not bound by time. Pavlovian conditioning is based on contiguity rather than contingency.
What are the four different variations in contiguity? Provide an example of each.
Delayed pairing is when the CS is presented first but continues to stay on until the US has finished. For example, when you are in a room and the experimenter switches the light on (CS) and then a few minutes later an electric shock (US) follows, then they both turn off. Trace pairing is when the CS is presented and is gone before the US is presented. For example, the light (CS) is turned on and then turned off, then the electric shock (US) is presented and then turned off. Simultaneous pairing is when the CS and US start and end at the exact same time. For example, the light (CS) is presented at the exact same time as the electric shock (US). Lastly, backward pairing is when the US has already been presented and removed prior to the presentation of the CS. For example, electric shock is given (US) and once it is off, the light (CS) goes on.
Define acquisition.
Acquisition is the formation of the stimulus-response association.
What happens if you were to present the dog with the noise of the bell (CS) and not the food (US)? How about if it was done a number of times?
The first time the dog would salivate - anticipation salivation. However, after a number of trails, the dog would not salivate. This process is called extinction, the association between the once neutral stimulus and the response is lost. However, if you were to perform it again, the dog would begin to salivate - i.e. spontaneous recovery.
Bertha is afraid of big dogs after being chased by one when she was younger. However, the other day when her friend brings over her puppy, Bertha also gets scared and screams. What is this called?
This is called stimulus generalization. It is defined as making the same or very similar responses to a range of related stimuli.
What is the opposite of stimulus generalization?
Stimulus discrimntation. It is when the individual makes different responses to related but distinctly different stimuli.
Define higher order conditioning.
Higher order conditioning follows the idea of using additional stimuli in connection with that learning. For example, you can add a light as a second stimulus to generate salivation for the dog. However, if you the second stimulus stops being paired with the food, the dog may still respond to the first stimulus.
What is Watson most famous for?
Watson is most famous for this study that he conducted - Little Albert.
What was Watson’s thoughts on classical conditioning?
He agreed with Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning, however he also placed on emphasis that some things are genetics (i.e. inheritable), such as reflexes. Humans are born with a number of physical and emotional reflexes that can be brought about by environmental stimuli.
Jenny was diagnosed with a phobia in which she fears spiders. What did Watson believe started this phobia?
Watson believed that all phobias are most likely conditioned. He believed in this concept called transfer, in which the making of similar responses for a variety of related stimuli. He describes that phobias were probably either a fear of the original stimuli or as the years went by it may have transferred to another similar stimuli.
