Task 6

Question 1

Perception of Psychology in the USA at the Beginning of the 20th century

Answer 1

• scientific psychology expanded rapidly in the USA

- many labs were established; APA was founded; American Journal of Psychology, Psychological Review

Question 2

Perception of Psychology in the USA at the Beginning of the 20th century
- functionalism

Answer 2

• psychology changed to address concerns prevalent in American society
  
  • led to functionalism ( = more interested in practical uses)
  • inheritance & adaptation —> eugenics (positive/negative)

Question 3

Perception of Psychology in the USA at the Beginning of the 20th century
- what people thought of psychology

Answer 3

• position of psychology laboratories was precarious —> associated with phrenology, mesmerism, and spiritualism

Question 4

Making a Science of Behavior

- anthropomorphic interpretation

Answer 4

• evolutionary theory led to increased interest in animal behavior
• initially animal behavior was studied by focusing on anecdotes of intelligence
  
  • explained by anthropomorphic interpretation

Question 5

Making a Science of Behavior

- Thorndike and animal research

Answer 5

• Thorndike introduced different approach
  
  • puzzle box —> conclusions drawn on basis of animals’ behavior
  • instrumental conditioningg resulting in the law of effect
• comparative psychology
• focus on animals’ behavior further strengthened by Pavlov’s work on classical conditioning
• Watson started to make claim that method would also be good for study of human functioning

Question 6

The 1913 Behaviorist Manifesto

Answer 6

• Watson
• psychology as purely objective experimental branch of natural scince, based on prediction and control of behavior
• argued that previous research on introspection into consciousnesss had failed significantly
• left an opening for later study of more complex behavior

Question 7

Influence of Philosophy on Science - Positivism

Answer 7

• philosophy of science
• behaviorism as wider movement within Western society to make science cornerstone of human progress
• behaviorists took three ideas from philosophers
  (1) operational definitions are necessary
  (2) their eis a distinction between independent and dependent variables (later: S-R association)
  (3) science relies on verification

Question 8

Further Developments in Behaviorism

Answer 8

• after Watsons departure from academic life: behaviorism was continued by three heavyweight neo-behaviorists

Question 9

Further Developments in Behaviorism

- Clark Hull

Answer 9

• mathematical equations with operationally defined variables that allow detailed predictions of behavior in specified circumstances

Question 10

Further Developments in Behaviorism

- Skinner

Answer 10

• 1904-1990
• radical behaviorism
• no information processing in the mind
• all human actions as result of S-R connections
  —> also did not think free will exists

Question 11

Further Developments in Behaviorism

- Tolman

Answer 11

• 1886-1959
• purposive behaviorism
• behavior is motivated by goals, the goal directedness can be studied in an objective way
• study Blodgett, 1929:
  
  • thought operant conditioning could not be understood in simple S-R terms

Question 12

Classics: Watson

Answer 12

• psychology has failed to become natural science due to notion that mental states are object of study and introspection is only direct method of studying them
• psychology has been preoccupied with questions that are not open to experimentation
• psychology to behaviorist is a purely objective and experimental branch of natural science
• what must be determined: laws of behavior, range of responses, determination of effective stimuli, habit formation, persistency of habits, interference and reinforcement of habits
• psychology has to ignore more complex forms of behavior until behaviorist methods become more developed

Question 13

Animal Psychology: Thorndike

Answer 13

• 1898: Throndike published “Animal Psychology” —> foundation of experimental animal psychology
• replaced antropomorphism with mechanicotherimorphism ( = ascirptionof mechanical properties to phenomena that are psychological in nature in nonhuman animals that are, in turn, used to explain human psychological phenomena)
• conducted research on both animals and children
• animals as “laboratory tabula rasa”

Question 14

Contemporary Educational Psychology/Behaviorism: Changes in What Students Do

Answer 14

• behaviorism useful for identifying relationships between specific actions done by students and immediate precursors and consequences of their actions; not useful for understanding changes in student thinking
• classical conditioning: influence children’s intrinsic motivation)
• operant conditioning: include both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation