Behavioural Psychology
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to
bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him
to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist,
merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.
--John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930
1. What can you assume that John Watson believed about human
behaviour?
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Behavioural psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based upon the idea
that all behaviors are acquired through _________________. Conditioning occurs through
interaction with the environment. According to behaviorism, behavior can be studied in an
observable manner with no consideration of ____________________.
There are two major types of conditioning:
1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
***I willl post some links of the blog for you to examples of conditioning in
action.**
**Watch youtube video “Classical conditioning”, watch youtube video “Ivan
Pavlov”
Comments:
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Classical Conditioning
Ivan PavlovIvan Pavlov's primary interests were the study of physiology and natural
sciences.
While researching the digestive function of dogs, Pavlov noted that dogs
would ___________ before the delivery of food. In a series of well-known
experiments, he presented a variety of ____________ before the
presentation of food, eventually finding that, after repeated association, a
dog would salivate to the presence of a ___________ other than food. He
termed this response a conditional reflex. Pavlov also discovered that these
reflexes originate in the cerebral cortex of the brain.
Pavlov received considerable acclaim for his work, including a 1901
appointment to the Russian Academy of Sciences and the 1904
_______________ in Physiology.
Main Components of Classical Conditioning:
1.Unconditioned Stimulus / UCS - no learning is involved in connecting the
stimulus and response.
2.Unconditioned Response- the natural response to the unconditioned
stimulus.
3.Neutral Stimulus - there must also be a stimulus that will not elicit a
specific response, but can be paired with the UCS.
4.Conditioned stimulus - after conditioning, the previously neutral or
orienting stimulus will elicit the response. The stimulus is now called
conditioned stimulus because it will now elicit a different response as a
result of learning.
5.Conditioned response - The response is now called a conditioned
response because it is elicited by a stimulus as a result of learning.
The two responses, unconditioned and conditioned, look the same, but
they are elicited by different stimuli and are therefore given different
labels.
***Watch youtube clip “Classical Conditioning BGSU.”
(will be posted on the blog)
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Examples of Classical ConditioningLabel each part of the scenario with UCS, UR, NS, CS, or CR.
1. Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the
shower becomes very hot and causes the person to jump back. Over
time, the person begins to jump back automatically after hearing the
flush, before the water temperature changes.
The hot water is the _________
The jumping back is the ________
The toilet flush is the _______
The jumping back to the flush alone is the ________
2. An individual receives frequent injections of drugs, which are
administered in a small examination room at a clinic. The drug itself
causes increased heart rate but after several trips to the clinic, simply
being in a small room causes an increased heart rate.
The drug is the _________
The accelerated heart rate is the ___________
The small room is the ___________
The accelerated heart rate to the room is the ___________
3. John Watson conducted an experiment with a boy named Albert
in which he paired a white rat with a loud, startling noise. Albert now
becomes startled at the sight of the white rat.
The loud noise is the ________
The startle is the ________
The white rat is the ___________
The startle response to the white rat is the ____________
YOUR TASK! Come up with a simple Classical Conditioning experiment that
you can do on your family or friends. Please explain your experiment in
detail, record how many times it took your neutral stimulus to elicit a
response. No one should be hurt during this experiment!! We will be
sharing our experiments with the class. This is due on
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Operant Conditioning
BF SkinnerIn 1945, B.F. Skinner became Psychology Department Chair at the University
of Indiana. In 1948, he joined the psychology department at Harvard
University where he remained for the rest of his life. He became one of the
leaders of behaviorism and his work contributed immensely to experimental
psychology. He invented the 'Skinner box,' in which a rat learns to obtain
food by pressing a lever.
*** watch youtube clip “Big Bang theory operant conditioning”. TO BE
POSTED.
Schedules of Reinforcement
We can find examples of operant conditioning at work all around us. Consider
completing homework to earn a reward from a teacher, or employees
finishing projects to receive praise or promotions.
In these examples, the promise or possibility of rewards causes an increase
in behavior, but operant conditioning can also be used to decrease a
behavior. The removal of an undesirable outcome or the use of punishment
can be used to decrease or prevent undesirable behaviors. For example, a
child may be told they will lose recess privileges if they talk out of turn in
class. This potential for punishment may lead to a decrease in disruptive
behaviors.
Some key concepts of operant conditioning:
Positive reinforcers are favorable events or outcomes that are presented
after the behavior. A response or behavior is strengthened by the addition
of something, such as praise or a direct reward.
Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavorable events or
outcomes after the display of a behavior. In these situations, a response is
strengthened by the removal of something considered unpleasant. This
strengthens the response.
Punishment, on the other hand, is the presentation of an adverse event or
outcome that causes a decrease in the behavior it follows. There are two
kinds of punishment:
Positive punishment, sometimes referred to as punishment by application,
involves the presentation of an unfavorable event or outcome in order to
weaken the response it follows.
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Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when
an favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. This also
weakens the response.
Extinction, is when the behaviour is not recognized and gets no response.
When implemented consistently over time, weakens the undesired behavior.
**watch youtube clip BF Skinner operant conditioning, pigeons
*** watch youtube clip BF Skinner pigeon turn
Identify which kind of operant conditioning is used in each of the
following examples:
1. Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first year in
university because you did so well. As a result, your grades continue to get
better in your second year.
Type of reinforcement: _________________________________
2. A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final exam if they
maintain perfect attendance during the quarter. His students’ attendance
increases dramatically.
Type of reinforcement: _________________________________
3.Your hands are cold so you put your gloves on. In the future, you are more
likely to put gloves on when it’s cold.
Type of reinforcement: _________________________________
4.A child gets a time-out every time he hits his sister. He eventually stops
hitting.
Type of reinforcement: _________________________________
5.You keep trying to show your mother your artwork but she consistently
ignores you as she does the dishes. You stop trying to show her any of your
work.
Type of reinforcement: _________________________________
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Come up with your own example for each kind of Reinforcement:
Positive Reinforcement:
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Negative Reinforcement:
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Extinction:
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Positive Punishment:
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Negative Punishment:
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