CI 161
Behaviorism
101
Burger
Ivan Pavlov
(1849–1936)
Classical Conditioning
• basic learning process discovered by
Pavlov that involves repeatedly
pairing a neutral stimulus with a
response-producing stimulus until the
neutral stimulus triggers the same
response
John B. Watson
• Believed that
Psychology should be
redefined as “the
scientific study of
behavior”
• Founded Behaviorism
in 1913
• Behaviorism was the
dominant school of
Psychology for more
than 50 years
“Little Albert” Experiment
Factors that affect Classical
Conditioning
• Extinction --
• Spontaneous Recovery -• Stimulus Generalization -• Stimulus Discrimination --
Practice Problems for CC
• When you were still together, you
and your ex used to love the same
hit song. Now when you hear that
song, you feel sad.
Practice Problems for CC (2)
• A fourth grade teacher who was
very strict and scary used to wear a
strong, rose-scented perfume. The
smell of roses now makes you very
nervous.
Practice Problems for CC (3)
• One night you bought a meal deal at
McDonald’s, you arrived home to find a
burger, fries, colas, and three roaches in
the bag. Now, even the sight of the
McDonald’s logo makes you sick to
your stomach.
Operant Conditioning
• learning process in which behavior is shaped
and maintained by manipulating its
consequences
• Operant conditioning involves voluntary
behaviors.
• Operants are actions upon the environment,
which may lead to reinforcement or
punishment
• Founder of Operant
Conditioning
• Invented “Skinner
Box”
• Won “Sexiest Man
Alive” award in
1939
B. F. Skinner
Reinforcement
•
anything that strengthens a response or
increases ( ) the chance that it will occur
•
almost anything can act as a reinforcer – food,
sex, vacation, etc.
•
Remember: Reinforcement INCREASES (
behavior
)
Positive Reinforcement
• Positive consequence that increases
the chance of desired behavior
because something is added (+) or
presented.
• Can be thought of as a reward
• Represented by: +
reinforcement ( )
positive (+),
Negative Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
• Works to increase behavior but does
this by removing an unwanted
stimulus
• Think of negative sign (-),
REMOVING unwanted stimulus
• EX: Beeping noise from car – buckle
seatbelt – noise goes away – noise is
the negative reinforcement
Shaping - gradually molding a desired
behavior by reinforcing responses that are
similar or close to the final desired
behavior
Punishment
• anything that weakens a response
or decreases the chance that it will
occur ( )
Positive Punishment (+ )
• decreases behavior by adding an
unpleasant stimulus
• Remember, think positive as in
plus sign (+), adding something
• EX: spanking, a prison sentence,
or criticizing someone
Operant conditioning. Having received a face full of quills,
a young coyote has probably learned to avoid porcupines
Negative Punishment
• decreases behavior by
removing a pleasant
stimulus ( - )
• EX: taking away car keys
to punish a teenager
(work to decrease future
behavior)
Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment
• Many people confuse negative
reinforcement and punishment.
• Negative Reinforcement always
increases behavior
• Punishment always decreases
behavior.
Negative Reinforcement v.
Punishment Example
Practice Problems for OC
• Clare studies hard and gets an A on
her Biology test. The teacher
praises her in front of the class. As
a result, Clare stops studying earns
a failing grade on the next two
exams.
Practice Problems for OC (2)
• Mike was more likely to return his
rental DVD’s on time after the
video store raised their late
charges.
Practice Problems for OC (3)
• Jane came home late and her
parents took away her car
privileges for a week. In the future,
Jane made sure to come home on
time.
Practice Problems for OC (4)
• Jose did not like to do his homework.
One day his mom told Jose that he
could play video games for an hour
after his homework was done. Jose
completed his homework more often as
a result.
Practice Problems for OC (5)
• Dr. Venkman claims he is studying “the
affect of negative reinforcement on ESP
ability” by applying electric shocks to
subjects that do not identify the correct
Zener card. Is this actually “negative
reinforcement”? Why or why not?
Practice Problems for OC (5)
• Dr. Venkman claims he is studying
“the affect of negative reinforcement
on ESP ability” by applying electric
shocks to subjects that do not identify
the correct Zener card. Is this actually
“negative reinforcement”? Why or
why not?
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Uses the term response
Uses the term behavior
Response is biologically based (ex:
fear or anxiety); involuntary
Behavior is not biologically based;
it is voluntary
Main components: stimulus and its
response
Main components: behavior and
its consequence
Cannot be used to shape behavior
Can be used to shape behavior
Stimulus causes the response
Consequence influences the
behavior
To extinguish the response: stop
pairing
To decrease learned behavior: stop
reinforcing
Extinction: stop pairing
Extinction: stop reinforcing
Observational Learning
• Includes learning by
imitation and learning
by observing behaviors
of others
• Albert Bandura is
psychologist most
associated with this
theory.
• Parents, movie stars, political
figures all act as models
• A large part of our behaviors
are influenced by
observational learning
• EX: When walk in a room how do we decide how
to behave? How do we know what to wear,
where to sit, what to do?
• Fears can be acquired by observational learning
Bobo Doll Experiment
4 Cognitive Processes that determine
whether imitation will occur:
• Paying attention to the other person’s behavior
• Forming and storing mental representations of the
behavior to be imitated
• Transforming this mental representation into
actions you are capable of reproducing
• And, being motivated to imitate the behavior by
some expectation of reinforcement or reward