Lecture Notes: Freud, Skinner, and Behaviorism

Introduction

• The lecture revisits concepts related to Freud and introduces Skinner and behaviorism.
• The focus is on understanding the unconscious mind and behaviorism's impact on psychology.

Freud and the Unconscious

• Initial discussion on why the unconscious exists was skipped in a previous lecture.
• Key Point: Most brain activities are unconscious; the question is why some are conscious.
• Evolutionary Perspective: Unconscious might have evolved for deception, aiding in better lying if believed.
• Example: Alfred Hitchcock's manipulation of a child actor to create genuine emotion.

Freud's Theories

• Oedipal Complex Example: Story illustrating Freud's concept through a humorous anecdote.

Introduction to Skinner and Behaviorism

• Behaviorism predates Skinner but was popularized by him.
• Core Concepts:
  • Emphasis on learning through experience.
  • Anti-mentalism: Avoids unscientific internal mental states; focuses on observable events.
  • Universal Application: Techniques applicable across species.

Key Learning Principles

• Habituation: Decline in response to repeated stimuli.
  • Important for adapting to environments and studying non-verbal subjects like infants.
• Classical Conditioning: Learning association between stimuli.
  • Pavlov's dogs: Foundation of classical conditioning.
  • Concepts: Unconditioned stimulus/response and conditioned stimulus/response.
  • Applications: Understanding phobias, hunger cues, even sexual preferences.
• Operant Conditioning: Learning through consequences, rewards, and punishments.
  • Developed extensively by Skinner; involves learning from voluntary actions.
  • Example: Training a pig by rewarding desired behaviors.
  • Includes concepts like positive/negative reinforcement and shaping behavior.

Critique and Decline of Behaviorism

• Failures:
  • Not all knowledge is learned; innate knowledge exists.
  • Mental states are critical for scientific understanding.
  • Learning doesn’t always require reinforcement.
  • Animal-specific learning constraints.
  • Garcia Effect: Specific food aversions challenge general association theory.
• Chomsky's Criticism: Behaviorism's vague extensions to human language and behavior.
  • Reinforcement concepts are too vague to be scientifically useful.

Legacy of Behaviorism

• Contributions:
  • Insights into learning mechanisms in non-humans.
  • Techniques for training with practical uses in education and therapy.
• Despite its decline, behaviorism remains influential in understanding learning and training methodologies.