Overview
This lecture covers the development and principles of behaviorism in psychology, focusing on classical and operant conditioning, key experiments, and fundamental terms in associative learning.
Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
- Ivan Pavlov's experiments laid the foundation for behaviorism by focusing on observable behaviors.
- Learning is defined as acquiring new, relatively enduring information or behaviors through experience.
- Pavlov noticed dogs salivated at stimuli associated with food, leading to the concept of associative learning.
- Classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus (bell) with an unconditioned stimulus (food) to elicit a conditioned response (salivation).
- Acquisition is the stage where the association between stimuli is learned.
- After conditioning, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response.
- Classical conditioning demonstrates that learning processes can be studied through direct observation.
Watson and Behaviorism
- John B. Watson promoted psychology as the study of observable behavior, dismissing internal processes.
- In the "Little Albert" experiment, Watson conditioned a child to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise, showing emotional responses can be conditioned.
- Watson's work led to debate over whether new conditioning could undo previous fears or behaviors.
Skinner and Operant Conditioning
- Operant conditioning links behavior to consequences, increasing or decreasing behavior through reinforcement or punishment.
- B.F. Skinner developed the operant chamber ("Skinner Box") to study reinforcement in animals.
- Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired behavior.
- Positive reinforcement adds a reward after a behavior; negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus to increase behavior.
- Punishment decreases behavior, either by adding something unpleasant (positive punishment) or taking away something desirable (negative punishment).
Reinforcement Types and Schedules
- Primary reinforcers satisfy innate needs (e.g., food, ending annoyance).
- Conditioned (secondary) reinforcers gain value through association with primary reinforcers (e.g., money).
- Continuous reinforcement provides a reward every time a behavior occurs, but partial (intermittent) reinforcement only rewards sometimes.
- Extinction occurs when reinforcement stops and the learned behavior decreases.
- Partial reinforcement leads to more durable learning, less prone to extinction.
Critiques and Modern Perspectives
- Behaviorism's focus on external behavior ignored the influence of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions.
- Modern psychology recognizes both behavioral and cognitive processes in learning.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Classical Conditioning — Learning by associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.
- Operant Conditioning — Learning where behavior is influenced by its consequences.
- Reinforcement — Any event that increases the likelihood of a behavior.
- Positive Reinforcement — Adding a desirable stimulus after behavior to increase it.
- Negative Reinforcement — Removing an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior.
- Punishment — Any consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior.
- Acquisition — The initial learning of the association between stimuli.
- Extinction — The diminishing of a learned response when reinforcement is removed.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review classical and operant conditioning concepts for understanding learning theories.
- Prepare for next week's topic on cognition and observational learning.
- Reflect on how reinforcement schedules apply to real-life situations.