Behaviourism (03-Oct-2002)

• Originated in late 19^th Century
• previously, introspection was the means of investigating behaviour.
• Introspection is based on self-reporting, and because it is subjective, has problems because:
  • people are not always honest
  • people aren't always able to articulate what they're feeling
  • different people may report similar experiences in different ways
  
  
• As a response to introspection, John Watson developed Behaviourism. He wanted this to be a science like physics and chemistry. See (1) p.801 - Watson's 1913 "behaviourist manifesto". He believed in :
  • Empiricism: the idea that knowledge should be derived by observation and measurement
  • Positivism: describing what is experienced without trying to interpreting it; like physics or chemistry, it claims to be objective, unbiased and value-free.
  
  
• John Watson basically wanted to apply techniques of classical scientific work to the study of psychology, and said that it:
  • studies behaviour (not minds)
  • assumes "tabula rasa" for behaviour - i.e. no behaviour is innate; it is all shaped by the environment and not to do with the genes/brain you start off with
  • emphasises learning based on stimulus/response
  • universal: it explains all behaviour, animals as well as human. Many animal experiments have been performed in support of behaviourism.
  
  
• Behaviourism implies no free will; all behaviour is determined based on the effects of past experience.
• Behaviourists spend a lot of time investigating how learning takes place : the term conditioning is used to mean learning by association.
• Two types of conditioning - classical and operant (see (1) chap 45).

Classical Conditioning

• With classical conditioning (e.g. Pavlov's dogs), an unconditional stimulus (US) is seen to have an unconditional response (UR). The US is then associated with a conditional stimulus (CS) enough times so that when the US is removed, the CS has the effect of provoking a conditioned response (CR). E.g. bell (CS) produces salivation (CR)
• Watson thought you could use classical conditioning to understand all human behaviour. Experimented with "Little Albert" to make him afraid of rats; also found that Little Albert became afraid of cotton wool and Watson's beard - this is called generalisation.
• Explains involuntary, or reflex behaviour. E.g. Pavlov's dogs had no choice about whether they salivated; it was an involuntary response.
• Classical conditioning has applications such as (see (1) chapter 60):
  • aversion therapy - learn new association between undesirable behaviour (e.g. alcohol) and unpleasant consequence (e.g. being sick)
  • flooding - for people who have "learned" something unhelpful (e.g. fear of spiders) - the idea being that by repeatedly providing the CS which has an undesirable CR, you can diminish the power of the CS. E.g. force an arachnophobic to sit in a room full of spiders.
  • systematic desensitisation - gradually introduce a feared stimulus starting off in a safe setting, building up the strength of the stimulus so that the formerly learned CR is unlearned
  • Advertising - repeatedly showing a product alongside images of people in desirable situations makes people feel better about the product.

Operant Conditioning

• Pioneered by Skinner, this form of conditioning tries to explain voluntary (not reflex, or involuntary) behaviour. Skinner said:
  behaviour + reinforcement => increased similar behaviour
  where "reinforcement" is "reward"
• Skinner came up with the "Skinner Box" where a rat or pigeon could learn that by pressing a lever, food is delivered, or an electric shock is averted.
• positive reinforcement is something pleasurable which rewards a certain behaviour, e.g. food is delivered when you press a lever
• negative reinforcement is something unpleasant that can be prevented by a certain behaviour, e.g. an electric shock is delivered unless you press a lever
• behaviour shaping - complex lessons can be learned by reinforcement of successive approximations, e.g. teaching elephant to stand on two legs might be a multi-stage process.
• Skinner also found that
  behaviour + punishment => decreased similar behaviour
  but that punishment was not as effective as reward for changing behaviour.

References

1. Psychology: A New Introduction for A Level (2nd edition), Gross et al

1. George Boeree's Page on Skinner

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Homework

• Read behaviourism section in "Perspectives" sheet
• Write a chart contrasting strengths and weaknesses of the behaviourists approach.