Behavioral Psychology Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner
State Standard Standard 6.1 Understand personality approaches and theories.
Behavioral Psychology studies observable behaviors, rather than mental processes. Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner were pioneers in this field.
Pavlov discovered classical conditioning, when an organism learns a response to a stimulus that normally does not bring about that response.
Pavlov found that dogs salivate at the mere sound of a tuning fork if it is rung at feeding time.
The meat powder was the unconditioned stimulus. Salivation was the unconditioned response.
The conditioned response was the salivation at the sound of the tuning fork. The sound of the tuning fork changed from a neutral stimulus to a conditioned stimulus.
View the following commercials and identify the conditioned response manipulated by advertisers. Subway Pepsi Burger King Hardees
Extinction is the diminishing of a learned response. Example: Alarm Fatigue
Video Clips Pavlov’s Experiment The Office Parody of The Office Classical Conditioning at BGSU Pavlov Today
B.F. Skinner is considered the father of behaviorism. Operant conditioning: Process by which people make responses because they have learned that positive or negative consequences are dependent on the response.
Reinforcer: Any stimulus that increases a response. 1. Positive reinforcer: Stimulus added to an environment that increases a response.
Dwight Shrute & Shunning 2. Negative reinforcer: Stimulus whose removal increases a response. Examples: Dwight Shrute & Shunning [15 secs.] The Big Bang Theory [6:33]
“It’s simple. You read books—to learn facts—to get grades—to pass the course—to get a degree. It has nothing to do with thoughts.” (from A Raisin in the Sun)
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." --Viktor E. Frankl (psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor)
Article Assignment: “How Brainwashing Works” Read the article and explain the connections to Behavioral Psychology.
Journal Entry Describe an example of each in your life and its effect on you: 1. Presentation of a positive reinforcement. 2. Presentation of a negative reinforcement.