BEHAVIORISM Alexandra Rojek, Ashley Gonzalez, Sawsan Al-Ali, Tess Given

Walter Mischel  Mischel believes that a person’s behavior depends on situational cues.  He believed that one’s behavior was based on an ‘if-then’ dependency. Behaviors were not always the same, and changed based on the situation.  Focused on aggression and how it varies based on the situation  “The Marshmallow Experiment”- a study of pre-schoolers and their ability to wait for a desired incentive.

B. F. Skinner (Not the Simpsons)  We learned about him already:  Operant Conditioning  Walden 2: Reward only good behavior to foster good behavior  As a Behaviorist, he didn’t believe in innate emotion  Again, behaviorists thought we were all basically robots, and everything was learned by feedback (operant conditioning again)

Skinner’s More Complex Behavior  “Shaping” means that you adjust behaviors one step at a time through operant conditioning  In terms of personality: One would have to go through many unconscious learning experiences to shape personality.  Skinner’s “Homunculus”  This theory says that there is a “little man” inside everyone that is in control of different aspects of ourselves and behavior– including personality

Albert Bandura: The Bobo Doll  We learned about him too:  The Bobo doll experiment of “observational learning”  He was also in workplace psych: “Self Efficacy”  When you see someone else do well, you believe that you can do well  His Personality Stance  Personality is an interaction between three factors Environment, Behavior, Psychological Process

Bandura Some More  Three Factor Personality:  Reciprocal Determinism (you’ll see later)  It also allows for keeping images and language in our mind  Personality is learned and shaped by the people around us per the social learning theory

Learning: A Broad Topic  Behaviorist learning  All based on reward and punishment Classical and Operant Conditioning Rewards cause more of the behavior, lack of rewards or negative incentives cause less of the behavior/change the behavior.  One step towards cognitive psych with Bandura and Mischel Learn by observation

Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura is said to have discovered this theory Social Learning Theory: observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others The components of the Social Learning Theory : – People can learn through the observation of the behavior and outcomes of that behavior of others around them – Cognition the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem- solving. Plays a role in learning because behavior may depend on awareness of future outcomes. – Social Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Can be simple observation, not necessarily carried out by the observer. – If a behavior has a desired or positive outcome, it is more likely to be re-enacted or modeled. – If the person doing the behavior is seen as a role-model, the behaviors are more likely to be re-enacted

Reciprocal Determinism  “the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors” (Myers, 2007) 1. You choose what environment to be in 2. Your personality shapes your interpretation and reaction 3. Your personality create unique situations to which you react

Example (A high-strung teen at NCP) 1. They chose to attend NCP, where they knew there would be a lot of work (like this project), but they become accustomed to the work and thus efficient at it. 2. Because they are high-strung, they react very strongly to 2 B’s on their report card and think they won’t get into college. 3. Because they expect to be stressed out, they think that all their assignments necessarily involve a lot of work, but they might not be as bad (like this project).

Reciprocal Determinism recip.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2010, from

Locus of Control  The degree to which we expect that a reinforcement or outcome of behavior is reliant on our own personal behavior or characteristics, as opposed to whether the reinforcement or outcome is out of our control, and therefore in the hands of fate, luck, the control of others, or is unpredictable  Internal locus = they think that they are in control of what happens to them  External locus = they think that what happens to them is determined by fate, luck, or other people (Lincoln Maitland, 2010)

mot6.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2010, from

Observational learning  The process of learning to behave in a particular way by watching others  Those being observed are the models 1. Attention 2. Retention 3. Reproduction 4. Motivation  Ex. Bandura’s bobo doll studies (Lincoln Maitland, 2010)

Self-efficacy  The belief that we can perform behaviors that are necessary to accomplish tasks and that we are competent in these tasks  High self-efficacy = we think we can master situations and produce positive results  Affects how much we are willing to take risks and try new things (Lincoln Maitland, 2010)

Environment  External influences from anything like maternal nutrition to the social environment encountered outside of the womb including genetic inheritances.  For example if the son of teachers grows up to be a teacher himself his profession can be attributed to the genetic traits from his teaching parents, his growing up in a education rich environment or the social influence from his parents as well. (Myers, D. G. 2007)

Self regulated  People who are motivated to complete a task naturally as well as set goals for themselves while monitoring and keeping themselves on task apart from any influence other than their own. It also includes self judgment.  Self regulation is apart of the social learning theory (Ormrod, J. E. 1999)

Example of Self Regulation  If a person is taught to reward themselves every time he/she accomplishes a goal for example taking a break and watching your favorite TV show for 30 min after you’ve studied for your big psychology test you eventually become conditioned to complete goals without rewards using only your self as motivation.

Learned Helplessness  When faced with repeated negative consequences humans and even animals develop learned helplessness: a belief that these consequences are unavoidable. They accept that they can’t be escaped and develop this passive resignation  For example if a dog is repeatedly thwacked on the nose for no reason and can’t seem to figure out a way to avoid it they learn a sense of helplessness (Myers, D. G. 2007)

Criticisms of social learning theory  By focusing so much on the situation, the individual’s inner traits are ignored  This diminishes the importance of unconscious dynamics, emotions, and biologically influenced traits  Those who support social learning theory counter that the individual differences are reflected in our behavior anyway (Myers, D. G. 2007)

Criticisms of Behaviorism  It doesn’t explain generalized human behavior  If everyone learns from their experience, then why are humans so similar?  Can’t explain language  It’s nearly impossible to learn something so complex that has so many intricacies with just imitation

Bibliography  Lincoln Maitland, L. (2010). 5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology. McGraw-Hill Companies.  mot6.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2010, from  Myers, D. G. (2007). Psychology (8th ed.). New York City: Worth Publishers.  Ormrod, J. E. (1999). Social Learning Theory. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from  recip.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2010, from