Toward a Science of Behavior Background 2nd decade of 20th century: disagreement within psychology On value of introspection On existence of mental elements On the need to remain a pure (unapplied) science Functionalism movement was evolutionary, not revolutionary

Attack of the Behaviorists Protest against both structuralism and functionalism Deliberately abrupt Designed to shatter the two dominant schools

John B. Watson (1878-1958) Watsonian Behaviorism Ultra-Scientific Dealt solely with observable behavioral acts Objective descriptions of the data Rejection of mentalistic concepts and terms Consciousness comparable to soul, introspection irrelevant

John B. Watson (1878-1958) Watson organized and promoted already existing ideas Philosophical tradition of objectivism and mechanism Animal psychology Behaviorism was a Functional psychology

Behaviorism Basic ideas were not new, philosophically speaking Descartes (mechanistic description of the body) Comte (positivism; Emphasis on undebatable facts) Positivism became part of the zeitgeist in science Resulting science of behavior viewed human beings as machines

Animal Psychology Behaviorism’s Background Watson: “Behaviorism is a direct outgrowth of studies in animal behavior....” Animal psychology was a product of evolutionary theory Science was willing to accept the mental life of nonhumans..

Plant Psychology …perhaps a little too willing. Alfred Binet (1889) The Psychic Life of Micro-Organisms (1889) Francis Darwin (1908) Consciousness in plants

Jacques Loeb (1859-1924) Significant step toward objectivity in animal psychology Tropism or “involuntary forced movement” as basis for theory of animal behavior: consciousness not necessary Did not totally reject consciousness for more evolved species It’s all about reflexes - Consciousness revealed by associative memory which is just a very complex association Taught Watson at Chicago

Tools of the Behaviorist’s Trade Rats, Ants, and the Animal Mind Robert Yerkes (Yale): Inspired by Pavlov and strengthened comparative psychology in the U.S. The Dancing Mouse (1905) Willard S. Small 1900: introduced the rat maze Used mentalistic terms Charles Henry Turner A Preliminary Note on Ant Behavior (1906) May have inspired Watson’s adoption of the term “Behaviorism”

The Death of Comparative Psychology Lack of funding for comparative psychologists Harvard president: “no future in Yerkes's...Comparative psychology” His students took up applied jobs when none available in comparative Margaret Floy Washburn publishes The Animal Mind (1908) which may have been the last book of the time to attribute mental states to animals

…and the resurrection You can study animals, but be objective. 1906: Pavlov lecture reprinted in Science 1909: description of Pavlov’s work published by Yerkes and Morgulis in Psychological Bulletin 1911: Journal of Animal Behavior (later Journal of Comparative Psychology) published Objective psychology and Watson’s research supported by Pavlov’s work Conscious experience disappearing from animal psychology

Hans (Again) 1904 Wilhelm von Osten: Animal intelligence Oskar Pfungst (Stumpf’s student)

Hans (Again) Owned by Wilhelm von Osten Osten’s goal: prove humans and animals have similar mental processes Animals simply lack education After exposure, von Osten accused Hans of deceit Watson used this case to demonstrate the dangers of making assumptions about the conscious operations of the animal mind Hans’ “intelligence” would have been understood immediately if it was explored according to Behaviorist models

American Connectionism Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949) Educated in the U.S. Wanted to study child development at Harvard with James – settled for chicks Finished Ph.D. with Cattell at Columbia Animal Intelligence (1898): First psychology dissertation based on nonhumans Eventually got back to humans and education

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Connectionism The mind is a device that connects…situations, elements of situations, and compounds of situations with…responses, readiness to respond, facilitations, inhibitions, and directions of responses. Learning is connecting! A revised version of Locke’s Associationism

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Laboratory work and learning theory of connectionism were critical antecedents for behaviorism. Thorndike's work with cats and puzzle boxes drove his formulation of the law of exercise and the law of effect. He later published the truncated law of effect that cast doubt on the effectiveness of punishment.

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Cats and Puzzle Boxes Trap a cat…random behavior will evolve in to a specific behavior aimed at generating results Consequences led to the “stamping in” or “stamping out” of responses (Trial-and-Accidental-Success-Learning)

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Law of Effect: If a behavior generates a desired result, it will be reinforced and vise versa Law of Exercise: Repetition will reinforce behavior ONLY of results are generated Practice is not enough Punishment may be ineffective! (This doesn’t mean learning isn’t happening!)

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) Moved from animals to education His work supported the identical elements transfer theory over the doctrine of formal discipline. DFD: “Latin will improve your ability to study all subjects.” IETT: “Mental exercises are fine, but if you want to understand algebra, study math!”

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949) After Thorndike Decreased role of consciousness Increased focus on experimental method Mechanism: behavior reduced to S-R elements

Talk is Cheap “…I must acknowledge that the honor of having made the first steps along this path belongs to E.L. Thorndike. By two or three years his experiments preceded ours…” Pavlov, 1928

Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov (1849-1936) In general His work helped shift of associationism from subjective ideas to objective physiological responses Provided Watson with a new method

Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov (1849-1936) Pavlov’s life Intended to study for the priesthood Read about Darwin, chose to study animal physiology Member of Russian (and soviet) intelligentsia Total dedication to research 1890: professor of pharmacology at St. Petersburg, Russia 1904 nobel prize for work on digestion

Russian Physiologists Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Shifted from physiology to psychology with research into psychical reflex (classical conditioning). Variations of classical conditioning: - US, UR, CS, CR Evaluated the processes of extinction, spontaneous recovery, disinhibition, stimulus generalization, discrimination etc.

Experimental Control The tower of silence Painstaking research Pavlov concerned about outside influences affecting his results Controlled for such influences by designing special cubicles for dog and for experimenter Dog could not see experimenter Painstaking research Standardized experimental conditions Rigorous controls Elimination of sources of error

Pavlov Later work focused on experimental neurosis. Assaulted the nervous system of dogs and studied their responses. Ultramaximal inhibition, a state of protective shock with three different aftereffects: Equivalent phase – same saliva, regardless of stimulus Paradoxical phase – less triggers more and vise versa Ultraparadoxical phase – attracted to negative stimuli and repulsed by positive stimuli (human conversion experiences?).

Pavlov Nobel prize in 1904 The conditioned response is the basic unit of Behaviorism Work still stands due to meticulous experimental technique Tower of Silence Declared intellectual war on Köhler and Gestalt psychology

Where’s my Prize? E.B. Twitmyer U. Penn 1902: dissertation on reflexes 1904: presentation at APA Topic: knee-jerk reflex Findings: Conditioned Knee-Jerk reflex

Twitmyer’s Experiment

Animal Rights Reflexology, Behaviorism and Animals SPCA: England 1824 ASPCA: U.S. 1866 Pavlov, Darwin, and James all advocated “humane” use of animals

Summary of Pavlov Demonstrated study of higher mental processes in physiological terms Broad practical applicability Continued the tradition of mechanism and atomism Provided psychology with a basic element of behavior Behavior could be reduced to elements and studied in experimental laboratory