By Justin Vail and Ken Huneycutt
Behaviorism Behaviorism—Branch of Psychology involving the study of observable behavior Not dealing with the ‘mind’ Conscious can’t be used practically and is not measurable Two main theories Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning Developed by Ivan Pavlov, future inspirer of Skinner Famous for Dog experiment
Classical Conditioning Classical Conditioning—Unconditioned stimulus that results in a response and associating another stimulus for that same response Example of Classical conditioning is phobias Fear of dogs because don’t like loud noises and tie dogs to loud noises so don’t like dogs Meat= Unconditioned stimulus Bell= Conditioned stimulus Dog salivates=Response
B.F. Skinner Born in Pennsylvania, 1904 Started his career as a writer then became a psychologist Believed in observable and actions, thoughts and feelings The environment was the major factor of internal processes Married Yvonne Blue and had two daughters Known for his work on Behaviorism Operant Conditioning The Skinner Box Air crib Teaching Machine Died in 1990
Operant Conditioning Skinner Box Controlled environment with a lever that drops food pellets into the box Skinner used to research on Operant Conditioning When mouse presses lever his action is positively reinforced with food, so he continues to press lever If the lever electrocuted the mouse instead, the mouse would stop pushing it.
Operant Conditioning
Verbal Behavior Skinner created categories to describe different verbal forms Mands—like deMands. When a specific consequence is desired Saying you want water, directions, freedom Tacts—Observations of physical environment I’m in ToK class, the sky is blue, I am holding a rock Echoic—Imitation, echo. Teacher: This is una mochila. Student: Mochila Contraverbal—conversation, verbal response to previous verbal Teacher: What is your favorite color? Student: Blue Person #1: I have a cat. Person #2: I have a dog. Textual—Writing and reading
Verbal Behavior Skinner believed mastering each type is necessary to speak a language Believed learning a language is not innate, but results from positive and negative reinforcements When a person says something and get a negative reaction (the reinforcement) from their audience, will stop saying it When a person says something correct, receive praise and continue saying it Groovy Hahaha Cock-a- doodle-doo Perfect.
Bibliography Boeree, George. "B. F. SKINNER." Personality Theories. N.p., Web. 10 Apr Graham, George, "Behaviorism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = "B. F. Skinner And Behaviorism." Essortment. N.p., Web. 10 Apr 2011.