1. The Behavioral Approach

2. Premise
Behavior can be controlled by consequences- type of reinforcement following the behavior
Behavior and learning theorists emphasize experience and learning as the primary forces that shape human behavior
Explore personality experimentally by studying behavior in laboratory settings
No clear cut concept of personality. Only behaviors

3. What is behaviorism all about?
Behavioral psychology is the study of external behavior
Behavior is objective and observable, where as what goes on in one’s mind can never really be known or measured (the mind is a “black box”)
Behavior is the response of an organism to stimuli

4. B.F. Skinner (1904 –1990)
American psychologist - influential from the 1930’s - 60’s – developed operant conditioning
Skinner was interested in education
He believed that behavior is sustained by reinforcements or rewards, not by free will.
• Famous for the skinner box & the teaching machine
• Often worked with pigeons
& rats and applied what he learned
with these animals to human learning

5. Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
This involves conditioning voluntary, controllable behaviors, not the automatic physiological responses in Classical Conditioning
With Operant Conditioning the Response comes before the Stimulus (the opposite of CC)
R S

6. Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement and Punishment
Positive reinforcement: Strengthen response by providing desirable rewards
Ex: Token economy
Negative reinforcement: Strengthen response by removing aversive stimuli
Ex: Prisoners-early release for good behavior
Punishment: Use aversive stimulus following response to decrease likelihood of behavior in the future

7. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Positive Reinforcement
Presence of Pleasant Stimulus
Behavior
Increases
Negative Reinforcement
Absence of Unpleasant Stimulus
Presence of Unpleasant Stimulus
Behavior
Decreases
Punishment

8. Consequences for Behaviors
Positive Reinforcement – You behave in a certain way that results in a reward, and as a result, you are more likely to repeat that behavior
Negative Reinforcement – You behave in a certain way that results in the removal of something unpleasant, and as a result you are more likely to repeat that behavior (ex: doing a paper early)
In both cases, something happened that you saw as “good” and as a result, you exhibited the behavior more.

9. Consequences for Behaviors
Punishment – A consequence that follows a behavior so that you do the behavior less often in the future.
Punishment can involve adding something (paying a fine, staying after school) or involve removing something you like (losing recess time, leaving your friends)
In both cases, adding something or removing something, you perceive it as “bad” and as a result, you exhibit the behavior less.

10. Differences Between Negative Reinforcement & Punishment
Negative reinforcement: Something unpleasant is removed & as a result you are more likely to do it again
Something happened that was “good”
Punishment: A consequence happens that you don’t like and you are less likely to do it again. The punishment can add something or take something away.
Something happened that was “bad”

11. Applying Operant Conditioning: Behavior Modification
Behavior modification: apply principles of reinforcement to bring about behavioral changes
Token economy: tokens given as reinforcement for positive behaviors, later redeem tokens for rewards

12. Schedules and Types of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement
Interval reinforcement
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Ratio reinforcement
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
Types of reinforcement

13. Psychotherapy and Behavioral Change
Skinner’s attitude toward therapy is pragmatic and curative
Behavior modification seeks to eliminate undesired behaviors by changing the environment within which they occur
Token economy used in many institutional settings for reinforcement of appropriate behaviors

14. History of Behaviorism
Pavlov (1927), a Russian physiologist discovered classical conditioning in dogs.

15. “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select – a doctor, a lawyer, artist…” -Watson 1924

16. Pavlov
While Ivan Pavlov was not a psychologist, and reportedly disliked the field of psychology altogether, his work had a major influence on the field, particularly on the development of behaviorism.
His discovery and research on reflexes influenced the growing behaviorist movement.
Other researchers utilized Pavlov's work in the study of conditioning as a form of learning. His research also demonstrated techniques of studying reactions to the environment in an objective, scientific method.

17. Classical Conditioning
Explains some learning of involuntary emotional and physiological responses.
Dog drooling when it smells food and later when it hears a bell
It’s important for us as teachers to understand since school is often the cause of unintentional learning through classical conditioning, especially anxiety.
Test anxiety conditions us to have general school anxiety

18. Respondent Behavior and Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov: Classical conditioning
Dogs salivate to neutral stimulus (sound of owner’s feet) when previously only salivated to sight of food
Began sounding tone before feeding dogs
Eventually began to salivate to sound of tone
Demonstrates new meaning to previously neutral stimulus (sound of tone)

19. Examples of Classical Conditioning
Kids who often get strep throat, after much swabbing of their throat, begin to gag as soon as they see the doctor with the swab.
Hearing a teacher, roommate, boyfriend/girlfriend say to you, “We need to talk”. Upon hearing this phrase your stomach “flutters”.
The point is, we learn to associate a stimulus with a response, and eventually our body does this automatically in the presence of the stimulus. Our response is involuntary.

20. Classical Conditioning …..
Classical conditioning can face “extinction”, where the learning is undone.
This can happen naturally (the dog stops getting meat when music is played)
Or can happen through some type of therapy in the case of severe anxiety reactions
Ex: people who are afraid to fly….
Remember: Classical conditioning is more than forming an association – it is an involuntary, physiological response

21. Classical Conditioning in the Classroom
Playing soothing music, dimming the lights to calm and relax students
Unintentional classical conditioning:
Test anxiety
Math anxiety
Public speaking anxiety
General school anxiety

22. John Watson

23. Childhood Born January 9 1878 in Greenville, SC
Was the fourth of six children
Father left family
Arrested twice
Was aggressive and violent until after his arrest

24. Education Introduced to psychology at Furman Went to Johns Hopkins
Taught at Chicago and Johns Hopkins
Became associate professor at Johns Hopkins

25. Working Became president of APA Studied mental illness
Published many books
worked near animal researchers
Editor of Psychological Review

26. Little Albert three basic emotional reactions: fear, rage, and love.
Prove he could condition responses

27. Scandal and New Career Affair Removal from teaching
New career in psychology in advertising