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Psyc 4332

Terms in this set (42)

Behavior
¡Any activity of an organism that can be observed or measured.
Learning
Relatively permanent change in behavior which results from some kind of experience
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
behaviors that become associated with neutral stimuli

¡Food -> salivation
¡Bell: Food -> salivation
¡Bell -> salivation
Operant Conditioning
¡Strengthening/weakening a behavior via consequences - typically voluntary behavior

¡Lever press -> Food pellet
¡Future effect: Likelihood of
lever pressing increases
Two Philosophers: Two approaches
Plato VS Aristole
Plato:
knowledge is inborn: Nativist(nature) perspective assumes that a person's abilities and tendencies are largely present at birth
Aristotle:
knowledge acquired through experience. (emphasized the importance of associations)
-Empiricist (nurture) perspective assumes that a person's ability and tendencies are learned
Aristotle's Laws of Association
Law of Similarity
Law of Contrast
Law of Contiguity
Law of Frequency
Law of Similarity:
similar events are associated together (parrots & penguins)
Law of Contrast:
¡events that are opposite are associated together (light & dark; life & death)
Law of Contiguity:
¡events in close proximity (in space, time) are associated (moon & stars; smoking & relaxation)
Law of frequency:
the more frequently things occur together, the more they are associated (peanut butter & jelly; smoking & relaxation)
Descartes:
¡Mind-body dualism: existence of both "free will" and "reflexes"
¡Non-human behavior entirely reflexive
British empiricists
¡All knowledge a function of experience
¡John Locke: infants are a "blank slate"
¡The mind is composed of basic elements
Edward B Titchener:
Structuralism, introspection
Structuralism:
•determine structure of the mind by identifying the basic elements
Introspection:
accurately describing conscious experiences: thoughts, emotions and sensations
Which observation helped establish science of psychology?
Systemic observation
(structuralism, introspection)
William James:
Functionalism, derived from Darwin
Functionalism
assumes the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us
What part of psychology focuses on the study of adaptive processes and the the structure of the mind?
Functionalism
Darwin:
natural selection, evolutionary adaptation.
Natural selection:
the individuals or species capable of adapting to environmental pressures are more likely to reproduce/pass along their adaptive characteristics
Natural Selection characteristics:
1. Traits vary within and between species
2. Many traits are heritable
3. Organisms must compete/cooperate for limited resources
Evolutionary adaptation:
trait that evolves as a result of natural selection.
John Watson:
behaviorism; believed: we are unable to directly observe another's person's thoughts and feelings. Must study behavior!
Behaviorism:
¡approach to psychology that focuses on the study of environmental influences on observable behavior
Behaviorism characteristics
¡Makes psychology an "objective science"
¡Goal = prediction and control of behavior
¡No introspection of conscious thought; make use of animal models
Schools of behaviorism:
1. Methodological
2. Neobehaviorism
3. Cognitive
4. Social Learning Theory
5. Radical
Methodological Behaviorism:
Extreme, favored by Watson: who focused on observable behaviors.

Associated with Stimulus Response(SR)
Stimulus Response-(S-R)
theory- connection between stimulus and response
Neobehaviorism:
¡Challenge to Watson, via Clark L. Hull
¡Poor science to entirely reject unobservable events
¡Operationalize instead
¡Infer existence of internal events ("intervening variables"), as these might form a connection between environment and behavior
¡Also a Stimulus-response (S-R) theory
Cognitive Behaviorism:
¡behavior is explained by intervening variables, mostly in hypothesized cognitive processes
Cognitive Behaviorism characteristics:
¡Edward Tolman argued for a focus on the big picture rather than focusing on individual pieces
¡Cognitive map- mental representation of spatial surroundings
¡Thought learning did not require a reward- "latent learning"
Social Learning Theory Behaviorism:
¡Albert Bandura
¡Focus on observational learning
¡Reciprocal determinism- environment, behaviors, and other "person variables" all influence each other
¡Contributed to development of Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Radical Behaviorism:
¡Burrhus Frederick Skinner
¡Emphasizes influence of the environment on observable behaviors, rejects internal events as an explanation of behavior, and views thoughts and feelings as behaviors themselves.
Skinner saw 4 problems with the internal events as explanation (radical behaviorism)
¡No access to internal events, thus we must rely on subjective reports- this is unreliable
¡It is difficult to determine the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior
¡We have no means of altering or controlling internal events
¡Using internal events as explanations often lead to "pseudo-explanations," ("I feel like going to the movies" is not a physical, bodily feeling)
Counter Control: (Radical Behaviorism)
when we understand how environment affects us, we can change environment to our benefit
¡Operant conditioning resembles evolutionary principle of natural selection in that: (Radical)
¡Adaptive (lead to reinforcers) behaviors increase in frequency
¡Non-adaptive (do not lead to reinforcers) decrease in frequency.

Skinner was willing to look at both nature and nurture.
Behavioral analysis:
¡grew out of Radical Behaviorism
¡Focus on operant conditioning
¡Dialectical Behavior Therapy for borderline personality disorder:
¡How do we increase the behaviors we want and decrease the behaviors we don't want?
¡What are the contingencies maintaining maladaptive behavior?
¡Self-harm -> emotional relief, social support, validation, etc.
¡Applied Behavior Analysis
practical application
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