Download File - Delia Andrade

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Delia Andrade
Mr. Gonzales
English
1/14/13
Behaviorism
Behaviorism was first introduced during the early 20th-century. It was a dramatic change
to psychology due to the fact that it was a very different perspective, not emphasizing on the
conscious or the unconscious mind. In contrast with the other psychological methods
behaviorism focuses only on observable behavior. It's based on the belief that behaviors can be
measured, trained, and changed. Behaviorists believe a person’s environment determines their
behavior, in other words that our responses to environmental stimuli shape our behaviors. A
major strength of behaviorism is that it’s much easier to collect data on studies because it’s based
on observable behavior. Although behaviorism isn’t as popular today like it was during the mid20th century many of its techniques are still being used till this day. (psychology.about.com)
Fig. 1. A cartoon illustrating what a behavior theorist would say as opposed to the other theorists.
(CartoonStock.com)
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Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, which is a bit ironic given that he was a major
influence in the field of psychology specifically in behaviorism. (psychology.about.com)
Pavlov discovered the concept of classical conditioning while studying the digestion in dogs. By
doing so, he noticed how the dogs began to salivate as soon as one of his assistants entered the
room. Throughout his research Pavlov and his assistants would present food to the dogs and
measured the saliva that was produced as a result. Pavlov noted salivation was a reflexive
process that occurs automatically under stimulus not under consciousness. Meaning dogs don’t
learn to salivate whenever they see food, it’s a stimulus-response connection that they don’t need
to learn, an unconditioned reflex. However, when he noticed that his dogs would begin to
salivate whenever he entered the room even when he was not bringing them food that is when he
realized the salivary response was not due to an automatic physiological process. Pavlov
discovered that the salivary response was a learned response. Anything the dogs learned to
associate with food triggered the same response. For example, the assistants whom the animals
learned usually walked in with food were the neutral stimulus. The salivary response to the
presentation of food is an unconditioned reflex, salivating to the expectation of food is a
conditioned reflex. As a result, learning changed the behavior of the animals.
(simplypsychology.org)
After making that scientific discovery Pavlov dedicated himself to study that type of
learning. In a similar experiment Pavlov used a bell as a neutral stimulus and food as the
unconditioned stimulus once more. Every time he fed the dogs he rang a bell. After doing this
same procedure continuously when he rang the bell with no food present the dogs still salivated.
Similar to the last experiment the dogs learned to associate the bell ringing to getting fed, leading
them to believe every time the bell rings they will be fed. The bell had now become a
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conditioned stimulus to the dogs. A new behavior was learned, a conditional response.
(nobelprize.org)
Fig. 2. A diagram showing how Pavlov’s famous bell experiment works. (HowStuffWorks.com)
Another very important behaviorist is John Watson an American psychologist. Similar to
Pavlov’s experiment Watson was interested in showing that emotional reactions could be
classically conditioned in people. Over the years Watson studied the behavior of babies and
believed we learn everything, even things we think are instinctual like fear. He also believed we
learn by our environment rather than just being genetics. Watson preformed an experiment on an
infant known as little Albert. In the experiment they exposed the child to a series of stimuli. At
first Albert shows no fear, not even a burning newspaper seemed to have frighten him. Little
Albert isn’t afraid when he encounters a white rat for the first time in his life. However, the next
time he encountered the same white rat Watson made a loud noise by hitting a metal pipe with a
hammer. Not surprisingly, Albert began to cry after hearing the loud noise. After repeating this
same procedure various times Albert eventually learns to fear not just the white rat but all furry
things even without the loud noise. Watsons experiment proves fears are learned not inherited.
He successfully conditioned Little Albert to fear the white rat. Not to mention all the other
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similar looking white objects he feared after the experiment. The name for this occurrence is
called stimulus generalization. Stimulus generalization is the tendency for the conditioned
stimulus to arouse similar responses after the response has been conditioned.
(psychology.about.com)
Psychologist B.F Skinner known as one of the leaders of behaviorism furthered the
behaviorist perspective. He was very much influenced by Pavlov’s experiments and the ideas of
Watson. Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an
action and its consequences. This was his concept of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning
demonstrated the effect of positive and negative reinforcement on behavior. For example,
children can receive rewards like money for doing chores which leads them wanting to keep
repeating that behavior to receive those rewards, thus strengthening behavior with positive
reinforcement. You can also use negative reinforcement to strengthen a behavior by removing or
stopping an unpleasant experience. Not only does operant conditioning strengthen ones behavior,
but it can also help get rid of undesirable behavior. For example, taking away privileges from a
child as punishment for talking back to their parents may lead the child to not be disrespectful
next time, resulting in getting rid of undesirable behavior. (lifecircles-inc.com)
Skinner proved both positive and negative reinforcement in his experiments with pigeons
and rats. In one experiment, Skinner teaches a pigeon using positive reinforcement. At the start
of his experiment the pigeon moved his head in every direction. As soon as the pigeon moved his
head to the left Skinner reinforced that movement by giving the pigeon access to a dish of grain.
Skinner then waited for the pigeon to turn further to the left. Ultimately, the pigeon began to turn
in a completely circle having learned only when he turns he will be rewarded. Skinner was able
to teach pigeons to do complicated behaviors people wouldn’t have even thought possible by
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breaking down behaviors in small steps and using positive reinforcements along the way.
(youtube.com)
Skinner demonstrated how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner
box with unpleasant electric current as seen in figure 3. Evidently, the electric shock caused them
discomfort. As the rat went around the box exploring his surroundings it accidentally knocked
the lever. Immediately, the electric current would be switched off. The rats soon learned to go
straight to the lever after a being put in the box various times. To avoid the consequence of the
electric current the rats repeated the action again and again. (psychology.about.com)
Fig.3. An image of what the Skinner Box with electric shock looked like. (weblab.com)
Today, there are treatments that use the theory of behaviorism. Applied behavior
analysis is a treatment used to modify human behaviors as a part of learning. Behavior analysis is
a very effective treatment used that has helped people gain many different skills using positive
reinforcement. It has even worked to help children with autism and related developmental
disorders. In fact, ABA is mostly known for being a safe and effective treatment for those with
autism. Using ABA as a treatment for autism has helped those people live more productive and
happy lives. It helps the people with autism learn skills such as, looking, listening and imitating.
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It also helps them learn more complex skills like reading, conversing and understanding another
person’s perspective. Evidently, behaviorists knew what they were talking about when they
believed behaviors can be learned. Now due to their theories of behaviorism the method of
behavior analysis exists till this day and improves the lives of many. (autismspeaks.org)
Behaviorists like Ivan Pavlov, John Watson and BF Skinner changed the face of
psychology with their unique and different theoretical perspectives. Their approaches strove to
make psychology a more scientific discipline by emphasizing on only observable behavior thus,
leading behaviorism to rise to dominance in the mid-20th century. Although psychology focuses
more on the inner landscape of emotions and thought, behaviorism has had a big influence on
everything from dog training to parenting techniques and even used on treatment for those with
conditions like autism.
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Works Cited
"Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)." Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks Inc., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba>.
"Behaviorism." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness Find a Therapist. Sussex Publishers, LLC,
n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/behaviorism>.
Cherry, Kendra. "The Little Albert Experiment." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/little-albert-experiment.htm>.
Cherry, Kendra. "Skinner Box Definition." About.com Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/def_skinnerbox.htm>.
"Ivan Petrovich Pavlov." Pavlov's Dog. Nobleprize.org, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/readmore.html>.
Mcleod, S. A. "Psychology Articles for Students Students." Simply Psychology. N.p., 2007. Web. 12
Jan. 2013. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/>.
"Operant Conditioning." YouTube. BFSkinnerFoundation, 20 Mar. 2007. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA>.
"Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology." B.F.Skinner and Operant Conditioning. Theories of
Learning in Educational Psychology, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. <http://www.lifecirclesinc.com/Learningtheories/behaviorism/Skinner.html>.