Download Behavioral - Northside College Prep High School

BEHAVIORISM
Alexandra Rojek, Ashley Gonzalez, Sawsan Al-Ali,
Tess Given
Walter Mischel
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Mischel believes that a person’s
behavior depends on situational cues.
He believed that one’s behavior was
based on an ‘if-then’ dependency.
Behaviors were not always the same,
and changed based on the situation.
Focused on aggression and how it varies
based on the situation
“The Marshmallow Experiment”- a study
of pre-schoolers and their ability to
wait for a desired incentive.
B. F. Skinner (Not the Simpsons)

We learned about him already:
Operant Conditioning
 Walden 2: Reward only good behavior to foster good
behavior

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As a Behaviorist, he didn’t believe in innate emotion
 Again,
behaviorists thought we were all basically robots,
and everything was learned by feedback (operant
conditioning again)
Skinner’s More Complex Behavior

“Shaping” means that you adjust behaviors one step
at a time through operant conditioning
 In
terms of personality: One would have to go through
many unconscious learning experiences to shape
personality.

Skinner’s “Homunculus”
 This
theory says that there is a “little man” inside everyone
that is in control of different aspects of ourselves and
behavior– including personality
Albert Bandura: The Bobo Doll

We learned about him too:
 The
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Bobo doll experiment of “observational learning”
He was also in workplace psych: “Self Efficacy”
 When
you see someone else do well, you believe that you
can do well

His Personality Stance
 Personality
is an interaction between three factors
 Environment,
Behavior, Psychological Process
Bandura Some More

Three Factor Personality:
 Reciprocal
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
Determinism (you’ll see later)
It also allows for keeping images and language in our
mind
Personality is learned and shaped by the people
around us per the social learning theory
Learning: A Broad Topic

Behaviorist learning
 All
based on reward and punishment
 Classical
and Operant Conditioning
 Rewards cause more of the behavior, lack of rewards or
negative incentives cause less of the behavior/change the
behavior.
 One
step towards cognitive psych with Bandura and
Mischel
 Learn
by observation
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura is said to have discovered this theory
Social Learning Theory: observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes,
and emotional reactions of others
•
The components of the Social Learning Theory :
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–
–
–
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People can learn through the observation of the behavior and outcomes of that
behavior of others around them
Cognition the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and
comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problemsolving. Plays a role in learning because behavior may depend on awareness
of future outcomes.
Social Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Can be simple
observation, not necessarily carried out by the observer.
If a behavior has a desired or positive outcome, it is more likely to be re-enacted
or modeled.
If the person doing the behavior is seen as a role-model, the behaviors are more
likely to be re-enacted
Reciprocal Determinism

1.
2.
3.
“the interacting influences between personality and
environmental factors” (Myers, 2007)
You choose what environment to be in
Your personality shapes your interpretation and
reaction
Your personality create unique situations to which
you react
Example (A high-strung teen at NCP)
1.
2.
3.
They chose to attend NCP, where they knew there
would be a lot of work (like this project), but they
become accustomed to the work and thus efficient at
it.
Because they are high-strung, they react very strongly
to 2 B’s on their report card and think they won’t get
into college.
Because they expect to be stressed out, they think that
all their assignments necessarily involve a lot of work,
but they might not be as bad (like this project).
Reciprocal Determinism
recip.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2010, from http://www.usm.maine.edu/psy/gayton/102/4_07r.htm
Locus of Control

The degree to which we expect that a
reinforcement or outcome of behavior is reliant on
our own personal behavior or characteristics, as
opposed to whether the reinforcement or outcome is
out of our control, and therefore in the hands of
fate, luck, the control of others, or is unpredictable
 Internal
locus = they think that they are in control of
what happens to them
 External locus = they think that what happens to them is
determined by fate, luck, or other people
(Lincoln Maitland, 2010)
mot6.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2010, from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/mot6.gif
Observational learning

The process of learning to behave in a particular
way by watching others
 Those
being observed are the models
1. Attention
2. Retention
3. Reproduction
4. Motivation

Ex. Bandura’s bobo doll studies
(Lincoln Maitland, 2010)
Self-efficacy

The belief that we can perform behaviors that are
necessary to accomplish tasks and that we are
competent in these tasks
 High
self-efficacy = we think we can master situations
and produce positive results
 Affects how much we are willing to take risks and try
new things
(Lincoln Maitland, 2010)
Environment


External influences from anything like maternal
nutrition to the social environment encountered
outside of the womb including genetic inheritances.
For example if the son of teachers grows up to be a
teacher himself his profession can be attributed to
the genetic traits from his teaching parents, his
growing up in a education rich environment or the
social influence from his parents as well.
(Myers, D. G. 2007)
Self regulated


People who are motivated to complete a task
naturally as well as set goals for themselves while
monitoring and keeping themselves on task apart
from any influence other than their own. It also
includes self judgment.
Self regulation is apart of the social learning theory
(Ormrod, J. E. 1999)
Example of Self Regulation

If a person is taught to reward themselves every
time he/she accomplishes a goal for example
taking a break and watching your favorite TV show
for 30 min after you’ve studied for your big
psychology test you eventually become conditioned
to complete goals without rewards using only your
self as motivation.
Learned Helplessness


When faced with repeated negative consequences
humans and even animals develop learned
helplessness: a belief that these consequences are
unavoidable. They accept that they can’t be
escaped and develop this passive resignation
For example if a dog is repeatedly thwacked on
the nose for no reason and can’t seem to figure out
a way to avoid it they learn a sense of helplessness
(Myers, D. G. 2007)
(Myers, D. G. 2007)
Criticisms of social learning theory

By focusing so much on the situation, the individual’s
inner traits are ignored
 This
diminishes the importance of unconscious dynamics,
emotions, and biologically influenced traits

Those who support social learning theory counter
that the individual differences are reflected in our
behavior anyway
(Myers, D. G. 2007)
Criticisms of Behaviorism

It doesn’t explain generalized human behavior
 If
everyone learns from their experience, then why are
humans so similar?

Can’t explain language
 It’s
nearly impossible to learn something so complex that
has so many intricacies with just imitation
Bibliography
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Lincoln Maitland, L. (2010). 5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology. McGraw-Hill
Companies.
mot6.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2010, from
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/mot6.gif
Myers, D. G. (2007). Psychology (8th ed.). New York City: Worth Publishers.
Ormrod, J. E. (1999). Social Learning Theory. Retrieved March 14, 2010,
from http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/social.html
recip.gif. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2010, from
http://www.usm.maine.edu/psy/gayton/102/4_07r.htm