Download Lecture 1 Behaviourism FLSS 2015-16 Student - Moodle

Foundations of Life and Social
Sciences
Lecture1
Principles of Behaviourism
Lecture Outline for Psychology
L1: Principles of Behaviourism
L2: Psychodynamic Theory
L3: Humanistic Psychology
L4: Reflective Practice
Hamilton:
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Dumfries:
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Paisley & Ayr:
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Aims of Lecture
• Define Behaviourism as a school of thought within
Psychology
• Consider key theorists and theories within behaviourist
tradition
– Classical Conditioning
– Operant Conditioning
• Application of Behaviourism to Nursing
– Emotional and Physical responses
– Autism
– Addiction
What is behaviourism?
John. B. Watson (1913)
“Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely
objective experimental branch of natural science. Its
theoretical goal is the prediction and control of
behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of
its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data
dependent upon the readiness with which they lend
themselves to interpretation in terms of
consciousness.” (p. 158).
Some Basic Principles
•
•
•
•
All behaviour is learned from the environment
Humans are born ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slates)
At birth, all we have is the capacity to learn
Only phenomena (behaviour) that is
observable is of interest
• Introspection should be abandoned as a
technique
Behaviourism and Learning
• Principle: Behaviour is learned from the environment
- ‘Nurture’ argument
- Involves ‘some experience that results in a relatively
permanent change in the state of the learner’
(Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner, 2012, p. 214.)
- Learning theory
Associative learning
• Adam and Teri’s daughter, Carly was born on 11th
September 2000.
• Celebrated first birthday on 11th September, 2001.
• One of her gifts was a small, yellow goal post that played
several songs.
• Turned out to be Carly’s favourite toy and she played
with it many times.
•
But why did the song ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star’ fill
Carly’s parents with sadness, anxiety and dread?
Associative learning
Habituation: a simple form of associative learning
– a general process in which repeated or prolonged
exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction
in responding’ (Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner, 2012, p. 214).
– Example: living near a noisy, busy road you
eventually become habituated to the noise and no
longer hear it.
Learning: implicit and explicit
• Implicit learning = little or no awareness of the learning
process i.e. Carly’s toy associated with images of horror
• Explicit learning = awareness of the learning process
i.e. learning all of the capital cities in the world
Some experiences start out explicit, then become implicit
i.e. learning to drive attending to ‘mirror, signal,
manoeuvre’….in time this becomes automatic.
The Behaviourist Perspective
Behaviourism is
often referred to
as‘Stimulus Response
Psychology’
(S-R)
STIMULUS
Any change in the environment that an organism registers.
RESPONSE:
Any behaviour that the organism emits as a consequence
of a stimulus.
REFLEX:
A consistent connection between a stimulus and a response.
Behaviourism: SR Units (reflexes)
S
R
Stimulus is
detected by
an
organism
Organism
emits a
response
What are the responses?
S
R
Classical Conditioning
Watson
(1878-1958)
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and
my own specified world to bring them up and I'll
guarantee to take any one at random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might select-- doctor,
lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggarman and
thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies,
abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am
going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the
advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it
for many thousands of years.” (Watson, 1930, p.82.)
Classical Conditioning
Watson: Can behaviour in humans be modified?
Are emotions learned behaviour?
 Watson & Rayner (1920)
‘Little Albert’study.
 Induced fear into Albert.
‘Stimulus generalisation’
Rayner went on to look at
the removal of phobias with
Jones (1924)‘Little Peter’,
known as ‘Systematic
Desensitisation’.
Classical Conditioning
Conditioned Reflex
That’s a
reflex!
What’s
going
on?
Dog sees the lab
technician!?
Before conditioning
How does it work?
Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS)
Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR)
During conditioning
Pairing
Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS)
Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR)
After conditioning
Bell: Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Salivation: Conditioned response (CR)
Real world application
Conditioned emotional responses
 Phobias
 Aggression
 Arousal
Behaviour Therapies
 Aversion therapy
 Systematic desensitisation
 Flooding
Real world application
Conditioned physical responses
Siegal (1976)
basic principles of classical conditioning help
understand why drug users overdose when outwith
their familiar environment.
Gerevich, Bacski, Fartas and Danics (2005)
Autopsy of ‘overdose victim’
Dose no different to known usage
Victim in strange environment when drug used
Caused fatal complications as conditioned tolerance
failed to operate
Operant Conditioning
Principles of Reinforcement
1. To increase (or strengthen) behaviour:
 Positive Reinforcement

Application of a ‘reward’ or favourable
consequence
 Negative Reinforcement

Removal of a noxious or unpleasant
consequence
Principles of Reinforcement
2. To decrease (or weaken) behaviour:
 Positive Punishment

Application of a noxious or unpleasant
consequence
 Negative Punishment

Removal of a ‘reward’ or favourable
consequence
Real world application
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA): systematic application
of learning theory to help influence behaviour.
Addiction
Contingency management
- identifies level of drug use
- POSITIVE reinforcement to increase abstention
- NEGATIVE reinforcement or PUNISHMENT to
decrease lapses in abstention
Autism
Controversial treatment, but can be successful
- investigates antecedents
- implements a treatment schedule to increase or
decrease target behaviour
Application to Nursing
• Behaviourism looks at our ‘Associations’ with stimuli and those
stimuli can be anything; for example products we buy, emotions we
feel or people we know.
• Understanding patients’ associations could help you understand all
types of behaviours, reactions and responses.
What kind of patient behaviours do
you think you might be able to explain
using Behaviourism?
Post-lecture Study
READ
• Rana, D., & Upton, D. (2009 ). Principles of
Behaviourist psychology. In Psychology for
nurses (pp. 29-51). Harlow: Pearson
Education.
WATCH
• B. F. Skinner – Learning and Behaviour
(1959)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVqq3z4w-Rc
Suggestions for Further Study
Any ‘Introductory Psychology’, or ‘Psychology for Nurses’ textbook with chapters on
Behaviourism/Learning.
Mills, J. A. (1998). Control: A History of Behavioural Psychology [UWS Electronic
Book]. New York: University Press.
Rachlin, H. (1991). Introduction to modern behaviourism. (3rd ed.). New York:
Freeman.
Watson, J.B. and Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 3, 1–14. Available:
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/emotion.htm
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