ABPG1103

FAKULTI SAINS SOSIAL GUNAAN (FASS)

TUGASAN
MEI 2014

ABPG1103
INTRODUCTION OF PSYCHOLOGY

By

Padly-al-Pattani

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 1

 ABPG1103

CONTENTS:-

1. Introduction of BEHAVIOURISM
1.1 Definition
1.2 General View
1.3 Sub-Conclusion

2. What is BEHAVIOURISM?
2.1 Type of Conditioning
2.2 Methodology and Behavioural Analysis
2.3 Major Theoretical Assumptions
2.4 Sub-Conclusion

3. Ivan Pavlov
3.1 Background
3.2 Major Pavlov’s work
3.3 Contribution to Psychology
3.4 Sub-Conclusion

4. B. F. Skinner
4.1 Background
4.2 Major Skinner’s work
4.3 Contribution to Psychology
4.4 Sub-Conclusion.

5. Conclusion

6. References

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 2

 ABPG1103

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Definition
The term behaviourism refers to the school of psychology founded by John B.
Watson in 1913 through publication of Watson’s classic paper “Psychology as the
Behaviorist View It” (1913). Behaviourism, also known as behavioural psychology
was founded based on the belief that behaviours can be measured, trained and
changed. It is a theory of leaning based upon the idea that all behaviors are
acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environment stimuli shape
our behaviors.
Behaviorism can perhaps be best summed up by the following quote from the
famous psychologist John B. Watson:
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to
bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one or random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief
and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”
--John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930

1.2 General View

Behaviorism was a major psychology field that changed dramatically during the
early 20th-century from previous theoretical perspective, rejecting the emphasis on
both the conscious and unconscious mind. Instead, of making the behaviourism a
more scientific discipline by focusing on observable behaviour. Behaviourism is
not determined by inner cues or complex psychological thought processes but is
determined by outside forces to as stimuli.
Ivan Parlov, a Russian physiologist had earlier starts of behaviourism through his
research on the digestive systems of dogs led to his discovery of the classical
conditioning process, which demonstrated that behaviors could be learned via
conditioned associations.
An American psychologist named John B. Watson soon become one of the
strongest advocates of behaviourism.
The impact of behaviourism was enormous, and this school of thought continued to
dominate for next of 50 years. Psychologist B.F Skinner a writer before discovering
the writings of Watson and Pavlov, inspired by these works, later entered the
psychology graduate program at Harvard University. He furthered the behaviourist

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 3

 ABPG1103

perspective with his concept of operant conditioning, which demonstrated the

effect of punishment and reinforcement on behaviour.
There are a number of important theorists and psychologists who left indelible
mark on behaviourism, including; Ivan Pavlov, B. F. Skinner, Edward Thorndike,
John B. Watson, and Clark Hull.
Important events in Behaviorism are as follows:-
1. 1897 – Ivan Pavlov began studying the salivary response and other reflexes.
2. 1905 – Thorndike formalized the “Law of Effect”.
3. 1913 – John Watson’s Psychology as a Behaviorist View It was published. He
outlined the many of the main points of behaviourism.
4. 1920 – Watson and assistant Rosalie Rayner conducted the famous ‘Little
Albert’ experiment.
5. 1936 – Skinner wrote “The behaviour of Organisms”.
6. 1943 – Clark Hull’s Principle of Behavior was published.
7. 1948 – B.F Skinner published Walden II in which he described a utopian society
founded upon behaviourist principle.
8. 1959 – Noam Chomsky published his criticism of Skinner’s behaviourism,
“Review of Verbal Behavior.”
9. 1963 – Bandura publishes a book called the “Social Leaning Theory and
Personality Development”.
10. 1971 – B.F. Skinner published his book ‘Beyond Freedom and Dignity’, in
which he argued that free will is an illusion.

1.3 Sub-Conclusion
While behaviourism is not as dominant today as it was during the middle of the
20th-century, it still remains an influential force in psychology. The basic principle
of behavioural psychology are still widely in use in modern era. Therapeutic
techniques such as behaviour analysis, behavioural modification and token
economies are often utilized to help children learn new skills and overcome
maladaptive behaviors, while conditioning is used in many situation ranging from
parenting to education.

2.0 What is Behaviourism ?

Behaviourism is the field of psychology that concerned with people’s behaviors.
Behaviorists believe that to understand why people are the way they are, you must
study their behaviors. In order to create a scientific way of assessing personality,
the behaviourists decided to focus on studying what people do. Influencing and
ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 4
 ABPG1103

inspiring from the work of Ivan Pavlov, the psychologists Edward Lee Thorndike,
John B. Watson, and B.F Skinner were the founders of this field of psychology,
and were followed later by important contribution from Albert Bandura.
According to the school of psychology founded by John B. Watson, behaviour can
be learned and studied in a systematic and observable manner with no
consideration of internal mental states. It is primarily concerned with observable
and measurable aspects of human behavior. It suggests that only observable
behaviors should be studied, since internal states such as cognitions, emotions, and
moods are too subjective. An individual selects one response instead of another
because of prior conditioning and psychological drives existing at the moment of
the action (Parkay& Hass,2000). As Watson’s above quote suggests that
behaviourist believe everyone could potentially be trained to perform any task,
regardless of internal states and all changes in behaviour that result from stimulus-
response associations with conditioning.

2.1 Type of Conditioning.

There are two major types of conditioning:
1. Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioural training which a
naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response. A previously neutral
stimulus is paired with the naturally stimulus. Eventually, the previously neutral
stimulus comes to evoke the response without the presence of the naturally
occurring stimulus. Two elements are then called as conditioned stimulus and the
conditioned response.
2. Operant conditioning is a method of leaning that occur through rewards and
punishments for behaviour. Through operant conditioning, an association is made
between a behaviour and a consequence for that behaviour.
Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had major impact on the school of
thought in psychology known as behaviourism. Discovered by Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs
through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring
stimulus. Skinner’s work drew attention to the responses of the organism that
produce the reinforcing or rewarding goal object. Skinner described behavioural
change as a function of response consequences. It is the outcome produced by the
action that causes the behavioural change. Different from Pavlov and Watson,
Edward Thorndike, another major contributor, focused his research on voluntary
behaviors. Thorndike’s experimental interest lies in the establishment of
connections between particular stimuli and voluntary behaviors. Behaviourism is
based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the
environment. Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes
behaviour and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings, and
emotions into consideration is useless in explaining behaviour.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 5

 ABPG1103

2.3 Methodology and Behavioural Analysis

Behaviorism also called the behaviourist approach was the primary paradigm in
psychology between 1920s to at least until the beginnings of the cognitive science
revolution (see Bechtel, Abrahamsen, and Graham, 1998, pp.15-17)1950. It is
based on a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and
behavioural analysis:
1. Psychology is the science of behaviour. It is not the science of mind. Watson
stated (1913) stated “psychology as a behaviourist views it is a purely objective
experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is…prediction and
control” (p.158).
2. Behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviour, as opposed to
internal events like thinking and emotion.
3. People have no free will mean that a person’s environment determines their
behaviour.
4. When born our mind is ‘tabula rasa’ (a black slate).
5. These is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and
animals. Therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans.
6. Behavior is the result of stimulus – response. Watson described the purpose of
psychology as: “To predict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place; or,
given the reaction, state what the situation or stimulus is that has caused the
reaction” (1930, p.11).
7. All behaviour is learnt from the environment. We learn new behaviour through
classical or operant conditioning.

2.4 Major Theoretical Assumptions

Three major theoretical assumptions dominate the field of behaviourism; Classical
Conditioning, Thorndike’s connectionism, and Skinner’s Operant Conditioning.
Classical Conditioning.
Pavlov’s study of classical conditioning proposed that a response comes to be
established by its association with an environmental stimulus. In such form of
leaning, a stimulus or an event can predict the occurrence of another stimulus and
event. In other words, humans develop their behaviors by a set of stimulus-
response associations. We will see more detail explanation in next chapter of this
paper.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 6

 ABPG1103

Thorndike’s Connectionism
Thorndike (1913) posited that a man’s intellect, character, and skill is the sum of
his tendencies to respond to situations and elements of situations, and it is the
different situation-response connections that make up this sum of the world. He
studied voluntary behaviors. His experiment on the animal’s escape behaviour in
the puzzle box demonstrated an associating process between a situation and a
response in trial and error leaning. Gredler (1997) has pointed out that the
importance of Thorndike’s research is to include the effects of the subject’s action
among the causes of behaviour change. According to Thorndike, leaning can be
explained as a series of the connections between the environmental stimuli and
behaviors followed by reinforcing consequence, governed by law of effect, law of
exercise and law of readiness.
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning, developed by Skinner in 1938, focus on the manipulation of
consequences of an organism’s behaviour and its effect on subsequent behaviour.
The change in behaviour is operated by the contingencies of reinforcement. A
reinforcing event is any behavioural consequence that strengthens behaviour.
Again, we will further discuss the topic under subject of B.F. Skinner.

2.5 Sub-Conclusion
Many critics argue that behaviourism is one-dimensional approach to
understanding human behaviour and that behavioural theories do no account for
free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings. Despite
these criticisms behaviourism has made significant contributions to psychology.
These include insights into leaning, language development, and moral and gender
development, which have been explained in terms of conditioning.

3.0 Ivan Pavlov

3.1 Background
“Science demands from a man all his life. If you had two lives that would not be
enough for you. Be passionate in your work and in your searching,” – Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov was born in a small village in Ryazan, Russia. Born to a Russian
minister on September 14, 1849, Pavlov grew up in the town of Ryazan. He just
started his school at the age of 11 and then after he was sent to theological
seminary to follow in his father’s footsteps, but dropped out in 1870 to enrol at the
University of Saints Pettersburg. It was there that Pavlov became interested in and
started his career in physiology. His earliest studies were focused on theology but
later had influenced by Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species book which
directed to his future interests to study of physiology and natural sciences.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 7

 ABPG1103

His first research project, under tutelage of ElieCyon, involved investigation of

pancreatic nerves, and this project earned him gold medal honours at the university.
Pavlov continued his studied at the Military Academy between the years of 1875
and 1879. He finished his dissertation and earned the degree of doctor of medicine
in 1883. Pavlov gained the influence of prominent researchers such as Ludwig,
Heidenhain, and Bofkin during the next several years, and was named Professor of
Pharmacology at St. Petersburg Institute of Experimental Medicine in 1895. Soon
later, he became Professor of Physiology, and held the position until 1924.
Pavlov’s first independent work focussed on the physiology of the circulation of
the blood. He studied the influence of variations in blood volume on blood pressure
and the nervous control of the heart, and argued that rhythm and strength of cardiac
contractions are controlled by four types of nerves. It was during this first
independent study that Pavlov used anaesthetized, neurologically intact dogs. This
method became the mainstay of Pavlov’s methodology.

3.1 Major work of Ivan Pavlov

He helped found the Department of Physiology at the Institute of Experimental

Medicine and continued to oversee the program for the next 45 years. While he was
doing research on the digestive function of dogs, he noted that the dogs would
salivate before the present of food. In a series of his experiments, he presented a
variety of stimuli before the presentation of food, eventually he was finding that,
after repeated association, a dog would salivate to the presence of a stimulus other
than food. He named this response as a conditional reflex. Pavlov also discovered
that these reflexes originate in the cerebral cortex of the brain. He noted, salivation
is a reflexive process. It occurs automatically in response to a specific stimulus and
is not under conscious control. However, Pavlov further noted that the dogs would
often begin salivating in the absence of food and smell. He start realized that this
salivary response was not due to an automatic but in deep physiological process.
Based on his studied, Pavlov suggested that the salivation was a learned response.
Unlike the salivary response to the presentation of food, which is an unconditioned
reflex, salivation to the expectation of food is a conditioned reflex. Pavlov then
continued on investigation on how these conditioned are learned or acquired by the
subjects. In the series of trails, Pavlov set out to provoke a conditioned response to
previously neutral stimulus. He used food as the unconditioned stimulus and the
sound of a metronome was selected to be the neutral stimulus. The dogs would first
be exposed to the sound, and then the food immediately presented. This action has
been repeated on several conditioning trails and Pavlov noted that the dog began to
salivate after hearing the metronome.” A stimulus which was neutral in and of itself
had been superimposed upon the action of the inborn alimentary reflex,” Pavlov
wrote of the results. “We observed that, after several repetitions of combined
stimulation, the sounds of the metronome had acquired the property of stimulating
salivary secretion.” In other way of explanation mean that the previously neutral

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 8

 ABPG1103

stimulus (the sound of metronome) had become what is known as conditioned

stimulus and then provoked a conditioned response (salivation).

3.2 Contribution to Psychology

The concept of classical conditioning as introduced by Pavlov is studied by every
entry-level psychology student and it was really surprised to learn that the man who
first noted this ‘behaviourism’ was not a psychologist but rather Russian
physiologist who went on to win the 1904 Nobel Prize for his work studying
digestive processes. His discovery and research on reflexes influenced the growing
behaviourist movement, and his work was often cited in John B. Watson’s writings.
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, so called scientific method.
Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning remains one of the most important in
psychology’s history. The fundamental to forming the behavioural psychology, the
conditioning process remains important today for numerous application, including
behavioural modification and mental health treatment. Classical conditioning is
often used to treat phobias, anxiety and panic disorders. One classic example of this
principles is the use of taste aversions to prevent coyotes from preying on domestic
livestock. A conditioned taste aversion occurs when coyote eating some food (a
neutral stimulus) is paired with situation where coyote become ill after eating the
food (unconditioned response). Unlike other forms of classical conditioning, this
type of conditioning does not require multiple pairings in order for an association
to form. In fact taste aversions generally happen after just a single pairing. In other
example, mutton was injected with a drug that produces severe nausea. After had
consumed the poisoned meat, coyotes then avoided sheep herds rather than attack
them.

3.3 Sub-Conclusion
Between the years 1997 and 2000, more than 220 articles appearing in scientific
journal cited Pavlov’s early research on classical conditioning and his work
continues to inspire further research today and will likely continue to shape our
understanding of human behaviour for years to come.

4.0 B. F. Skinner

4.1 Background

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 9

 ABPG1103

One of the most controversial and influential American psychologist of the

twentieth century, and arguably the most important work psychologist since, or
including, Freud. Burrhus Frederic (B.F) Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pa,
USA in 1904. He graduated with a major in literature from Hamilton Collage, New
York in 1931 and initially had aspirations to be a professional writer. As he
recalled in his autobiographical Particular of my life:’ I had apparently failed as a
writer, but was it not possible than literature had failed me a method?’(Skinner,
1976b, p.291). After had conversation and consultation with faculty friends from
Hamilton, he applied and was accepted as Ph.D student at Harvard University for
the autumn of 1928. He obtained his Ph.D in Experimental Psychology in 1931.
Skinner moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1945, became Psychology Department
Chair at the University of Indiana. In 1948, he joined the psychology department at
Harvard University where he remained for the rest of his life.

4.2 Major work of B. F. Skinner

B.F Skinner is famous for his research on operant conditioning and negative
reinforcement. He held a strict behaviourist point of view that the instrumental
learning was more important than Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning. In operant
instrumental conditioning, learning occurs as a result of reinforcement where
specific rewards or punishments are implemented in order to achieve or influence
the behaviour to be changed.
Skinner wrote that if humans were to be changed, even saved, the environment
itself must be changed and not the inner self, via a specifically chosen pattern of
rewards and punishments. To Skinner, therefore, the environment was the key,
because it was this that moulded behaviour. Most of Skinner’s work was carried
out on animals, principally rats and pigeons, and it was from their behaviors that he
would concluded how humans also behave. The Skinner Box which was named
after him refers to controlled chamber he designed to study learning in rats, where
the animals press levers for food rewards. He also designed an open baby crib
called the Air Crib, which was constructed using clear Plexiglas sides because he
felt it was essential that infants should see the world clearly and not in a restricted
fashion.

4.3 Contribution to Psychology

Skinner was a prolific author, publishing about 200 articles and more than 20
books. In 2002 survey of psychologist, he was identified as the most influential
20th-century psychologist. His work in operant conditioning remains vital today.
Mental health professionals often utilize operant techniques when working with
clients, teachers use reinforcement and punishment to shape behaviour in the
classroom, and animal trainers rely heavily on these techniques to train dogs and
other animals.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 10

 ABPG1103

Skinner published a great number of articles and books during his lifetime, the
most widely attracted many scientists were ‘Walden Two’(1948) and ‘Beyond
Freedom and Dignity’(1971). Skinner’s work influenced thinking in many different
fields of psychology and his views in two principal areas on language where he
assumed that children were born as ‘blank slates’ or ‘tabula rasa’ and that they
learn language through the sounds they hear from their family into words and
eventually sentences through selective reinforcement. The other area was on
personality where Skinner said (1977, p.10): “I see no evidence for an inner world
of mental life relative either to an analysis of behaviour as a function of
environmental forces or to the physiology of the nervous system”

4.4 Sub-Conclusion
B.F Skinner’s work had a major effect not only on psychology but also in how 20 th
Century thought evolved. He had his avid supporters and fiercest critics. He spent
the whole of his life fighting in the Behaviorist corner until his death in 1990.
Undisputedly he will be remembered for his important findings, his advancing the
study of leaning and for his legacy on how to best channel critical thinking and the
pitfalls we would do well to avoid.

5.0 Conclusion.
The goal of behaviourism, a study of science of behaviour is ‘to discover the lawful
relationship between environment events and behaviors’(Gredler, 1997). In other
word, unlike other psychological doctrines, behaviourism is the study of human
behaviour, not the study of the human mind.
As we had discussed earlier, behaviourism theory and its founders have contributed
significant insights in the fields of psychology and animal behaviour. Behaviorism
is grounded in the leaning theories of classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. Behaviorism’s main champions, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner used
animal behaviour to study and further their theories.
While behaviourism is not as dominant today as it was during the middle of the
20th-century, it still remains an influential force in psychology. The basic principle
of behavioural psychology are still widely in use in modern era. Therapeutic
techniques such as behaviour analysis, behavioural modification and token
economies are often utilized to help children learn new skills and overcome
maladaptive behaviors, while conditioning is used in many situation ranging from
parenting to education and these include insights into leaning, language
development, and moral and gender development.
Many critics argue that behaviourism is one-dimensional approach to
understanding human behaviour and that behavioural theories do no account for
free will and internal influences such as moods, thoughts, and feelings. Despite
these criticisms behaviourism has made significant contributions to psychology.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 11

 ABPG1103

6.0 References:

Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1963). Social learning and personality

development. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, New York:
Prentice Hall.
Gredler, M. E. (1997). Learning and instruction. 2nd. Needham Heights, MA:
Allyn and Bacon.
Hull, C. L. (1943). Principles of Behavior: An Introduction to Behavior Theory.
New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner-Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Parkay, F. W. & Hass, G. (2000). Curriculum Planning (7th Ed.). Needham Heights,
MA: Allyn& Bacon.
Pavlov, I. P. (1897). The Work of The Digestive Glands. London: Griffin.
Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-
Crofts.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Superstition in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 38, 168-172.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Science and human behaviour.SimonandSchuster.com.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Walden Two. New York: Macmillan.
Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond Freedom and Dignity.New York: Knopf.
Skinner, B. F. (1972). Utopia through the control of human behaviour. In John
Martin Rich, ed., Readings in the Philosophy of Education. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler.
Thorndike, E. L. (1913). Educational psychology: Vol. 1. The original nature of
man. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 12

 ABPG1103

Thorndike, E. L. (1913). Educational psychology: Vol. 2. The psychology of

learning. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviourist views it. Psychological
Bulletin, 20, 158-177.
Watson, J. B. (1930). Behaviorism(revised edition). University of Chicago Press.

ROSMADI MOHD DAUD 13