Behavioral Perspective
Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior as a means to studying the
human psyche. The primary tenet of behaviorism is that psychology
should concern itself with the observable behavior of people and animals,
not with unobservant events that take place in their minds. The
behaviorists criticized the mentalists for their inability to demonstrate
empirical evidence to support their claims. The behaviorist school of
thought maintains that behaviors can be described scientifically without
recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical
constructs such as thoughts and beliefs, making behavior a more
productive area of focus for understanding human or animal psychology.
Behavioral Perspective is the overarching analysis of human behavior
focused on examining a person’s environment and learned associations.
Behaviorism suggests that all behavior is acquired through conditioning
and can therefore be observed without consideration of thoughts or
feelings. Since all behavior is but a response, behaviorism also suggests
that anyone can learn to perform any action with the right conditioning.
Instead of attributing talents, skills, or behaviors to genetics, personality,
or cognition, behaviorists believe them to be simply a product of
conditioning.
“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 beggar man and thief – regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his
ancestors.”
– John B. Watson in his paper “Psychology as the Behaviorists View It”
FOUNDERS OF BEHAVIORISM
The main influencers of behavioral psychology were Ivan Pavlov (1849-
1936), who investigated classical conditioning though often disagreeing
with behaviorism or behaviorists; Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949),
who introduced the concept of reinforcement and was the first to apply
psychological principles to learning; John B. Watson (1878-1958), who
rejected introspective methods and sought to restrict psychology to
experimental methods; and B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), who conducted
research on operant conditioning.
IVAN PAVLOV (Sept 14, 1849 - Feb 27, 1936)
The first of these, Ivan Pavlov, is known for his work on one important
type of learning, classical conditioning. As we learn, we alter the way we
perceive our environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and
therefore the way we interact, or behave. Pavlov, a Russian physiologist,
actually discovered classical conditioning accidentally while doing
research on the digestive patterns in dogs.
JOHN B. WATSON (1878–1958)
Was an influential American psychologist whose most famous work
occurred during the early 20th century at Johns Hopkins University.
While Wundt and James were concerned with understanding conscious
experience, Watson thought that the study of consciousness was flawed.
Because he believed that objective analysis of the mind was impossible,
Watson preferred to focus directly on observable behavior and try to
bring that behavior under control.
Watson was a major proponent of shifting the focus of psychology from
the mind to behavior, and this approach of observing and controlling
behavior came to be known as behaviorism. A major object of study by
behaviorists was learned behavior and its interaction with inborn qualities
of the organism. Behaviorism commonly used animals in experiments
under the assumption that what was learned using animal models could,
to some degree, be applied to human behavior. Indeed, Tolman (1938)
stated, “I believe that everything important in psychology (except … such
matters as involve society and words) can be investigated in essence
through the continued experimental and theoretical analysis of the
determiners of rat behavior at a choice-point in a maze.”
Watson was a major proponent of shifting the focus of psychology from
the mind to behavior, and this approach of observing and controlling
behavior came to be known as behaviorism. A major object of study by
behaviorists was learned behavior and its interaction with inborn qualities
of the organism. Behaviorism commonly used animals in experiments
under the assumption that what was learned using animal models could,
to some degree, be applied to human behavior. Indeed, Tolman (1938)
stated, “I believe that everything important in psychology (except … such
matters as involve society and words) can be investigated in essence
through the continued experimental and theoretical analysis of the
determiners of rat behavior at a choice-point in a maze.”
BURRHUS FREDERIC (B.F.) SKINNER (March 20, 1904 – August
18, 1990)
Skinner was a foundational figure for the behavioral perspective. Skinner
thought that classical conditioning was too simplistic as an explanation
for all of human behavior and was interested in not only the cause of an
action, but also the consequences. He found that behavior that is
reinforced through rewards tends to be repeated, whereas behavior which
is not reinforced or that which leads to punishment tends to die out. He
called this kind of conditioning Operant conditioning.
EDWARD THORNDIKE (August 31, 1874 - August 9, 1949
Thorndike is best known for his work on learning theory, which B.F.
Skinner drew on to theorize operant conditioning in humans. Thorndike
developed the ‘law of effect’ which states that satisfying responses in one
particular situation become more likely to occur again in the same
situation. Thorndike studied learning theory with cats which attempted to
get out of a box using different methods. He found that those which
noticed a lever which would enable them to get out of the box would push
the lever again when put back in the box. This experiment became a basis
for operant conditioning.
THE UNDERLYING THEORIES IN BEHAVIORAL
PSYCHOLOGY
There are three main behavioral approaches:
Classical conditioning theory
Operant conditioning theory
Social learning theory
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY
A type of leaning in which a neutral stimulus , when paired with an
unconditional stimulus starts generating the same response as that
generated naturally by an unconditioned stimulus and becomes
conditioned .
A learning technique that pairs a naturally-occurring stimulus with a
chosen stimulus in order to teach an individual to react the same way to
the chosen stimulus as they do to the naturally occurring stimulus.
To begin with, this is the most well known behavioral study regarding
conditioning in regards to behaviorism. In the 1890s, a physiologist
named Ivan Pavlov was studying his dogs' salivation levels in response to
being fed. He discovered that they soon began salivating at any stimuli
they began to associate with knowing they were going to be fed soon,
such as his assistant approaching and later on the sound of a metronome.
He ended up devoting all of his future work to studying this concept and
determined that if a conditioned stimulus (something they will be trained
to respond to) and an unconditioned stimulus (something that is naturally
occurring in an organism) occur within a close enough time frame, the
two will be connected and the person or animal will be conditioned to
respond accordingly.
In his research with the dogs, Pavlov began pairing a bell sound with the
meat powder and found that even when the meat powder was not
presented, a dog would eventually begin to salivate after hearing the bell.
In this case, since the meat powder naturally results in salivation, these
two variables are called the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and
the unconditioned response (UCR), respectively. In the experiment, the
bell and salivation are not naturally occurring; the dog is conditioned to
respond to the bell. Therefore, the bell is considered the conditioned
stimulus (CS), and the salivation to the bell, the conditioned
response (CR).
Many of our behaviors today are shaped by the pairing of stimuli. The
smell of a cologne, the sound of a certain song, or the occurrence of a
specific day of the year can trigger distinct memories, emotions, and
associations. When we make these types of associations, we are
experiencing classical conditioning.
OPERANT CONDITIONING THEORY
Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the probability of a
response occurring is increased or decreased due to the reinforcement or
punishment .First studied by Edward Thorndike and later by B.F.Skinner,
the underlying idea behind operant conditioning is the the consequences
of our actions shape voluntary behavior.
Skinner described how reinforcement could lead to increase in behaviors
where punishment would result in decreases . He also found that the
timing of when reinforcement were delivered influenced how quickly a
behavior was learned and how strong the response would be. The timing
and the rate of reinforcement are known as schedules of reinforcement.
Examples of operant conditioning Reinforcement means to strengthen,
and is used in psychology to refer to any stimulus which strengthens or
increases the probability of a specific response. For example, if you want
your dog to sit on command, you may give him a treat every time he sits
for you. The dog will eventually come to understand that sitting when
told to will result in a treat. This treat is reinforcing the behavior because
the dog likes it and will result in him sitting when instructed to do so.
There are four types of reinforcement: positive, negative, punishment,
and extinction.Positive reinforcement involves adding something in order
to increase a response. For example, adding a treat will increase the
response of sitting; adding praise will increase the chances of your child
cleaning his or her room. The most common types of positive
reinforcement are praise and reward, and most of us have experienced
this as both the giver an receiver.Negative reinforcement involves taking
something negative away in order to increase a response. Imagine a
teenager who is nagged by his parents to take out the garbage week after
week. After complaining to his friends about the nagging, he finally one
day performs the task and, to his amazement, the nagging stops. The
elimination of this negative stimulus is reinforcing and will likely
increase the chances that he will take out the garbage next week
Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a
behavior. The most common example of this is disciplining (e.g.,
spanking) a child for misbehaving. The child begins to associate being
punished with the negative behavior. The child does not like the
punishment and, therefore, to avoid it, he or she will stop behaving in that
manner.iv. Extinction involves removing something in order to decrease a
behavior. By having something taken away, a response is decreased.In
regards to negative reinforcement, rats were also placed within a box that
would occasionally give them a small shock but with a lever that would
prevent the shock from occurring. They very quickly learned to trigger
the lever in order to stop the shock from happening. Reinforcement of
either nature encourages a repeated response to certain stimuli or
situations, whereas punishment has the goal of weakening an impulse or
action or preventing it later on entirely. This is generally how disciplinary
action regarding children functions. If a child steals a toy or does some
other behavior that a parent or caretaker finds to be inappropriate, they
will be punished either with scolding, a spanking, or some other type of
discipline. In most cases, this negative consequence of their action
remains with them long enough to learn to not repeat the behaviors that
got them into trouble in the first place.
PUNISHMENT. This is a term used in operant conditioning
psychology to refer to any change that occurs after a behavior that
reduces the likelihood that that behavior will occur again in the future.
While positive and negative reinforcements are used
to increase behaviors, punishment is focused on reducing or eliminating
unwanted behaviors.Punishment is often mistakenly confused
with negative reinforcement. The difference: Reinforcement increases the
chances that a behavior will occur and punishment decreases the chances
that a behavior will occur.
Types of Punishment
Behaviorist B. F. Skinner, the psychologist who first described operant
conditioning, identified two different kinds of aversive stimuli that can be
used as punishment:
Positive punishment: This type of punishment is also known as
"punishment by application." Positive punishment involves presenting
an aversive stimulus after a behavior has occurred. For example, when a
student talks out of turn in the middle of class, the teacher might scold the
child for interrupting.Negative punishment: This type of punishment is
also known as "punishment by removal." Negative punishment involves
taking away a desirable stimulus after a behavior has occurred. For
example, when the student from the previous example talks out of turn
again, the teacher promptly tells the child that they will have to miss
recess because of their behavior.
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY. Is a method of learning of observing
and modeling another individuals behavior, attitude or emotional
expression . Although it is commonly believed that the observer will copy
the model. American psychologist Albert Bandura stressed that
individuals may simply learn from the behavior rather than imitate it.
Observational learning is a major component of Bandura’s social
learning . He also emphasized that four condition were necessary in any
form of observing and modeling behavior, attention retention
reproduction and motivation. In social learning theory, Albert Bandura
(1977) agrees with the behaviorist learning theories of classical
conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he adds two important
ideas: Mediating processes occur between stimuli and responses.
Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of
observational learning.
Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. This
is illustrated during the famous Bobo doll experiment (Bandura, 1961).
Individuals that are observed are called models. In society, children
are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the
family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and
teachers at school. These models provide examples of behavior to
observe and imitate, e.g., masculine and feminine, pro and anti-social,
etc. “The Bobo Doll Experiment” This was a study on
conditioning in young children that showed they mimic and learn social
behaviors (particularly aggression) through observation of the adults in
their presence, called observational learning. The children were split into
even groups for experimentation purposes and shown a "Bobo" doll that
they were to witness an adult both physically and verbally abusing.
Afterward, the children were provided with toys that were soon taken
away in an attempt to provoke aggression appropriate for their age range
(3-6 years old). After having seen the adults display abusive behavior
towards the Bobo dolls, the children then exhibited the same aggressive
behaviors when presented with a mixture of regular and 'aggressive' toys
(such as mallets and darts), showing that they had since learned by
observation to engage in aggressive behaviors when provoked.
