History of Behavior Analysis (4)

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History of Behavior Analysis (4)

• Christine L. Whitley

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Is it logical to study the past?
?

• We can learn from the
  History of Behavior Analysis
• History
• To be part of, to be initiated
• Learning from past successes and past failure
• Shaping our behavior on models and mentors
  Skinner
• Behavior
• Observable, measurable, described
• Analysis
• Method, research, theory, model
• Behavior Analysis
• Approach, field, tools, applied science
• An important step in acquiring tangible tools,
  applicable processes, and to back up any further
  activity in B.A.

Conclusion
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1. Introduction

• We believe that Skinner developed an
  experimental paradigm that revealed a lot of
  order. This is a goal of science ()
  allowing more accurate prediction and control
  than other system do.
• p. ix

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Textbook

• 1. Introduction
• 2. B.F. Skinner The man
• 3. Skinners Intellectual Background
• 4. Skinners Philosophy of a Science of Human
  Behavior Radical Behaviorism
• 5. Operant Conditioning and the Experimental
  Analysis of Behavior
• 6. Skinner on Cognition
• 7. Skinner on Language
• 8. Applied Behavior Analysis
• 9. B.F. Skinner Expert Self-Manager
• 10. Skinners Views on Bettering Society
• 11. Criticism of Skinner
• 12. Skinners Legacy
• 13. B.F. Skinners Published Works

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Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological
laboratory, in Liepzig, Germany
"Elements of the mind"

• Wundt combined philosophical introspection with
  techniques and laboratory apparatuses brought
  over from his physiological studies with
  Helmholtz, as well as many of his own design.
  This experimental introspection was in contrast
  to what had been called psychology until then, a
  branch of philosophy where people introspected
  themselves. Wundt argued that "we learn little
  about our minds from casual, haphazard
  self-observation...It is essential that
  observations be made by trained observers under
  carefully specified conditions for the purpose of
  answering a well-defined question." (Principles
  of Physiological Psychology, translated by Edward
  Titchener, 1904)

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Franz Joseph Gall

• Franz Joseph Gall (March 9, 1758 - August 22,
  1828) was a neuroanatomist and physiologist who
  was a pioneer in the study of the localization of
  mental functions in the brain.

"Invalid and unreliable " Hergenhahn, 1992
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William James

• William James (January 11, 1842 August 26,
  1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and
  philosopher.
• Consciousness cannot be divided into elements but
  should be studied as a continuous stream

philosopher
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Thomas Kuhn

• Thomas Samuel Kuhn (July 18, 1922 June 17,
  1996) was an American intellectual who wrote
  extensively on the history of science and
  developed several important notions in the
  philosophy of science.
• Examination of the history of physics reveals
  that there are often a number of false starts in
  the development of a science.
• Scientists define problems and methodologies in
  certain ways and then go about trying them
• Scientific revolution defines proper subject
  matter and methods and solves an important
  problem.
• They use the puzzle-solving methods and concepts
  as a paradigm for solbing other scientific
  problems.

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Francis Bacon

• Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22
  January 1561 9 April 1626) was an English
  philosopher, statesman and essayist but is best
  known for leading the scientific revolution with
  his new 'observation and experimentation' theory
  which is the way science has been conducted ever
  since.
• Interested in ancient Greek philosophy, Aristotle
  and Plato
• argument from an appeal to authority
• Use of observation (read p. 30)

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Appeal to authority

• An appeal to authority is a type of argument in
  logic, consisting on basing the truth value of an
  otherwise unsupported assertion on the authority,
  knowledge or position of the person asserting it.
  It is also known as argument from authority,
  argumentum ad verecundiam (Latin argument to
  respect) or ipse dixit (Latin he himself said
  it). It is one method of obtaining propositional
  knowledge, but a fallacy in regards to logic,
  because the validity of a claim does not follow
  from the credibility of the source. The
  corresponding reverse case would be an ad hominem
  attack to imply that the claim is false because
  the asserter is objectionable.
• On the other hand, there is no fallacy involved
  in simply arguing that the assertion made by an
  authority is plausible it is likely true, we
  just don't know for sure, because authority alone
  is not a proof.

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Induction

• Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes
  called inductive logic, is the process of
  reasoning in which the premises of an argument
  are believed to support the conclusion but do not
  ensure it. It is used to ascribe properties or
  relations to types based on tokens (i.e., on one
  or a small number of observations or
  experiences) or to formulate laws based on
  limited observations of recurring phenomenal
  patterns. Induction is used, for example, in
  using specific propositions such as
• This ice is cold.
• A billiard ball moves when struck with a cue.
• ...to infer general propositions such as
• All ice is cold.
• There is no ice in the Sun.
• For every action, there is an equal and opposite
  reaction.
• Anything struck with a cue moves.

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Deduction

• In traditional Aristotelian logic, Deductive
  reasoning is reasoning in which the conclusion is
  necessitated by, or reached from, previously
  known facts. The premises if the premises are
  true, the conclusion must be true. This is
  distinguished from abductive and inductive
  reasoning, where the premises may predict a high
  probability of the conclusion, but do not ensure
  that the conclusion is true.
• Deductive reasoning may also be defined as
  inference in which the conclusion is of no
  greater generality than the premises or inference
  in which the conclusion is just as certain as the
  premises.

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Hypothesis

• A hypothesis (from Greek ?p??es??) is a suggested
  explanation of a phenomenon or reasoned proposal
  suggesting a possible correlation between
  multiple phenomena. The term derives from the
  ancient Greek, hypotithenai meaning "to put
  under" or "to suppose". The scientific method
  requires that one can test a scientific
  hypothesis. Scientists generally base such
  hypotheses on previous observations or on
  extensions of scientific theories.

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Four major types of prejudices

• 1. The Idols of the Tribe. These are the natural
  weaknesses and tendencies common to human nature.
  Because they are innate, they cannot be
  completely eliminated, but only recognized and
  compensated for. Some of Bacons examples are
• Our senses which are inherently dull and easily
  deceivable. (Which is why Bacon prescribes
  instruments and strict investigative methods to
  correct them.)
• Our tendency to discern (or even impose) more
  order in phenomena than is actually there. As
  Bacon points out, we are apt to find similitude
  where there is actually singularity, regularity
  where there is actually randomness, etc.
• Our tendency towards wishful thinking.
  According to Bacon, we have a natural inclination
  to accept, believe, and even prove what we would
  prefer to be true.
• Our tendency to rush to conclusions and make
  premature judgments (instead of gradually and
  painstakingly accumulating evidence).

http//www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htmSH2j
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Four major types of prejudices

• 2. The Idols of the Cave. Unlike the idols of the
  tribe, which are common to all human beings,
  those of the cave vary from individual to
  individual. They arise, that is to say, not from
  nature but from culture and thus reflect the
  peculiar distortions, prejudices, and beliefs
  that we are all subject to owing to our different
  family backgrounds, childhood experiences,
  education, training, gender, religion, social
  class, etc. Examples include
• Special allegiance to a particular discipline or
  theory.
• High esteem for a few select authorities.
• A cookie-cutter mentality that is, a tendency
  to reduce or confine phenomena within the terms
  of our own narrow training or discipline.

http//www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htmSH2j
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Four major types of prejudices

• 3. The Idols of the Market Place. These are
  hindrances to clear thinking that arise, Bacon
  says, from the intercourse and association of
  men with each other. The main culprit here is
  language, though not just common speech, but also
  (and perhaps particularly) the special
  discourses, vocabularies, and jargons of various
  academic communities and disciplines. He points
  out that the idols imposed by words on the
  understanding are of two kinds they are either
  names of things that do not exist (e.g., the
  crystalline spheres of Aristotelian cosmology) or
  faulty, vague, or misleading names for things
  that do exist (according to Bacon, abstract
  qualities and value terms e.g., moist,
  useful, etc. can be a particular source of
  confusion).

http//www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htmSH2j
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Four major types of prejudices

• 4. The Idols of the Theatre. Like the idols of
  the cave, those of the theatre are culturally
  acquired rather than innate. And although the
  metaphor of a theatre suggests an artificial
  imitation of truth, as in drama or fiction, Bacon
  makes it clear that these idols derive mainly
  from grand schemes or systems of philosophy and
  especially from three particular types of
  philosophy

http//www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htmSH2j
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Ernst Mach

• Ernst Mach (February 18, 1838 February 19,
  1916) was an Austrian-Czech physicist and
  philosopher and is the namesake for the "Mach
  number" (aka Mach speed) and the optical illusion
  known as Mach bands.
• Science should be practical and scientist must
  clear up ideas, expose the real significance of
  the matter, and get rid of metaphysical
  obscurities
• Science should provide concise, economical
  descriptions of phenomena.
• Functional relationship (read p.37)

Notice the dark band that appears immediately to
the right and the light band that appears
immediately to the left of the gradient.
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Read this cartoon...
Do you agree with the little boy's explanation?
What are the facts, the cause and the consequence?
Correlation does not imply causation!
Are the facts related to each other? Or do they
just occur simultaneously? Or which one would be
the cause of the second one? What if there was a
third factor?
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Pavlov (1849-1938)
???? ???????? ?????? (his name in Russian)
Want to see more of Pavlov in Russia? http//www.i
nfran.ru/index_eng.htm
Want to know more about his life? http//www.ivanp
avlov.com/
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Ivan Pavlov

• Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (Russian ???? ????????
  ??????) (September 14, 1849 February 27, 1936)
  was a Russian physiologist, psychologist, and
  physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in
  Physiology or Medicine in 1904 for research
  pertaining to the digestive system.
• Serendipity scientist sometimes discover
  something very important about one thing when
  studying another thing.

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Pavlovs Classic Experiment
Before Conditioning
UCS (food in mouth)
Neutral stimulus (tone)
No salivation
UCR (salivation)
During Conditioning
After Conditioning
UCS (food in mouth)
CS (tone)
Neutral stimulus (tone)
UCR (salivation)
CR (salivation)
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UCS, UCR, Neutral Stimulus, CS, CR
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Edward Thorndike

• Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 - August 9,
  1949) was an American psychologist who spent
  nearly his entire career at Teachers College,
  Columbia University. His work on animal behaviour
  and the learning process led to the theory of
  connectionism.
• Among Thorndike's most famous contributions were
  his research on how cats learned to escape from
  puzzle boxes and his related formulation of the
  law of effect. The law of effect states that
  responses that are closely followed by satisfying
  consequences become associated with the
  situation, and are more likely to reoccur when
  the situation is subsequently encountered.
  Conversely, if the responses are followed by
  aversive consequences, associations to the
  situation become weaker. The puzzle box
  experiments were motivated in part by Thorndike's
  dislike for statements that animals made use of
  extraordinary faculties such as insight in their
  problem solving "In the first place, most of the
  books do not give us a psychology, but rather a
  eulogy of animals. They have all been about
  animal intelligence, never about animal
  stupidity." (Animal Intelligence, 1911).

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Thorndike

• The behavior will more likely occur when followed
  by a satisfaction that by a dissatisfaction

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John Watson

• John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878September
  25, 1958) was an American psychologist who
  established the psychological school of
  behaviorism, after doing research on animal
  behavior. He is known for having claimed that he
  could take any 12 healthy infants and, by
  applying behavioral techniques, create whatever
  kind of person he desired. He also conducted the
  controversial "Little Albert" experiment. Later
  he went on from psychology to become a popular
  author on child rearing, and an acclaimed
  contributor to the advertising industry.

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Watson

• In 1913, Watson published what is sometimes
  considered his most important work, the article
  "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views
  It"--sometimes called "The Behaviorist
  Manifesto." In this article, Watson outlined the
  major features of his new philosophy of
  psychology, called "behaviorism." The first
  paragraph of the article concisely described
  Watson's behaviorist position
• 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. The
  behaviorist, in his efforts to get a unitary
  scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing
  line between man and brute. The behavior of man,
  with all of its refinement and complexity, forms
  only a part of the behaviorist's total scheme of
  investigation.

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Darwin

• Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 19
  April 1882) was an English naturalist who
  achieved lasting fame by producing considerable
  evidence that species originated through
  evolutionary change, at the same time proposing
  the scientific theory that natural selection is
  the mechanism by which such change occurs. This
  theory is now considered a cornerstone of
  biology.

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What does Skinner thought about these various
authors?

• Wilhelm Wundt
• Franz Joseph Gall
• William James
• Thomas Kuhn
• Francis Bacon
• Ernst Mach
• Ivan Pavlov
• Edward Thorndike
• John Watson
• Charles Darwin