Behaviorism

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Behaviorism

• B. F. Skinner

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B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
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B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) Skinners life and
his understanding of life Predetermined, lawful,
and orderly A product of past reinforcements
1925 Hamilton College (NY) degree in
English, no courses in psychology Read about
Pavlovs and Watsons experimental work 1931
Ph.D. from Harvard
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B. F. Skinner Dissertation a reflex is a
correlation between S and R 1938 The
Behavior of Organisms 1953 Science and Human
Behavior 1990 Vigorously attacked the growth of
cognitive psychology 1990 (final article)
"Can Psychology Be a Science of Mind?"
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B. F. Skinner Dealt only with observable
behavior The task of scientific inquiry To
establish functional relationships between
experimenter-controlled stimulus and organisms
response No presumptions about internal
entities - The "empty organism" approach
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• B. F. Skinner
• Single subject design
• Large numbers of subjects not necessary
• Statistical comparisons of group means
  not necessary
• A single subject provides valid and
  replicable results
• Requires "sufficient" data collected
  under well-controlled experimental conditions
• Statistics obscure individual responses
  and
• differences

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Pavlovs dog
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Classical conditioning Watson, Pavlov -
Respondent behavior elicited by specific
observable stimulus
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vhhqumfpxuzI
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Skinners Rat
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B. F. Skinner Operant behavior occurs without
an observable external stimulus
Operates on the organisms environment
The behavior is instrumental in securing a
stimulus more representative of everyday learning
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vcl7jr9EVcjINR1
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B. F. Skinner Science of behavior Study of
conditioning and extinction of operants
Dependent variable in the "Skinner box" rate of
response Law of acquisition
key variable reinforcement
practice provides opportunities for
additional reinforcement
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vI_ctJqjlrHAfeature
related
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vWYq5StqD744feature
related
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Pigeon Guided Missile

• The US Navy required a weapon effective against
  the German battleships.
• The size of the primitive guidance systems
  available rendered any weapon ineffective.
• Pigeon was potentially an extremely simple and
  effective solution
• The project centered around dividing the nose
  cone of a missile into three compartments, and
  encasing a pigeon in each.
• The compartments for each had a video image of
  what was in front of them, and the pigeons would
  peck toward the object, thereby directing the
  missile.
• Skinner"our problem was no one would take us
  seriously. Few people would trust a pigeon to
  guide a missile no matter how reliable it proved.

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Skinners Theory

• All we need to know in order to describe and
  explain behavior is this actions followed by
  good outcomes are likely to recur , and actions
  followed by bad outcomes are less likely to
  recur. (Skinner, 1953)

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Central Human Motive in Skinners Theory

• Environmental consequences shape behavior

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LAW OF EFFECT

• Behavior Better state Increased
• of affairs probability of
  behavior occurring again
• Behavior Worse state Decreased
• of affairs probability of
  behavior occurring again
• Behavior A
• Behavior B
• Behavior C Better state Behavior C
• Behavior D of affairs emerges as the
• Behavior E most probable

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OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES

• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT increasing a behavior by
  administering a reward
• NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT increasing a behavior by
  removing an aversive stimulus when a behavior
  occurs
• PUNISHMENT decreasing a behavior by
  administering an aversive stimulus following a
  behavior OR by removing a positive stimulus
• EXTINCTION decreasing a behavior by not
  rewarding it

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B. F. Skinner Research foci
Role of punishment in response acquisition
Schedules of reinforcement
Extinction of operants
Secondary reinforcement
Generalization Subjects included humans as
well as animals
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B. F. Skinner Schedules of reinforcement
Reinforcement is necessary in operant
behavior Reinforcement schedules
continuous fixed and
variable ratio and interval
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SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

• Interval schedules reinforcement occurs after a
  certain amount of time has passed
• Fixed Interval reinforcement is presented after
  a fixed amount of time
• Variable Interval reinforcement is delivered on
  a random/variable time schedule
• Ratio schedules reinforcement occurs after a
  certain number of responses
• Fixed Ratio reinforcement presented after a
  fixed of responses
• Variable Ratio reinforcement delivery is
  variable but based on an overall average of
  responses

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LIMITED EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT

• Punishment does not teach appropriate behaviors
• Must be delivered immediately consistently
• May result in negative side effects
• Undesirable behaviors may be learned through
  modeling (aggression)
• May create negative emotions (anxiety fear)

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B. F. Skinner Criticisms of Skinners
behaviorism His extreme positivism
His opposition to theory His
willingness to extrapolate beyond the data
The narrow range of behavior studied
Problem of instinctive drift His
position on verbal behavior
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B. F. Skinner Contributions of Skinners
behaviorism Shaped American psychology
for 30 years His goal the improvement
of society Stength and ramifications of
his radical behaviorism
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http//www.youtube.com/watch?vmm5FGrQEyBY