Chomsky, Skinner and the Cognitive Revolution
33 Questions
13 Views

Choose a study mode

Play Quiz
Study Flashcards
Spaced Repetition
Chat to Lesson

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What was the primary argument in Chomsky's critique of Skinner's 'Verbal Behavior'?

  • Skinner's focus on observable behavior ignored the role of genetics in language acquisition.
  • Behaviorism applies to animal learning but not to human language acquisition.
  • Skinner's experiments lacked empirical evidence.
  • Behaviorism, in principle, cannot adequately explain the novel sentence generation based on grammatical rules. (correct)

How did Chomsky propose children learn grammar, contrasting with the behaviorist account?

  • By memorizing sentences and applying them in similar contexts.
  • Children are born with an innate understanding of grammatical rules. (correct)
  • Through imitation of adult speech patterns and reinforcement.
  • Through a process of trial and error, gradually refining their language skills.

What role did the emergence of computers play in the shift away from behaviorism in psychology?

  • Computers validated behaviorist principles through simulations of animal behavior.
  • Computers replaced the need for human subjects in psychological experiments.
  • Computers provided a new metaphor for understanding the mind as an information processor. (correct)
  • Computers allowed psychologists to directly observe brain activity during learning.

What specific attribute of language acquisition did Chomsky highlight as impossible to learn through behaviorist methods?

<p>The ability to produce and understand an infinite range of novel sentences. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did the ENIAC contribute to the rise of cognitive psychology?

<p>It served as a model for understanding the mind as an information processing system. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the key difference between the accounts of language learning proposed by Skinner and Chomsky?

<p>Skinner saw language as learned through reinforcement, while Chomsky argued for an innate understanding of grammar. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Chomsky use formal mathematical logic in his critique of behaviorism?

<p>To demonstrate the limitations of behaviorist accounts in explaining grammar acquisition. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements best describes the impact of Chomsky's critique on behaviorism's role in psychology?

<p>It significantly diminished behaviorism's dominance and paved the way for cognitive psychology. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did early computers influence psychologists' approach to studying the mind?

<p>They offered a scientifically respectable metaphor for understanding mental processes as information processing. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the central tenet of cognitive psychology as it emerged during the cognitive revolution?

<p>The study of human information-processing to understand the nature of the human mind. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What key concept did Tolman's Y-maze experiment with rats demonstrate regarding their learning?

<p>Rats can acquire knowledge about their environment that is not immediately expressed in behavior. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did John Garcia's research challenge the prevailing behaviorist assumption about learning?

<p>By demonstrating that certain associations are more easily learned than others due to biological predispositions. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of the phrase 'If the brain is hardware, then the mind is software'?

<p>It provides a metaphor for understanding mental processes as information processing operations implemented by the brain. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the shift in focus brought about by the cognitive revolution?

<p>From ignoring mental processes as unscientific to studying them as information processing. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did the cognitive revolution impact the range of topics studied by psychologists?

<p>It expanded the range of topics to include attention, memory, and perception. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the author imply by describing John Watson's view of human development as 'egalitarian, optimistic, and wrong'?

<p>Watson's perspective was well-intentioned but did not account for the role of genetics and predispositions. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why was ENIAC's ability to process information considered more important than its calculation speed for psychologists?

<p>It validated the idea of studying the mind as a system processing information, similar to computers. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a key difference between the behaviorist and cognitive perspectives regarding animal learning?

<p>Behaviorists focus on observable behaviors, while cognitive psychologists consider internal mental representations. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of Ulric Neisser's book, 'Cognitive Psychology,' published in 1967?

<p>It marked the formal beginning of cognitive psychology as a distinct field of study. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why did rats in Garcia's experiment readily associate nausea with the taste of food but not with a flashing light?

<p>Rats have a biological predisposition to associate taste with illness due to evolutionary factors. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the main point of Tolman's experiment?

<p>Animals could learn things, even without an obvious reward. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

What concept did Newell and Simon pioneer?

<p>Teaching computers how to play chess. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which psychologist studied how people enhance their information processing by organizing information?

<p>George Miller (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Garcia's research with rats demonstrated that they readily associate nausea with the taste of food due to:

<p>Biological preparedness shaped by evolution, predisposing them to form this specific association more easily. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

E.O. Wilson's book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, controversially suggested that:

<p>Social behaviors, including those of humans, have been shaped by natural selection. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Evolutionary psychology's primary approach to understanding the human mind involves:

<p>Examining the specific problems the mind evolved to solve in ancestral environments. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes the perspective of evolutionary psychology?

<p>It is a way of thinking about psychology that can be applied to any topic within it. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

A core criticism of behaviorism that led to the cognitive revolution was its:

<p>Ignorance of mental processes and the influence of evolutionary history. (C)</p> Signup and view all the answers

In the context of the cognitive revolution, how did psychologists' perspective on the mind shift?

<p>From viewing it as a 'blank slate' to recognizing its inherent structure and functions shaped by evolution. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Following the cognitive revolution, contemporary psychologists generally agree that:

<p>Mental life is influenced by its evolutionary origins. (A)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Cognitive psychologists and evolutionary psychologists share similarities with which earlier schools of thought, respectively?

<p>Structuralism and functionalism. (B)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Which scenario illustrates the application of evolutionary psychology?

<p>A researcher investigating how individuals detect deception in social interactions. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did the cognitive revolution influence the field of psychology?

<p>It emphasized the importance of understanding mental processes, influenced by evolutionary origins. (D)</p> Signup and view all the answers

Flashcards

Verbal Behaviour (1957)

A behaviorist account of language learning proposed by Skinner.

Noam Chomsky

A linguist who critiqued Skinner's behaviorist views on language acquisition.

Novel Sentences

The capacity to generate sentences never heard before.

Grammar

Rules governing permissible sentence structures.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Chomsky's Critique

An argument stating behaviorism cannot fully explain language learning.

Signup and view all the flashcards

ENIAC

The first general-purpose electronic digital computer.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Cognitive Psychology

A new field exploring if computers can think.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Behaviorism

The idea that complex behavior can be fully explained by observable stimuli and responses.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Norbert Wiener's Contribution

Invention of cybernetics.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Minsky & McCarthy's Impact

Pioneers of artificial intelligence.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Newell & Simon's Work

Taught computers to play chess.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Computers and Psychology

A scientifically respectable way to talk about mental processes.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Information Processing

Encoding, storing, retrieving, and combining information.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Mind-Body (Hardware-Software) Analogy

If the brain is hardware, the mind is software.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Cognitive Revolution

Dramatic shift in psychology's focus to mental processes.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Tolman's Rat Experiment

Rats have knowledge not explained by behaviorism alone.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Behaviorism's View of Individuals

Individuals are blank slates shaped by environment.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Garcia's Findings

Organisms are pre-dispositioned to learn certain associations.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Evolutionary Influence on Learning

Evolution can influence what associations an organism learns easily.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Evolutionary Psychology

The mind is not a blank slate, its development is affected by evolution.

Signup and view all the flashcards

What is cognitive psychology?

The study of the mind, through mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Blank Slate (Tabula Rasa)

The view that sees individuals as blank slates shaped by environment.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Food Aversion

Mammals are programmed to dislike food eaten before nausea.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Biological Preparedness

Animals are pre-wired to learn some associations more easily.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Sociobiology

Social behavior is shaped by natural selection.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Cheater Detection

Detecting cheaters in social situations.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Mind's Evolutionary Shaping

How minds have been shaped by natural selection.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Influence of Evolution

The mind is influenced by its evolutionary origin.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Cognitive & Evolutionary Psychology

What the mind IS (structure) and what the mind is FOR (function).

Signup and view all the flashcards

Post-Cognitive Revolution Psychology

The focus is on mental life and its origins.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Blank Slate

Behaviorists viewed humans as blank slates.

Signup and view all the flashcards

Study Notes

  • B.F. Skinner's behaviourist account of language learning in "Verbal Behaviour" (1957) was critiqued by Noam Chomsky in 1959.
  • Chomsky argued behaviourist principles could not explain language learning, especially children's creation of novel sentences.
  • Children use grammar, a set of rules determining permissible sentences, which behaviourism couldn't explain.
  • Chomsky used formal mathematical logic to demonstrate the impossibility of a behaviourist explanation for grammar acquisition.
  • The emergence of cognitive psychology in the 1960s further challenged behaviourism

ENIAC and the Cognitive Revolution

  • ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer (1945), initially interested engineers, the U.S. Army, and some mathematicians.
  • By the 1960s, smaller computers led scientists to explore the possibility of thinking machines.
  • Norbert Wiener invented cybernetics, and Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy invented artificial intelligence.
  • Allen Newell and Herb Simon taught computers to play chess, which allowed psychologists to talk about the mind again

Information Processing and the Mind

  • Computers process information by encoding, storing, retrieving, and combining it lawfully.
  • Computer operations resemble learning, reasoning, and remembering, suggesting these terms could apply to brain functions.
  • The brain is hardware and the mind is software.
  • Psychologists studied attention (Donald Broadbent, Anne Treisman), information chunking (George Miller), perception (Jerome Bruner), and memory (George Sperling).
  • Ulric Neisser's book, "Cognitive Psychology" (1967), named the field of cognitive psychology, focused on human information-processing.
  • Edward C. Tolman demonstrated that rats have knowledge not describable by behaviourism (1948), using a Y-maze experiment.
  • Rats knew where food and water were located, even without prior demonstration.

Evolutionary Psychology

  • Behaviourism ignored the mind and the past, viewing individuals as blank slates (John Watson's view).
  • John Garcia's experiments showed rats associated nausea with the taste of food, but not with flashing lights or buzzers.
  • Organisms are evolved to respond to particular stimuli in particular ways, which means they are biologically prepared to learn some associations more easily than others.
  • Rats quickly learn to associate nausea with food taste due to millions of years of evolution

Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology

  • E.O. Wilson's "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis" (1975) claimed social behaviour is shaped by natural selection, sparking controversy.
  • Psychologists began studying problems the mind was "designed" to solve, such as fear of snakes.
  • Evolutionary psychology studies how the human mind has been shaped by natural selection.
  • Studies included gender differences in sexual promiscuity (Donald Symons), cheat detection (Leda Cosmides, John Tooby), and mate selection (David Buss).
  • Evolutionary psychology applies to any topic within psychology (Cosmides & Tooby, 2000).

After the Revolution

  • Modern psychologists study mental life and its evolutionary origins, unlike behaviourists who viewed humans as blank slates.
  • Cognitive psychologists explore what the mind is like.
  • Evolutionary psychologists explore what the mind is for.

Studying That Suits You

Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.

Quiz Team

Description

B.F. Skinner's behaviourist account of language learning was critiqued by Noam Chomsky, who argued that behaviourist principles could not explain language learning. The emergence of cognitive psychology in the 1960s, along with the invention of the first computer, further challenged behaviourism.

More Like This

Use Quizgecko on...
Browser
Open
Browser
Browser