Behaviourism Intro and Classical Conditioning PDF

EFP 100 Behaviourism What influences your Behaviour? Lets take an intimate look at behaviourist Perspective  Behaviourism The theory of behaviourism focuses on the study of observable and measurable behaviour. It emphasizes that behaviour is mostly learned through co...

EFP 100 Behaviourism What influences your Behaviour? Lets take an intimate look at behaviourist Perspective  Behaviourism The theory of behaviourism focuses on the study of observable and measurable behaviour. It emphasizes that behaviour is mostly learned through conditioning and reinforcement (rewards and punishment). It does not give much attention to the mind and the possibility of thought processes occurring in the mind. Contributions in the development of the behaviourist theory largely came from Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner.  Behaviorism Classical Connectionis Operant Conditioning m Conditioning (Pavlov/Watson) (Thorndike) (Skinner) Primary Reinforcement Laws Law of Law of Shaping of Effect Exercise Behaviour Law of Readiness  Classical Conditioning Pavlov and Watson Ivan Pavlov (1849- A Russian physiologist, 1936) well known for his work in Classical conditioning or stimulus substitution. Pavlov’s most renowned experiment involved meat, a dog and a bell. Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s salivation in order to study digestion. This is when he stumbled upon classical conditioning.  Pavlov’s Experimen t Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral stimulus) caused no response from the dog. Placing food (unconditioned stimulus) in front of the dog initiated salivation (unconditioned response). During conditioning, the bell was rung a few seconds before the dog was presented with food. After conditioning, the ringing of the bell (conditioned response).  Stimulus Generalization – once the dog has learned to salivate at the sound of the bell, it will salivate at other similar sounds. Extinction – if you stop pairing the bell with the food, salivation will eventually cease in response to the bell. Spontaneous Recovery – extinguished responses can be “recovered” after an elapsed time, but will soon extinguish again if the dog is not presented with food. Discrimination – the dog could learn to discriminate between similar bells (stimuli) and discern which bell would result in the presentation of food and which would not. Higher-Order Conditioning – once the dog has been conditioned to associate the bell with food, another unconditioned stimulus, such as a light  John B. Watson (1878-1958) He was the first American psychologist to work with Pavlov’s ideas. He coined the “behaviourism” term He too was initially involved in animal studies, then later became involved in human behavior research. He considered that humans are born with a few reflexes and the emotional reactions of love and rage. All other behavior is learned through stimulus-response associations through Experime nt on Albert Watson applied classical conditioning in his experiment concerning Albert, a young child and a white rat. ANY QUESTIONS ? BE DYNAMIC!