Ch 13 - Neobehaviorism - 2 PDF

B. F. Skinner (1 of 8) Skinner’s positivism – Essentially was from Francis Bacon and, to a lesser extent, from Ernst Mach.  Scientists were to collect empirical facts and then infer knowledge from those facts—not devise theories and then deduce facts from...

B. F. Skinner (1 of 8) Skinner’s positivism – Essentially was from Francis Bacon and, to a lesser extent, from Ernst Mach.  Scientists were to collect empirical facts and then infer knowledge from those facts—not devise theories and then deduce facts from theory.  Science is to be descriptive and inductive rather than theoretical and deductive. Skinner’s position was nontheoretical – Operationism is important, but he rejected the theoretical aspects of logical positivism. – Believed it allowed for too many confounds to enter into the empirical process. – Was content to manipulate environmental events and observe the effects on behavior  This functional analysis is all that is necessary. – His approach is called descriptive behaviorism. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (2 of 8) Functional analysis of behavior – An analysis of the relationships between environmental events and behavioral events.  Internal events have no place in such an analysis because they are events also and thus need to be explained also.  Internal events cannot serve as explanations or causes of behavior. o The “empty organism” approach. o Skinner had no interest in what lay “under the skin” of any organism or participant. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (3 of 8) Operant behavior – Two types of behavior  Respondent behavior was behavior which was related to environmental stimuli, that is reflexive behavior o Watson and Pavlov were interested in this type of behavior.  Operant behavior is behavior that is influenced by its consequences and because it operates on the environment in such a way as to produce consequences, he called this behavior operant behavior. o Modeled after Thorndike. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (4 of 8)  Continued… o Skinner’s free operant methodology allows the organism to respond freely in an experimental chamber (Skinner Box) in which a particular response is reinforced based on prearranged contingencies.  Highlights the strength of reinforcement. 2 or 3 level pulls without reinforcement; 30 or 40 lever pulls with reinforcement.  The relevant measure is usually the rate of the selected response. o Operant conditioning takes place as the behavior of the organism is affected by its consequences. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (5 of 8) Reinforcement – The process by which a consequence of a behavior increases the rate or probability of the behavior. – Reinforcers need only be identified by their effects on behavior. – Nothing else is necessary to define reinforcement  The reinforcer can be anything as long as its effect is to increase the probability of the behavior that produces the consequence. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed Variable Ratio Every so many: reinforcement after After an unpredictable number: every nth behavior, such as buy 10 reinforcement after a random coffees, get 1 free, or pay workers per number of behaviors, as when product unit produced playing slot machines or fly fishing Interval Every so often: reinforcement for Unpredictably often: reinforcement behavior after a fixed time, such as for behavior after a random amount Tuesday discount prices of time, as when checking our phone for a message © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (6 of 8) Reinforcement Contingencies in the Environment – Influence which behaviors are increased and which are not. – Change contingencies and you can change behavior. – Selection of behavior by consequences  Darwinian ideas can be applied here o The organism produces a variety of behaviors  Some will result in consequences that will increase the behavior (will be functional, reinforcing).  These effective behaviors will be selected to be part of the organism’s repertoire while others will not. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (7 of 8) Controlling Behavior: Reinforcement versus punishment – Reinforcement of behavior exerted a much better control over behavior than punishment of behavior.  Why is punishment readily used, then? o Skinner believed that unwanted behaviors should be ignored, and parents should focus on reinforcing desired actions. © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  B. F. Skinner (8 of 8) Applications Change reinforcement contingencies, and you change behavior. – Education  Criticized school system’s use of punishment rather than the manipulation of reinforcement contingencies – Behavior therapy  Treatment is a matter of removing reinforcers of abnormal behavior and arranging reinforcement contingencies so that they strengthen desirable behavior.  Token economies © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.  Behaviorism Today Skinner remains the most influential of all the behaviorists – Skinner remains the most influential of all the behaviorists, which have been discussed. Behaviorism and neobehaviorism have lost influence today – Evidence of genetic influence on behavior – Criticism of logical positivism Major legacy of behaviorism: – Psychologists generally now agree that the subject matter of psychology is overt behavior © 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.