Behaviorism PPT PDF

DSC 7: DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT PART ONE  Learning Objectives The Learning objectives of this course are: To understand and evaluate the historical events and key philosophical, pre-scientific and scientific developmental milestones that has shap...

DSC 7: DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT PART ONE  Learning Objectives The Learning objectives of this course are: To understand and evaluate the historical events and key philosophical, pre-scientific and scientific developmental milestones that has shaped the discipline of contemporary psychology. To appreciate the polycentric history and diversity of interests and foci within psychology. To describe the perspectives and significant contributions of luminaries in the history of psychology. To understand the development of psychological thought from both the Indian and Western perspectives. COURSE OUTLINE ◦ UNIT – I: Polycentric History of Psychology - Psychology of Consciousness: Eastern (Yoga and Vedant); and Western views (Wundt, James, Phenomenology) on Consciousness; applications of Yoga & Vedant. ◦ UNIT – II: Psychology of Behaviour and Mind: Rise of Behaviourism (Watson), Shift from Behaviourism to neo-behaviourism (Tolman, Skinner); Transition from Behaviourism to Cognitive Psychology (Paradigms and Themes); Applications of Behaviourism and Cognitive psychology. ◦ UNIT – III: Psychology of the Unconscious: Classical Psychoanalysis (Freud), Sociological Shift in Psychoanalysis (Horney, Erikson), Object Relations Perspective (Key Concepts). ◦ UNIT – IV: Psychology of Subjective Experience: Humanist Psychology (Tenets), Rogerian Self Psychology; Existential Psychology (Tenets), Transpersonal Psychology (Themes & Contributions). Tutorial Component – 15 Hrs.  Essential Readings ◦ Brock, A. C. (2014). What is a polycentric history of psychology? Estudosem Psicologia. 14 (2), 646- 659. ◦ Cornilissen, R.M. Misra, G. &Varma, S. (Eds.), (2013). Foundations and Applications of Indian Psychology. New Delhi: Pearson ◦ Davis, J. (2003). An overview of transpersonal psychology. The Humanist Psychologist. 31 (2-3), 6- 21. ◦ Hergenhahn, B.R. & Henley, T.B. (2014). An introduction to history of psychology. London: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ◦ Kakar, S. (1997). Culture in Psychoanalysis. In S. Kakar (Ed.) Culture and psyche: Selected essays (pp. 1- 19). New Delhi: OUP. ◦ King, D.B., Viney, W. & Woody, W.D. (2008). A history of psychology: Ideas and context. London, UK: Pearson Education. ◦ Leahey, T.H. (2005). A history of psychology: Main currents in psychological thought. Singapore: Pearson Education. Essential Readings for Unit 2 ◦ Hergenhahn, B.R. & Henley, T.B. (2014). An introduction to history of psychology. London : Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ◦ King, D.B., Viney, W. & Woody, W.D. (2008). A history of psychology: Ideas and context. London, UK: Pearson Education. ◦ Leahey, T. H. (2005). A history of psychology: Main currents in psychological thought. Singapore: Pearson Education. ◦ Galotti, K. M. (2018). Cognitive psychology in and out of the laboratory. London: SAGE. (Chapter1) “WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STUDY HISTORY?” Origins of Psychology ◦ Emerged from the parent discipline of Philosophy. ◦ The discipline of psychology cannot be traced back to a single perspective. ◦ No single dominant narrative. Instead, its informed by multiple perspectives, originating in various regions of the world. ◦ Polycentric – Rooted in diverse cultural, historical, and intellectual traditions ◦ Need for decentering Euro-American Bias – importance of recognizing contributions of non-Western thinkers. ◦ Interdisciplinary linkages in inquiry ◦ Insights from multiple Schools of Thought “WHAT ARE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT?” ◦ The term "schools of thought" refer to the major theoretical frameworks and approaches that have shaped the understanding of human behavior, cognition, and mental processes. ◦ These schools of thought represent different perspectives and paradigms through which psychologists approach the study of psychology. ◦ Each perspective is tied to a particular view of psychology, shared by like-minded scholars. ◦ Thus, the school comprises a group of psychologists whose work offers unique insights and explanations for various aspects of human behavior and psychological phenomena. ◦ It is through these schools that the discipline of psychology as we know it developed.  CHAPTER OUTLINE UNIT – II: Psychology of Behaviour and Mind This presentation includes the first two topics. 01 02 03 04 Rise of Shift from Transition from Applications of Behaviourism Behaviourism to Behaviourism to Behaviourism and (Watson) neo-behaviourism Cognitive Psychology Cognitive (Tolman, Skinner) (Paradigms and Psychology Themes)  Behaviorism ▪ As is common knowledge, Psychology began as a study of the mind. Earliest attempts of philosophers centered on how the mind should be defined and investigated. The three founding psychologies of the 19th century also represented scientific versions of the ancient philosophic enterprise. ▪ However, the focus of the field shifted in the beginning of the 20th century as it began to reconceive its methods and its subject matter. Attention shifted from what the mind was to what it did (i.e., behavior). By 1912, psychologists were well on their way to defining psychology as the science of behavior, not mind. ▪ Behaviorism – Long-standing, dominating system of psychology – captured public attention and stirred intellectual ferment among other disciplines, but also received solid criticisms. ▪ American psychologist – John B. Watson (1913) introduced the new system in an article titled “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.” Later called “The Behaviorist Manifesto,” his article is considered a pivotal and classic work in the history of psychology.  Antecedents of Behaviorism ▪ Generally credited to J.B. Watson, the school had strong antecedent influences. Some direct, while others indirect. ▪ Behaviorism’s philosophical roots can be traced back to ancient Greek atomic theory – the view that only the atoms and the void are real. The world, as it appears, is based on atomic combinations. ▪ Although behaviorism is viewed as an American school of thought, Wertheimer (1987) pointed out that “its predecessors were Europeans rather than Americans” (p. 121). On many occasions, behaviorism assimilated key ideas from European thinkers. ▪ Notable contribution – Russian Scientist Ivan Pavlov. ▪ Also, important to consider the contribution of Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (the founder of Russian physiology). Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov [Not required for the Exam] ◦ Esper (1964) argued that Sechenov “wrote the first ‘objective psychology’ and became the first ‘behaviorist’ of modern times” (p. 324). Sechenov contended, “that the psychical activity of man finds expression in external signs” (Frolov, 1938, p. 5). ◦ He argued for an objective psychology based on natural science in an 1863 essay titled Reflexes of the Brain, which signifies ‘an attempt to establish the physiological basis of psychological processes’ via verifiable experiments. He also strongly emphasized the role of ‘nurture’ over ‘nature’. ◦ However, his work did not influence the development of the scientific study of behavior in the West (Brozek, 1972). Ivan Pavlov (Russian scientist trained in biology and medicine) Also not required for the exam ▪ In 1904, Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion (see Miyata, 2009). ▪ In the course of this work (with dogs), he discovered that stimuli other than food may produce salivation, and this led him to the conceptualization of the conditioned reflex (Todes, 2014). ▪ Babkin (1949) pointed out that “the last thirty-four years of his life (from 1902 until 1936) Pavlov devoted almost exclusively to the study of the functions of the cerebral cortex by the method of conditioned reflexes” (p. 273). Pavlov's Psychological Work ▪ Pavlov’s work on the gastric and salivary glands resulted in unexpected observations. Pavlov and his colleagues measured the amount and quality of salivary and gastric secretion in relation to the nature of stimulus materials placed in a dog’s mouth. ▪ Early on, there was evidence that secretions are “intelligent” in the sense that their amount and quality depend on the nature of stimulus materials. ▪ Edible materials stimulate thick and viscous saliva, whereas materials high in acid or salt produce a more watery fluid. ▪ Pavlov and his colleagues observed after multiple trials that dogs salivated at the mere sight of food used in gastric experiments. In fact, other stimuli such as containers and noises associated with food also produced salivation. Why was this important to note? ▪ Salivating at food implies material and efficient causality because food has a direct action on the receptor system, thus salivation is expected. But salivation at the mere sight of the food or at the sight or sound of another stimulus associated with the food is intriguing. ▪ Pavlov called this salivation as action at a distance (defined initially as a psychical reflex, but was changed later). Basic Elements of this Theory ▪ STIMULUS – Any object, event, or experience that causes a RESPONSE, the reaction of an organism. 1. THE UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS – that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers an innate unlearned response (e.g., food). It is biologically adequate to create to create reflexive activity. 2. THE UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE – the reflex, unlearned response that occurs naturally/automatic in response to the UCS. 3. THE CONDITIONED STIMULUS – a previously neutral stimulus that after becoming associated with the UCS becomes a CS, and begins to trigger a similar kind of reflexive response. 4. THE CONDITIONED RESPONSE – the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. Not as strong as the original UCR, but essentially the same. These findings still remain a focus in contemporary research (Bitterman, 2006)  Classical Experiment By Pavlov (This is only for revision) ▪ A dog is hooked onto a mechanism that measures the amount of salivation. A bell (or light) is sounded just before the dog is given meat powder. This occurs several times during various learning trials. Eventually, conditioning occurs in that the dog salivates just to the bell alone. BEFORE CONDITIONING There must exist a stimulus that will automatically or reflexively elicit a specific response (the UCS), plus a stimulus that will not elicit this response (the neutral stimulus). DURING CONDITIONING A NS must be paired multiple times with a UCS to establish a strong CR. AFTER CONDITIONING The previously NS will elicit the response previously only elicited by the CS. This response is now called the CR.  BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CC 1. ACQUISITION – refers to the period during which a response is being learned. Classical conditioning usually is strongest when certain conditions are met. For example, when there are repeated CS-UCS pairings, or when the time interval between the CS and UCS is short - CS to appear no more than 2 or 3 seconds before the UCS (Klein & Mowrer, 1989). 2. EXTINCTION – The process in which the CS is presented repeatedly in the absence of the UCS, causing the CR to weaken and eventually disappear. Each occurrence of the CS without the UCS is called an extinction trial. This is not similar to forgetting, as forgetting does not involve any explicit procedures. 3. SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY – The reappearance of a previously extinguished CR after a rest period and without new learning trials. The spontaneously recovered CR usually is weaker than the initial CR and extinguishes more rapidly in the absence of the UCS. 4. STIMULUS GENERALIZATION – Once a CR is acquired, the organism often responds not only to the original CS but also to stimuli that are similar to it. The greater the stimulus similarity, the greater the chance that a CR will occur. 5. DISCRIMINATION – The ability to discriminate between a CS and other stimuli that have not been paired with the UCS. Types of Classical Conditioning ▪ Forward Conditioning: ▪ Delayed Conditioning (Short-delay pairing) – the UCS follows the CS at some specified delay. The CS continues to be present during the CS-US interval. A bell begins to ring and continues to ring until food is presented. ▪ Trace Conditioning – CS remains present only briefly. The time between the end of CS and the beginning of US is called the trace interval. A bell rings and ends just before food is presented. ▪ Simultaneous Conditioning: CS and UCS begin and end at the same time and CS has little predictive value for US. A bell begins to ring at the same time the food is presented. ▪ Backward Conditioning: CS follows UCS. It serves as a signal that the UCS has ended. The food is presented, then the bell rings. Obviously, not very effective.  THORNDIKE’S LAW OF EFFECT [Not required for the exam] ▪ In his work, Edward L. Thorndike (1898) studied how animals learned to solve problems. ▪ Proposed the law of effect, which states that in a given situation, a response followed by a satisfying consequence will become more likely to occur and a response followed by an annoying consequence will become less likely to occur. He built a special cage, called a puzzle box, that could be opened from the inside by pulling a string or stepping on a lever. Thorndike placed a hungry animal, such as a cat, inside the box. Food was put outside, and to get it the animal had to learn how to open the box. The cat scratched and pushed the bars, paced, and tried to dig through the floor. By chance, it eventually stepped on the lever, opening the door. Performance slowly improved with repeated trials, and over time the cat learned to press the lever soon after the door was shut. Thorndike (1911) called this process instrumental learning because an organism’s behavior is instrumental in bringing about certain outcomes. Antecedents of Behaviorism: A Summary Early Animal Pavlovian Functionalism Philosophical Psychology Conditioned Trend Reflexes Emphasising Objectivism  FORMAL FOUNDING OF AMERICAN BEHAVIORISM – JOHN B. WATSON Brief Personal History Early Scandal Family Life Working at and Move and Role of Chicago to Religion University Advertising Education Shift to Johns Hopkins [Studied Philosophy University and Psychology at [1908 = 1st introduction Furman University; to Behaviorism; moved to Chicago 1913 = Famous lecture] Uni – finished PhD at 25] Watson’s Objective Psychology ◦ Akin to the Russian objective psychology, although Watson developed his ideas independently of the Russians. Russian physiologists (Sechenov and Pavlov) focused on explaining the biology underlying behavior, especially brain physiology. Whereas, Watson was more interested in correlating stimuli and responses. ◦ Behaviorism emerged at the time when major pioneers in the field were attempting to study the consciousness through the method of introspection. ◦ Watson criticized existing perspectives on the following grounds: (1) The divisions of consciousness are arbitrary, (2) Psychology is too human centered, (3) Introspection is unreliable and esoteric, and (4) Labelled Structuralism and Functionalism as Ambiguous and Confusing.  The Goal of Psychology ◦ Watson defined psychology as a behavioral science. ◦ “Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science” (Watson, 1913). ◦ According to Watson (1913) – psychology’s “theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior” and not with an analysis of “consciousness.” ◦ Recognized the importance of social and cultural contexts – he believed that prediction and control were best accomplished through environmental conditions. ◦ Watson’s use of the terms stimulus and response were broader than the Russian physiologists. For him, a stimulus could be a general environmental situation or some internal condition of the organism. A response included anything the organism did. Types of Behavior and How They Are Studied ◦ For Watson, there were four types of behavior. Everything that a person did, including thinking, falls into one of these four categories. Implicit learned behavior Explicit learned behavior (such as the increased (such as talking, writing, heart rate caused by the and cycling) sight of a dentist’s drill) Explicit unlearned Implicit unlearned behavior (such as behavior (such as grasping, blinking, and glandular secretions and sneezing) circulatory changes). For studying behavior, Watson proposed four methods: 1. Observation – either naturalistic or experimentally controlled 2. The conditioned-reflex method, which Pavlov and Bechterev had proposed 3. Testing – for taking behavior samples and not the measurement of “capacity” or “personality,” 4. Verbal reports, which Watson treated as any other type of overt behavior. Emphasised scientific ideals such as quantification and standardisation. Like all sciences, focus should be on gathering facts, verifying them, and subjecting them to logical, quantitative analysis.  Selected Content Areas: Habit ◦ Central concept of Watsonian behaviorism. ◦ Watson (1924) – Shift from a stream of unlearned activities at birth towards conditioning of behaviors that begins a few hours after birth. ◦ Personality too is considered as a complex system of habits. Similar logic applies to other behaviors. ◦ Watson used the example of religion to explain the concept of Habit Systems. For instance, when we say that a person is religious, it would mean that the person engages in a range of actions associated with their religious inclination. The separate actions put together denotes the religious habit system of the individual. ◦ Such habit systems emerge from conditioning. Personality, thus, is based on a certain consistency of conditioning patterns. Normal personality develops out of being reared in an environment free from excessive punishment and trauma. Personality disturbances/illnesses result from habit conflicts. Thus, Watson preferred to emphasize conditioning in the acquisition and extinction of personality disturbances.  Emotions ◦ Watson believed that most emotional attachments (positive or negative) occur through conditioning. ◦ For instance, love occurs through associations of pleasant circumstances with the loved object or person. ◦ Elaborated on the experience and emergence of fear, rage, and love. ◦ Fear is brought forth naturally by sudden or unexpected stimuli such as a loud sound, or by a sudden loss of support. ◦ Rage = when bodily movement is hampered or a goal-directed activity is blocked. ◦ Love responses are elicited by physical affection in the form of “stroking of the skin, tickling, gentle rocking, patting” (Watson, 1924a, p. 123). ◦ All three — fear, rage, and love— first emerge as broad undifferentiated response patterns. Such patterns are later differentiated in specific ways through conditioning.* ◦ In their earliest expressions, they are somewhat diffuse yet distinguished from each other. ◦ For example, the cry of rage is easily distinguished from the cry of fear.  Language and Thinking ◦ For Watson, language and thinking were a form of behavior and nothing more: ◦ “Saying is doing—that is, behaving. Speaking overtly or to ourselves (thinking) is just as objective a type of behavior as baseball” (1924/1930, p. 6). ◦ Language – simply an overt behavior. While thinking is internal or subvocal speech. ◦ Because overt speech is produced by substantial movement of the tongue and larynx, Watson assumed that minute movements of the tongue and larynx accompany thought. ◦ He further explained the evolution of overt speech to implicit speech, based on his observation of children at play. ◦ Language development = learned activity emerging out of an infant’s random vocalizations and babbling. Role of conditioning. ◦ Thus, words are substitute for actions and objects. As we develop, we form verbal habits for objects and situations. ◦ Comparable to kinesthetic organizations of other physical actions. ◦ For instance, we form muscular habits when learning to ride a bike. We begin at a slow pace and shift to faster, automatic pace with practice. ◦ Similarly, speech involves forming and remembering muscular habits. ◦ Speaking = interaction of brain and muscles (larynx) ◦ Also emphasised speaking with the whole body.  Instincts and Behavior ◦ Watson’s attitude toward instincts changed radically over the years. ◦ In 1914, instincts played a prominent role in his theory. By 1919, Watson had taken the position that instincts are present in infants but that learned habits soon displace them. ◦ In 1925, he completely rejected the idea of instincts in humans, contending that there are a few simple reflexes such as sneezing, crying, eliminating, crawling, sucking, and breathing but no complex, innate behavior patterns called instincts. ◦ He emphasized the role of habits in dominating behavior. For Watson experience and not inheritance makes people what they are. Thus, Watson’s (1926) position ended up as a radical environmentalism. ◦ Watson (1926) did, however, allow for heritable differences in structure that could influence outcomes, but he believed that structure interacts with experience to produce specific behavior pattern. “Our hereditary structure lies ready to be shaped in a thousand different ways—the same structure mind you—depending on the way in which the child is brought up.” (p. 4) Watson (1926) made one of the most famous statements in the history of psychology:  Mind-Body Problem ◦ Watson’s take on the mind-body problem was the hallmark of behaviorism. ◦ Watson as well as other behaviorists denied the existence of mind or consciousness, as it can never be seen, touched, tasted or smelled. Remains an unprovable assumption. ◦ With denial of mind, the mind-body problem remained no longer a problem for behaviourists. All that remained and attracted the psychologist was a behaving organism. ◦ 2 views of the M-B relationship relevant in the context of Watson’s work – ◦ Epiphenomenalism – mental events are the by-products of bodily events but do not cause behaviour. That is, bodily events cause mental events, but mental events cannot cause bodily events. ◦ Physical monism (materialism) – discards the existence of mental events (consciousness) altogether. ◦ Watson moved from an early epiphenomenalism viewpoint to the physical monism viewpoint. Fear Conditioning ◦ Watson believed that, along with structure and the basic reflexes, humans inherit the emotions of fear, rage, and love. ◦ In infants, fear is elicited by loud noises and loss of support (such as falling), rage by restricting the infant’s freedom of movement, and love by stroking or patting the infant. ◦ Through learning, these emotions come to be elicited by stimuli other than those that originally elicited them. ◦ Furthermore, all adult emotions such as hate, pride, jealousy, and shame are derived from fear, rage, and love. ◦ To demonstrate how emotions could be displaced to stimuli other than those that had originally elicited the emotions, Watson and Rosalie Rayner performed an experiment in 1920 on an 11-month-old infant named Albert. They showed Albert a white rat, and he expressed no fear of it. In fact, he reached out and tried to touch it. Subsequently, as Albert reached for the rat, from behind the boy Watson struck a steel bar with a hammer. The loud, unexpected noise caused Albert to jump and fall forward. Again Albert was offered the rat, and just as he touched it, the steel bar behind him was again struck. Again Albert jumped, and this time he began to cry. A week later, when the rat was again presented to Albert, Albert was less enthusiastic and attempted to keep his distance from it. Five more times Watson and Rayner placed the rat near Albert and struck the steel bar; and Albert, who had at first been attracted to the rat, was now frightened of it  Subsequently, the fear had generalized to other furry objects such as a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, and a Santa Claus mask. They believed that all adult emotional reactions develop by the same mechanism.  In another study with Mary Cover Jones, Wayson acted as the supervisor as she attempted an experiment on elimination of fear. Participant = named Peter (age 3) = elimination of fear of rabbits. First tried modeling. Then used counter-conditioning and paired a pleasant stimulus (food) with the rabbit. Became the basis of later behavioral therapies (Beck et al., 2009) MCJ titled as the “mother of behavior therapy” Child Rearing ◦ Continued writing about children after being shunned out of academia ◦ Wrote a popular book with the assistance of his wife Rosalie, The Psychological Care of the Infant and Child (1928), which included some solid (questionable) advice. ◦ Described mother love as a dangerous instrument  Critical Evaluation of Watson's Behaviorism ◦ Two long-lasting effects of Watson’s behaviorism – First, he changed psychology’s major goal from the description and explanation of states of consciousness to the prediction and control of behavior. Second, he made overt behavior the almost-exclusive subject matter of psychology. ◦ The APA awarded Watson its prestigious gold medal in recognition of his significant contributions to psychology (1957). ◦ Gustav Bergmann described Watson as “the most important figure in the history of psychological thought during the first half of the century” (1956, p. 265). ◦ Behaviorism ranks high in its contributions to applied psychology. As explained earlier, Watson supervised the earliest research on the counterconditioning of fear (Jones, 1924a, 1924b). Following Watson, there was an explosion of interest in behavior therapy techniques. ◦ Such interest was manifested in the founding of scholarly journals such as Behavior Research and Therapy, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Behavior Therapy. ◦ Numerous scientific and professional organizations were also founded for expansion of ideas on behavioral therapy. Examples include the Association for the Advancement of the Behavioral Therapies, the Association for the Behavioral Treatment of Sexual Abusers, the Association for Behavior Analysis, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. ◦ Popularized Psychology among the general public. His ideas on the environment’s impact on behavior elicited much excitement and hope among people. ◦ Also, contributions of Watson’s work in the field of advertising must be noted. ◦ William McDougall was one of the major critics of Watson. McDougall pointed out that denial of consciousness and mind, plus a complete rejection of introspection eliminated a great deal of valuable and legitimate data in psychology. Thus, Watson was charged with narrowing the scope of psychology and limiting it to the study of overt behaviour. ◦ This denial of consciousness and over-emphasis on overt behavior was also criticized by R. S. Woodworth (1948). He feared that such emphasis upon objectivity, in fact, will block future researches in the area of sensation and perception. ◦ He also criticized Watson' substitution of method of verbal report for method of introspection. He concluded, "We may conclude that verbal report is not a behavioristic method and that Watson's use of it is practically a confession of defeat for methodological behaviorism." (Woodworth, 1948, p. 84). ◦ Further criticism has been levied for his attempt to translate many mentalistic concepts (like meaning, thoughts, etc.) into behavioristic language, which didn’t have much practical purpose. ◦ Another criticism of Watson has been that in his various explanations he used implicit behaviour tendencies that were not directly observable; thus, creating a contradictory framework because while he was emphasizing studying only objectively observed behaviour, on the other hand, he referred to implicit behaviour tendencies not observable directly. ◦ For example, for studying implicit speech, he tried to concentrate on implicit responses like tongue, mouth and larynx movements, etc. which are not observable directly, although they were considered observable in Watson's view. ◦ Tolman (1932) criticized Watson for either completely excluding purpose from his explanation of behaviour or treating it as a highly unimportant concept. ◦ Tolman further questioned the molecular definitions of behaviour (in terms of its physiological details) provided by Watson. Instead, Tolman provided a molar definition with emphasis upon purposiveness. ◦ Later Watson, in principle, agreed with Tolman that behaviour could be defined in molar behavioural terms, and that such molar behaviour could be analyzed in terms of its physiological details. ◦ Criticism of metaphysical behaviourism – for his outright rejection of mind – by behaviorists (Hunter, 1924) and non-behaviorists like Angell (1913), Bergmann (1956), Heidbreder (1961). Heidbreder – without acknowledging the existence of mind or consciousness, psychology will not be able to explain terms like thinking and emotion. ◦ Watson's stand on environmentalism and determinism has also been criticized, because it also removed the notion of free will from humans. ◦ Critics pointed out that Watson "went overboard" in his position on extreme environmentalism. He altogether rejected hereditary and instinctive factors. According to him, individual differences in behaviour emerged only due to environmental factors.  SHIFT FROM BEHAVIORISM TO NEO- BEHAVIORISM: B. F. Skinner Tolman  B.F. Skinner: Brief Personal History 1936 – 1945: Joined Born in 1904 as Faculty in Uni of Pleasant Minnesota – childhood, Developed hardly ever Operant punished Conditioning Education 1940s onwards – [Studied literature and had Many awards and aspirations to become a writer, laurels came his which didn’t work out. way. He published immensely – both Despite not having a UG degree books and in in Psych, he enrolled in Harvard periodicals Uni for MA and PHD] Notable Works ◦ The Behavior of Organisms (1938) ◦ Walden Two (1948) ◦ Science and Human Behavior (1953) ◦ Verbal Behavior (1957) ◦ The Technology of Teaching (1968) ◦ Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971) ◦ About Behaviorism (1974) ◦ Three-volume autobiography – Particulars of My Life (1976), The Shaping of a Behaviorist (1979), and A Matter of Consequences (1983a).  Precursors to Skinner’s Behaviorism: Five particularly prominent figures ◦ Charles Darwin’s insistence on the continuity of species reinforced the belief that data from animals were meaningful for all organisms. ◦ C. Lloyd Morgan’s rule of parsimony counseled Skinner to neglect grandiose explanations in favor of simple, descriptive ones. ◦ Edward L. Thorndike’s puzzle box research demonstrated that complex behavior could be studied in an objective manner without reliance on mentalism. ◦ Ivan Pavlov – investigations of lawful conditioning. ◦ John B. Watson’s behaviorism inspired Skinner to adopt the scientific study of behavior as an alternative to the study of consciousness. Although, Skinner (1963) observed that Watson failed to support his position with a solid research program. Skinner was more successful than Watson in generating data for behaviorism.  Skinner’s Philosophy of Behaviorism ◦ Skinner – resolute positivist devoted to psychology as an objective natural science. ◦ Skinner (1963) described behaviorism as more than the study of behavior; for him, it was a philosophy of science. Like Watson, Skinner saw psychology as a natural science and, like Watson, was an ardent determinist. ◦ Skinner (1971) insisted that behavior is lawful and argued that the notion of free will is romantic and counterproductive both to behavioral science and to society at large. ◦ Though Skinner’s writings gave the impression of hard determinism, his research on the principles of reinforcement resembles a probabilistic lawfulness rather than strict determinism. Nevertheless, emphasis on prediction and control was central to Skinner’s entire system of thought. ◦ Furthermore, his goal was to demonstrate the detrimental features of aversive control and the advantages of positive control. ◦ For Skinner, his principles of behavior analysis can facilitate the progress of individuals and societal institutions. ◦ Emphasized radical behaviorism — a philosophy supporting the functional analysis of behavior. Like Watson, Skinner denied the importance of studying of conscious events. He believed that what we call mental events are simply verbal labels given to certain bodily processes. And even if conscious processes existed, there was nothing to be gained from it. ◦ According to Skinner (1974), “The position can be stated as follows: what is felt or introspectively observed is not some nonphysical world of consciousness, mind or mental life but the observer’s own body” (p. 17). ◦ He was also vocal in his criticism of the third-force psychology, psychotherapy, and cognitive psychology. ◦ He remained confident that radical behaviorism would deliver psychology from pseudoscientific factions. ◦ He refrained from grandiose theory construction in favor of descriptive observations of behavior, and he denied that he constructed hypotheses or that he tested formal theorems or models.  Operant Conditioning ◦ Skinner (1938) established experimental behavior analysis in his classic work The Behavior of Organisms. It presented a comprehensive system of methods for the operant conditioning of animals. ◦ The book has marked a significant contribution to the psychology of learning (Knapp, 1995). ◦ Skinner (1932) distinguished between two major types of conditioning, and five years later introduced the term operant in contrast with Pavlovian respondent conditioning (Coleman, 1981). ◦ In his work, Skinner emphasized on the relationship between response and reinforcement. ◦ He referred to Pavlovian conditioning as Type II or Type S (reinforcement correlated with a stimulus) and operant conditioning as Type I or Type R (reinforcement correlated with a response). Type S encompassed conditioning of autonomic behavior, whereas Type R was conditioning of voluntary behavior. ◦ Any consequence that increased the probability of a future response was deemed a reinforcer. ◦ A positive reinforcer entails a stimulus that increases the likelihood of a future response. A negative reinforcer involves removal of an aversive stimulus to increase the probability of a future response (e.g./a termination of electrical shock or extreme heat). ◦ Skinner found the S-R psychology limited. According to him, "I do not consider myself an S-R psychologist. The stimulus is only one among a lot of different variables…. It is a mistake to suppose that there are internal stimuli and to try to formulate everything as S-R psychology". ◦ Similarities between the research of Skinner and of Edward L. Thorndike. Skinner acknowledged that his work was an elaboration of the former's puzzle box research. ◦ Skinner also favored reinforcement over punishment in the strengthening of behavior. Intermittent punishment may produce unfortunate by-products and only short-term gains. ◦ Implications in educational settings ◦ He verified reinforcement principles with data collected from various technological innovations. ◦ Operant Chambers ◦ Cumulative recorder, a mechanical device that monitored patterns of operant behavior from a single animal subject. ◦ By the mid-1950s, operant instrumentation was manufactured by several companies. ◦ Also identified different schedules of reinforcement on behavior. Basics of Skinner’s OC (Revision from Last Year) Skinner identified several types of consequences – With reinforcement, a response is strengthened by an outcome that follows it. This outcome is a called a reinforcer. Once a response becomes established, reinforcers maintain it: The rat keeps pressing the lever because it continues to receive food.  In contrast, punishment occurs when a response is weakened by outcomes that follow it. Suppose pressing the lever delivers a brief electric shock rather than food. Thus, the electric shock represents a punisher, a consequence that weakens the behavior (lever pressing will decreases). Thus, organisms generally learn to increase behaviors that are followed by favorable consequences and reduce behaviors that are followed by unfavorable consequences, a pattern consistent with Thorndike’s law of effect. OC involves three-part contingency: (1) antecedents, which are stimuli that are present before a behavior occurs, (2) behaviors that the organism emits, and (3) consequences that follow the behaviors. The relation between the behavior and the consequence is called a contingency, as reward is contingent upon behavior.  ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS: IDENTIFYING WHEN TO RESPOND The antecedent may be a general CONSEQUENCES: situation or a specific stimulus. DETERMINING HOW Involves discriminative stimuli set TO RESPOND the occasion for operant responses. Reinforcers and Discriminative stimulus, a signal Punishers that a particular response will now produce certain consequences PRINCIPLES OF OC: REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT ◦ Two important considerations: (1) whether an event is presented or removed after a response is made (2) whether the subject’s response increases/decreases. ◦ Any event that increases the response is reinforcement and any event that decreases response is called punishment. ◦ Any event that is presented is called positive and any event that is removed is called negative..  Positive Reinforcement ◦ Provides rewards and increases probability of behavior. ◦ The stimulus that follows and strengthens the response is called a positive reinforcer. E.g., - food, comforting physical contact, attention, praise, money, etc. ◦ A rat receives food pellets when it presses a lever and eventually begins to press the lever more often. ◦ Rewards ≠ positive reinforcer. Primary and Secondary Reinforcers - Two broad types of positive reinforcers: ◦ Primary reinforcers are stimuli, such as food and water, that an organism naturally finds reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs. ◦ Secondary (conditioned) reinforcers are stimuli that acquire reinforcing properties through their association with primary reinforcers. Money is a conditioned reinforcer.  Negative Reinforcement ◦ Helps in avoiding/removing/terminating a noxious stimulus and increases probability of response ◦ Our behaviors pay off not only when they lead to the presentation of praise, money, and so on, but also when they enable us to get rid of or avoid something we find aversive. For example, taking aspirin pays off because it relieves a headache. ◦ Negative reinforcement: A response is strengthened by the subsequent removal (or avoidance) of an aversive stimulus. ◦ Reinforcement—whether positive or negative—strengthens a response. Positive refers to presenting a stimulus; negative refers to removing a stimulus. ◦ Negative reinforcement plays a key role in helping us learn to escape from and avoid aversive situations.  Aversive Punishment ◦ Aversive event that decreases probability of response. ◦ Also called positive punishment, or punishment by application. ◦ A response is weakened by the subsequent presentation of a stimulus. E.g., Spanking and scolding a child for misbehaving. ◦ May produce rapid results, but is controversial.  Omission Training ◦ Also called negative punishment, or punishment by removal. ◦ Taking away something that an individual finds satisfying. Therefore, a response is weakened by the subsequent removal of a stimulus. E.g., time out, grounding, taking away phone, etc. ◦ To be effective (George Holden, 2002) – ◦ Must occur after every transgression ◦ Be immediate ◦ Be intense at least for the first transgression, and ◦ Not be signaled by a discriminative stimulus such as a threat or warning.  Limitations of Punishment ◦ Not effective for long-term change (Skinner, 1953) ◦ May arouse negative emotions, such as fear and anger, that can produce dislike and avoidance of the person delivering the punishment. Reduces self-esteem of the recipients. ◦ Physical punishment especially can convey to the recipient the idea that physical aggression is permissible and perhaps even desirable. ◦ Suppresses behavior but do not cause an organism to forget how to make the response. Also, it does not convey any information about what an alternative, more appropriate behavior might be. ◦ To be useful in bringing about more desirable behavior in the future, punishment must be accompanied by specific information about the behavior that is being punished, along with specific suggestions concerning a more desirable behavior. If used along with positive reinforcement, it would strengthen desirable alternative responses directly.  Operant Extinction ◦ The weakening and eventual disappearance of a response because it is no longer reinforced. ◦ If pressing a lever no longer results in food pellets, the rat will eventually stop making this response. ◦ The degree to which non-reinforced responses persist is called resistance to extinction. ◦ Non-reinforced responses may stop quickly (low resistance), or they may keep occurring hundreds or thousands of times (high resistance) [e.g., gambling]. ◦ Often provides a good alternative to punishment as a method for reducing undesirable behaviors.  SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT ◦ Reinforcement can come in different patterns and frequencies. These patterns, called schedules of reinforcement, have strong and predictable effects on learning, extinction, and performance (Ferster & Skinner, 1957; Soto et al., 2006). ◦ Two basic categories – Continuous and intermittent (partial). ◦ In continuous reinforcement, the behavior is followed by Rf each time it occurs. ◦ In partial (intermittent) reinforcement, only a portion of the responses of a particular type are reinforced. Two important dimensions in partial Rf 1. RATIO VERSUS INTERVAL SCHEDULES: ◦ On ratio schedules, a certain percentage of responses are reinforced. For example, we might decide to reinforce only 50 percent of the rat’s lever presses with food. The key factor is that ratio schedules are based on the number of responses: more responses, more reinforcement. ◦ On interval schedules, a certain amount of time must elapse between reinforcements, regardless of how many responses might occur during that interval. 2. FIXED VERSUS VARIABLE SCHEDULES: ◦ On a fixed schedule, reinforcement always occurs after a fixed number of responses or after a fixed time interval. ◦ On a variable schedule, the required number of responses or the time interval between them varies at random around an average.  4 Rf Schedules Fixed Interval Variable Interval Schedule Schedule Variable Ratio Fixed Ratio Schedule Schedule  Back to DoPT: The Experimental Analysis of Behavior ◦ The goal of Skinnerian Psychology – Analyze behavior by identifying the specific determinants of specific behaviors and to establish the exact nature of the relationship between antecedent influence and subsequent behavior. ◦ Considered experiment as the most appropriate method, for only in an experiment can all the factors affecting behavior be systematically controlled. ◦ Skinner thus called his science the experimental analysis of behavior. The Contingencies of Reinforcement ◦ The antecedent influences acting on a behavior serve as independent variables, and the behavior that is a function of them, the dependent variable. The organism can then be thought of as a locus of variables—a place where independent variables act together to produce a behavior. ◦ Skinner (1938) distinguished two kinds of learned behavior – ◦ First category - respondent behavior or learning, studied by Pavlov (reflex behavior) ◦ Second category – operant behavior or learning, which corresponds loosely to “voluntary” behavior. Operant behavior’s probability of occurrence may be raised if its emission is followed by an event called a reinforcer. ◦ Reinforcement from the environment follows some operants and not others; the former are strengthened and the latter are extinguished. Similarity with Darwin’s ideas. ◦ Imp. Points to Remember: ◦ First, operant responses are never elicited. This type of learning enables the organism to discriminate a reinforcing situation from a non-reinforcing situation, and is thus called a discriminative stimulus. ◦ An operant is not a response; it is a class of responses – to be controlled by the same contingencies of reinforcement.  Skinner on Language ◦ Skinner (1938) considered verbal behavior as the only difference between animal and man. ◦ In his publication, Verbal behavior (1957) – V.B. is learned and shaped by the consequences from a given community. ◦ Used the term tact to explain a verbal operant response under the stimulus control of some part of the physical environment and the correct use of tact is reinforced by the community. ◦ Acknowledged private events – Skinner held that part of each person’s environment includes the world inside his or her skin, those stimuli to which the person has privileged access. Such stimuli are unknown to an external observer, but they are experienced by the person, can control behavior, and so must be included in any behaviorist analysis of human behavior. Many verbal statements, including complex tacts, are under such control. For example: “My tooth aches” is a kind of tacting response controlled by a certain kind of painful inner stimulation. ◦ Skinner believed that the verbal community trains people to observe their private stimuli by reinforcing utterances that refer to them.** ◦ It is useful for parents to know what is distressing their child, so they attempt to teach a child self-reporting verbal behaviors. “My tooth aches” indicates a visit to the dentist. Such responses thus have Darwinian survival value. ◦ It is these self-observed, private stimuli that constitute consciousness. Meaning that human consciousness is a product of the reinforcing practices of a verbal community. ◦ Skinner’s view of language was criticized by psycholinguist Noam Chomsky who evaluated his ideas as simplistic and reductionistic.  Developmental and Educational Applications ◦ Invented a large well-lit chamber with proper temperature control for child rearing. Called the baby tender, Skinner used it for his own daughter. ◦ Took an active interest in education. Skinner developed a teaching technique called programmed learning (1954, 1958). With programmed learning, material is presented to students in small steps; students are then tested on the material, given immediate feedback on the accuracy of their answers, and allowed to proceed through the material at their own pace. This is done with the help of a teaching machine/computer. ◦ Criticized U.S. education ever since 1953. Skinner (1984) maintained that many of the problems in the educational system could be solved through the use of operant principles. His main criticism of U.S. educational practices was that the threat of punishment is used to force students to learn and to behave instead of the careful manipulation of reinforcement contingencies. This aversive control, Skinner said, creates a negative attitude toward education. Also, all children don’t get an equal opportunity to make responses. ◦ Skinner also focused on motivation. ◦ Poor performance ≠ laziness or a bad attitude. ◦ Crucial to recognize the role of the environment in providing the proper consequences to reinforce the desired behaviors. (e.g., Incentive systems) ◦ Token economies, in which desirable behaviors are quickly reinforced with tokens (e.g., points, gold stars) that are later turned in for tangible rewards (e.g., prizes, recreation time), have been used to enhance academic and job performance. ◦ In 1983 Skinner, along with Margaret Vaughan, wrote Enjoy Old Age: Living Fully Your Later Years, in which they addressed such topics as diet, retirement, exercise, forgetfulness, sensory deficiencies, and fear of death.  Military Applications ◦ Project Pigeon Research during WW II. ◦ Trained pigeons to navigate an armed glider named the Pelican. ◦ Skinner achieved such complete control of the pigeons’ behavior that they could carry out the most difficult tracking maneuvers during simulated attacks. ◦ Despite initial funding, the project was discontinued.  Modifying Problem Behaviors ◦ Applied Behavioral Analysis – use of applied behavior modification principles to helping individuals with problems ranging from psychosis to smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction, mental retardation, juvenile delinquency, speech disorders, shyness, phobias, obesity, and sexual dysfunction. ◦ The Skinnerian version of behavior therapy assumes that people learn abnormal behavior in the same way that they learn normal behavior. Therefore, “treatment” is a matter of removing the reinforcers that are maintaining the undesirable behavior and arranging the reinforcement contingencies so that they strengthen desirable behavior. ◦ Skinnerian principles have also been used to create token economies in a number of institutions, such as psychiatric hospitals. Desirable behaviors are reinforced with tokens that can be exchanged for such items as candy, cigarettes, coffee, or the exclusive use of a radio or television sets.  Waldon Two: A Behaviorist Utopia? ◦ Skinner proposed in detail an institution based on the use of behavioral principles of reinforcement to support well-being and social justice (Altus & Morris, 2009). ◦ In his 1948 novel Walden Two, he described life in a hypothetical experimental colony designed by behavioral engineering. ◦ The novel centered on the characters of Professor Burris and T. E. Frazier. Frazier is the founder of Walden Two, a community maintained and established on positive reinforcement. ◦ Where workers labor for four hours daily, have a credit system of payment, and enjoy numerous opportunities for creative relaxation. ◦ An experimental community based on Walden Two was established in 1967 in Twin Oaks, Virginia. The community proved only marginally successful (Kuhlmann, 2005), but led Skinner (1967) to reformulate the role of incentive, education, and sexuality in a behaviorist community. Criticisms ◦ Chosen nature of behavior to study = limited to simplistic responses (e.g., pressing levers, pecking responses, etc.), but attempted to make broad generalizations. ◦ Disregarded other important aspects of functioning – thinking, creativity, problem solving, personality, self, etc. (Kantor, 1979). ◦ Ignores organismic conditions (e.g., temperament, interest, fatigue, etc.) in favor of establishing the role of environmental conditioning. ◦ Chomsky (1959) criticised Skinner’s view of language as simplistic and low in external validity. ◦ Emphasised on a mechanistic view of the person – blamed for dehumanising view of people. Criticism for his view of the “empty organism” ◦ Criticised for intolerant view of contemporary psychology. ◦ Attitude towards theory – Skinner focused mainly on functional analysis, but ignored the theoretical aspects. Hence, called descriptive behaviorism. ◦ His contributions to psychology such as the Skinner box and schedule of reinforcement have still been regarded as of vital heuristic value. ◦ His idea of programmed learning and teaching machines have in fact, shaken up the traditional methods of teaching. ◦ Finally, application of Skinner's principles in the field of behaviour modifications have brought a revolution in the field of psychotherapy. Edward Chace Tolman (1886–1959) ◦ Developed a “new formula for behaviorism” (Tolman, 1922) that accepted behavior as the proper subject matter of psychology but rejected Watson’s stark stimulus–response system. ◦ Influenced by Edwin B. Holt (his teacher at Harvard), William McDougall (for his emphasis on the role of purpose in living organisms), and Gestalt psychologists, particularly Kurt Koffka and Kurt Lewin. These influences are evident in Tolman’s system of psychology, which focused on the role of cognition and purpose in animal and human life.  Tolman’s Cognitive Behaviorism ◦ Tolman constructed an expansive psychology that retained the objectives of classical behaviorism, but with a greater sensitivity to events in our daily lives. ◦ Tolman considered his system as a true behaviorism because the focus was on behavior rather than consciousness and on objective observation rather than introspection. ◦ Contrast from Watson’s work – Tolman agreed with Watson that behavior should be psychology’s subject matter, but Tolman believed that Watson was focusing on the wrong type of behavior. ◦ Watson contended that even the most complex human behavior could be explained in terms of S–R reflexes. Tolman referred to such reflexes as molecular behavior. Calling them “twitches,” Tolman decided to study purposive behavior.  Purposive Behaviourism ◦ It was interesting that Tolman was using a mentalistic term like purpose, while considering himself a behaviorist. While at Harvard, Edwin B. Holt and Ralph B. Perry taught Tolman that the purposive aspects of behavior could be studied without sacrificing scientific objectivity. ◦ He believed that the explanations based on Watson’s molecular components follow a reductionist approach, which becomes inadequate. ◦ He characterized his system as a molar behaviorism (large units or the kind of global behavior that we observe in the everyday world). ◦ Molar behaviour is a unified and complete act. He suggested that underlying molecular elements like neural, muscular, or glandular processes are not good enough to be considered as a molar act. ◦ Molar behavior: ◦ ….has a multitude of causes; ◦ There is purpose in the behavior. It has an intelligent “teachable” quality. ◦ Acknowledged the cognitive aspect of it – examples includes abilities such as the capacity to discriminate, the sense of locations, a sense of what leads to what, and the capacity to form expectations. ◦ By incorporating the study of higher cognitive processes in psychology – Tolman departed from Watsonian behaviorism. ◦ In his major work, Purposive Behavior in Animals and Men (1932), Tolman gave examples of what he called purposive (molar) behavior:  Intervening Variables ◦ Tolman was not content to describe simple S-R relationships. He believed psychological processes intervene between stimuli and responses. Such psychological processes are inferred from and tied to behavior. ◦ Thus, Tolman focused on identifying meaningful psychological concepts that account for the behavior of living organisms. ◦ Intervening variables - psychological processes that direct behavior and mediate between stimuli (environmental events) and observable responses (behavior). Examples of such variables include cognitions, expectancies, purposes, hypotheses, and appetite. ◦ Lets focus on the term expectancy. A type of cognition, an expectancy develops when a reward follows each successful response. Organisms develop expectancies anytime regular relationships occur between responses and environmental stimuli. Once developed, an expectancy directs and controls behavior.  ◦ By 1925 he was referring to purpose and cognition both as descriptions and determinants of behavior. ◦ Dissonance because he increasingly recognized the impact of cognition, while trying to remain a behaviorist. ◦ Solving this dilemma required relying on intervening variables—but he regarded purpose and cognition as theoretical constructs that could be used to describe, predict, and explain behavior. Thus, environmental experience → internal, unobservable events → behavior. To understand behavior, both the environmental events and the internal (or intervening) events that they initiate should be known. Acc. To Tolman, the most important intervening variables are cognitive. Hence, Tolman is considered a methodological rather than a radical behaviorist.  Cognitive Maps ◦ Once again, moving away from S-R responses, Tolman acknowledged S-S responses. Its these S-S responses that lead to the building of cognitive maps. ◦ Through the concept of cognitive maps, Tolman provided a mentalistic explanation of a rat learning a maze. A cognitive map includes a sense of location and a sense of the layout of the situation, including many possible pathways connecting various locations. It’s a rich and broad cognitive representation of the world in which we move (Nadel, 2013). Processes involved in the Development of Cognitive Maps: Hypotheses, Expectancies, and Beliefs NO FOOD After a number of trials: Animal formulates hypothesis about food availability Animal pauses and ponders - appears to be engaged in mental trial and error. (Cannot use any prior Tolman called it info – random vicarious T&E. movements) At the start of the maze If the early hypothesis “If I turn right, I will Through this process, a cognitive map find food” is confirmed, the animal will of this situation develops – an develop the expectancy “When I turn right, awareness of all possibilities in a I will find food.” situation. Rather than just describing an Consistent confirmation of expectancies organism’s behavior, these intervening leads to formation of beliefs variables were thought to explain it. “Every time I turn left in this situation, I will find food.”  Reinforcement ◦ Tolman pointed out a sharp distinction between learning and performance, as evidenced by his classic experiments on latent learning. ◦ Explain the experiment (Tolman & Honzik, 1930) – (given in the book – King, Viney, and Woody; handout on classroom) ◦ The experiment highlighted the relationships among reinforcement, learning, and performance. Tolman argued that rats learn spatial relationships or even develop a cognitive map of a maze by virtue of sheer exposure. Reinforcement influences motivation, and hence performance, but learning itself is an independent process. ◦ However, he recommended the use of reinforcement because of its impact on motivation.  Experimental Extinction ◦ Implied the cognitive basis for extinction. ◦ Acc. To him, extinction occurs largely because of changes in expectancies. Response strength remains high so long as conditioned stimuli continue, in a majority of cases, to serve as signs that food will be forthcoming. When stimuli no longer have value as signs, expectancies change and so do responses. ◦ Experiments on latent extinction have provided evidence for cognitive interpretations of extinction. The Role of Insight in Learning ◦ Tolman acknowledged that learning is not a continuous, mechanical process. Instead, it is often marked by radical discontinuities. ◦ Tolman believed in the “capacity for grasping field-relationships” (Tolman, 1932, p. 200). He referred to such a capacity as a means–end capacity, i.e., the innate and acquired abilities to engage in intelligent commerce with pathways, routes, barriers, and various temporal and spatial characteristics of a field. ◦ Tolman spoke of the capacity for inventive ideation, which referred to “running back-and- forth, attempting alternatives, and making behavioral adjustments.” ◦ Although Tolman avoided the term insight as used by Gestalt psychologists, he was friendly to the term’s meaning.  Evaluation of Tolman’s System ◦ Tolman’s work is one of the most important bridges between classical behaviorism and contemporary psychology (Goldman, 1999). He offered a more believable branch of psychology - Recognized the complexity and subtleties of life. ◦ Facilitated the emergence of the cognitive approach (Hilgard and Bower, 1966). Gleitman (1991) called Tolman “clearly a forerunner of modern ‘cognitive psychology’ ”. ◦ Tolman’s work also became the impetus for a range of developments in the 1950s and 1960s. Examples include areas as motivation (Festinger, 1962; Lawrence & Festinger, 1962), clinical psychology (Rotter, 1954), neuropsychology (Olds, 1954), mathematical learning theory (Bower, 1962; MacCorquodale & Meehl, 1954), and field of behaviorial genetics (Innis, 1992). Just Memes