Behaviourism Multiple Choice Exam PDF

Multiple choice exam Historical development of behaviourism: The central tenet of behaviourism is that 'A science of behaviour is possible'. And many behaviourists add that the science of behaviour should be psychology. All the sciences had their origins in and then broke free from philosophy. P...

Multiple choice exam Historical development of behaviourism: The central tenet of behaviourism is that 'A science of behaviour is possible'. And many behaviourists add that the science of behaviour should be psychology. All the sciences had their origins in and then broke free from philosophy. Philosophy vs science: - Philosophy reasons from assumptions to conclusions. Science proceeds in the opposite direction. - Philosophical truth us absolute, science is relative Biology broke with philosophy and theology in the same way. Early physiologists began looking inside animals to see how they worked. Psychology's break from philosophy is relatively recent. In the nineteenth century psychologists began to call psychology the 'science of the mind'. Introspection is the ability to look inside the mind and see what is going on. Two schools of thought that espoused introspection were voluntarism and structuralism. These 19^th^ century psychologists thought that with enough training and practice one could overcome the difficulty inherent in the subjectivity of introspection. Two lines of thought combined to undermine the view the introspective method, objective psychology and comparative psychology. Voluntarism -- founded by Wilhelm Wundt. He is deemed to be the founder of experimental psychology. Voluntarism came from Wundt's belief that humans can decide what is attended to and thus what is perceived clearly. He believed that much behaviour and selective attention are undertaken for a purpose; that is, such activities are motivated. Wundt's goal was to study consciousness. He believed that it could be studied through experimental introspection. Structuralism -- founded by Titchener, he developed it from Voluntarism. Again, the major tool used by structuralists was introspection. Structuralism was short-lived as there was a growing unease with the method of introspection. Structuralists also failed to consider an important development happening at that time which was Darwiin's theory of evolution. Objective psychology -- some 19^th^ century psychologists were uneasy with introspection as a scientific method. It seemed too unreliable, too open to personal bias, too subjective Influential persons were F.C. Donders, Gustav Feschner, and Hermann Ebbinghaus Ebbingaus was the first person to study learning and memory. Comparative psychology -- psychology was also influenced by the theory of evolution. This gave rise to the notion of continuity of species. Comparisons between our species and others become more common. This eventually led to studies on animals being transferred onto humans. Functionalism -- originated in the US and initially coexisted with structuralism. The emphasis was 'the utility of consciousness and behaviour in adjusting to the environment'. The founder was William James. They were not opposed to studying mental processes but insisted that they should always be studied in relation to survival. Early behaviourism -- founded by John. B Watson. Watson believed that psychology should be defined as the science of behaviour. Watson felt that the main concern for psychologist should be behaviour and how it varies with experience. All behaviourists believe with Watson's basic premise that there can be natural science of behaviour and that psychology could be that science. Of the post-Watson behaviourists, the best known is B.F. Skinner. He is best known for the development of applied behaviour analysis and techniques *15/10/24* *Definition of behaviourism* Assumptions of behaviourism: - Its naturalistic (ultimate reality) - Teaches that man is nothing more than a machine that responds to conditioning - Teaches that we're not responsible for our actions- mind and mental processes are metaphors and fiction (Skinner) - Seeks not merely to understand human behaviour but to predict and control it - The nature/nurture debate. What's behaviourism? 1. Psychology is the science of behaviour- not of the mind 2. Behaviour can be explained without making a reference to mental events or internal psychological processes. 3. Mental terms or concepts should be eliminated and replaced by behavioural terms or they can and should be translated or paraphrased into behavioural concepts. **Methodological behaviourism:** theory about the scientific conduct of psychology **Psychological behaviourism:** tries to explain human and animal behaviour in terms or stimuli, responses, learning histories and reinforcements. **Ivan Pavlov, Edward Thorndike, Watson. Skinners- schedules of reinforcements.** **Analytical behaviourism:** theory within philosophy about the meaning of mental terms or concepts. The very notion of a mental state or condition is the notion of behavioural disposition or a family of behavioural tendencies. When we attribute to a belief, we are characterising the person in terms of **what he or she might do in a particular situation or environmental interaction. Gilbert Ryle and Ludwig Wittgenstein.** **Skinner's radical behaviourism combines all three forms of these behaviourism.** **It follows analytical structure in paraphrasing mental yyerms behaviourally, concerned with the behaviour of organisms not mental processes and understand behaviour as a reflection of frequency effects among stimuli.** Hermann ebinghaus A german psychologist whi gave rise to the notion of the learning curve. He showed that higher mental processes can be studied. He established the principle that the inner working of the mind can be measured and explained by the behaviour of the individual. Ivan sechenov - All behaviour is caused by stimulation - He wrote the reflexes of the brain - He introduced the idea that there are not only excitatory processes in the cns but also inhibitory ones. Vladmir m bekhterev - Early Russian behaviourist - Established the first psychology lab in Russia - He called his field **reflexology** and defined the **stimulus response connection** - He concluded that all behaviour is caused by stimulation - Discovered the **association reflex**- pavlov called it the condition reflex Ivan pavlov - A professor of physiology who was studying salivation - In 1990 he began studying reflexes- the salivary response - Psychic secretions- the dog conditioned response - A book called "conditioned reflexes and psychiatry" Edward lee thorndike - A functionalist who was setting the stage for the American version of Russian behaviourism - Animal and human psychologist - Remembered for his cats and poorly constructed ouzzle boxed - Trial and error process - Led to operant conditioning John Watson - Made the claim that psychology needs to be a science only if it studied observable behaviour - First studied animals but moved on to human beings - He wrote "psychology as behaviourist views it "- psychological review and "behaviourism: an introduction to comparative psychology" - Little albert experiment William mc dougall - He hated behaviourism - "the battle of beahviourism" -- he had to battle out his reasons against behaviourism. He won his arguments but Watson won the favour of American psyschology - He wasn't well liked and had lots of critics Clark leonard Hall - Influential behaviourist - An experimental psychologist who devised models of animal behaviour - Credited for the start of aptitude testing, behvaiour theory and hypnosis - Wrote the princples of behaviour and briught meaning to drive, drive reduction, inhibitors and habit strength - Sought to explain learning and mitivation by scientific laws of behaviour - His theories could predict and control behavuour hypothetic- deductive method - The essence of theory states that behaviour is connected to the strength of the habit x the strength of the drive -- drive theory - Criticized for little value in explaining behaviour beyond the laboratory context- human behaviour. - Matter of historical interest only e.c. tolman \- strongly influenced by William james \- Bhaviourist but started to criticize how behavioursits think \- recognize the value of purposeful and goal-directed bahveiour Behaviourism is limited if behaviour is seen as cause and effext 29/10/24 B.F skinner \- He wanted to became a writer but failed \- he is the figure head of behaviourism with his philosophy based on the ides that **learning is related o changei n overt beahviour and those changes in behaviour (responses) are the result of**