Behaviorism

04-A: Classical Conditioning

  • How might we describe what we can observe in terms of stimuli and responses?

  • What does it mean to say that a response has been classically conditioned?

    • How did Pavlov initially demonstrate classical conditioning with dogs?

    • How did Watson's study with "Little Albert" demonstrate that fear can be explained by classical conditioning?

  • How can we describe classically conditioned associations in terms of

    • A neutral stimulus (NS)

    • An unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

    • An unconditioned responses (UCR)

    • A conditioned stimulus (CS)

    • A conditioned response (CR)

  • How would you go about establishing a classically conditioned association? For example, how would you...

    • Teach a dolphin that the sound of a whistle is a good thing

    • Keep a pet off your couch by making it want to avoid the pillows on it

    • Make a young child excited to earn a gold star sticker on her homework

    • Make a young child avoid things that are labeled with the symbol for poison

  • If we want to establish an association, why is forward short-delay the best way?


VISIT: Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

04-B: Eliminating Associations

  • Using several difference examples, how can you erase an undesired association (e.g., fear) using

    • Habituation (also known as flooding)?

    • Systematic desensitization?

    • Counter-conditioning?

      • Can you reduce a negative reaction with a positive stimulus using classical conditioning?

      • Can you reduce a positive reaction with an aversive stimulus using classical conditioning?

  • Since both techniques use multiple exposures, what is the key difference between habituation and systematic desensitization?

In addition to establishing helpful association with classical conditioning we can also apply behavioral psychology to eliminate a response that we do not want.

VISIT: Unlearning Associations

Critical Thinking Question: If you were mildly afraid of spiders how might you use each of these techniques to unlearn your response (fear) to the stimulus (spider)?

04-C: Garcia Effect

As you have seen, it generally takes multiple pairings before an association is acquired. However, evolution has shaped a special exception when it comes to foods that might be poisonous - this is known as the Garcia Effect.

  • What is the Garcia Effect and how does it explain why some people just can't even think about eating certain foods?

    • How is it unusual, in terms of being a single-trial, forward long-delay pairing?

    • Why, from an evolutionary perspective, is the Garcia Effect helpful for survival?

  • How did researchers (Nicolaus et al., 1983) use the concept to protect endangered birds and farm chickens from egg-eating crows?


READ: Taste Aversion

To clarify - The UCS is the feeling of disgust or nausea. In some cases it could be that the food that you have learned to dislike was the true cause of the nausea (e.g., food poisoning) and in other cases it could be a completely unrelated cause (e.g., the flu). It is helpful to break down an example. One student told us that he was disgusted by Oreo cookies because he ate them some time before he began feeling ill from the flu.

  • NS - Oreo cookie

  • UCS - nausea

  • UCR - avoid eating (when you feel sick you don't eat)

  • NS (Oreo) gets paired with the UCS (feeling ill)

  • The Oreo is now a CS and causes a CR (avoidance)

One other interesting note - researchers* have demonstrated that the Garcia effect can even occur when the animal tastes the food while under deep anesthesia. We do not even need to be conscious to associate a taste with the sensation of being ill later on.

Critical Thinking Question: Do you have any strong aversions to a food or drink because you associate it with feeling sick?

04-D: Operant Conditioning

The second kind of learning, operant conditioning, involves behavior -- the main idea is that intelligent creatures adjust their behavior to maximize desirable outcomes and minimize harmful or aversive ones.

  • How did Thorndike support his Law of Effect using cats in a box?

  • Who is B. F. Skinner and what did he contribute to psychology?

  • What kind of outcomes influence behavior?

    • Primary reinforcers

    • Secondary reinforcers

    • Primary punishers

    • Secondary punishers

  • How can you influence behavior using ___?

    • Positive reinforcement (+R)

    • Negative reinforcement (-R)

    • Positive punishment (+P)

    • Negative punishment (-P)

  • How might coincidences lead to superstitious behaviors in animals (and in humans)?


VISIT: Operant Conditioning

Critical Thinking Question: As a child, how did your parents influence your behavior with reinforcement and punishment? What primary and secondary stimuli did they use?

WATCH: Superstitious Behavior - Pidgin Reward

04-E: Schedules of Reinforcement

Now that we understand the basics of how behavior can be operantly conditioned, we can look at some of the process in a little more detail. There are different patterns with which we can deliver reinforcers and punishers, and we call that pattern a schedule.

  • What are some examples of how each schedule is used to reinforce or punish your behavior?

    • Continuous

    • Fixed Ratio

    • Variable Ratio

    • Fixed Interval

    • Variable Interval

  • What pattern of behavior does each schedule create?

  • How would a behaviorist explain something like a gambling addiction?


VISIT: Schedules of Reinforcement

Critical Thinking Question: How is some aspect of your own behavior reinforced or punished by each of the five schedules? How would you apply these schedules to influence the behavior of others?

04-F: Extinction

  • What is extinction?

  • What is an extinction burst and why might it occur?

  • Based on what you learned about schedules of reinforcement, why do variable schedules lead to behavior that is more resistant to extinction?

  • What is spontaneous recovery and why might it occur?


VISIT: Extinction

Critical Thinking Question: Can you think of a personal example of a behavior that went through extinction?

04-G: Learned Helplessness

  • What is learned helplessness and how might we apply the concept to understand something like depression?

  • How did Seligman (1975) and others demonstrate this concept with dogs?


READ: Learning to be Helpless

NOTE: It seems that Psychology Today has edited their article on learned helplessness, and an important detail is no longer there. The article states:

The phenomenon exists in many animal species as well as in people. For example, Seligman subjected study participants to loud, unpleasant noises, with a lever that would or would not stop the sounds. The group whose lever wouldn’t stop the sound in the first round stopped trying to silence the noise in the second round.

To provide a bit more context, there were two rounds. In the first round, there was a loud noise and a single lever. Of course, participants would try the lever to see if it stopped the sounds. For half, it did... and for the other half, the noise could not be stopped by the lever.

In the second round, there was a different puzzle, and participants were told that if they solved the puzzle the noise would stop. So, what they are describing above is that for those who previously accepted that they could not stop the sound gave up on the puzzle in the second round. Those who previously had control over the noise with the level were more persistent with the puzzle, believing that they could solve it and turn off the aversive stimulus (noise).

04-H: Keeping it Clear

  • What associations have been classically conditioned in you?

  • What behaviors have been operantly conditioned in you?

  • How would you distinguish between classical and operant conditioning?


Here is a great review video that summarizes what you have learned

WATCH: The difference between classical and operant conditioning