Early Behaviorism Pavlov Watson and Guthrie Chapter 2

Early Behaviorism: Pavlov, Watson and Guthrie (Chapter 2) Vengertsev Dmitry

Agenda n Goals: q q q n n What classical conditioning is Emotions might be learned Similarities and differences among Pavlov, Watson and Guthrie Early Psychophysics I. Pavlov: Classical conditioning and its phenomena J. Watson: Behaviorism, Emotional Learning E. Guthrie: One-shot learning theory

First Steps of Psychophysics n n W. James: Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. Scientific approach: Psychophysics q q W. Wundt, G. Fechner tried to find absolute threshold for each sense – least amount of stimulation required for sensation M. Weber law: noticeable difference are a constant proportion of a stimulus

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov n Profound influence on development psychology n Classical conditioning q q q is a form of associative learning unconditioned stimulus (US) + unconditioned response (UR) conditioned stimulus (CS) + conditioned response (CR)

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Theory n Two different explanation of Learning: q q Contiguity – for behavior to change it’s sufficient that two events be paired Reinforcement – an effect that leads to learning (such as satisfaction of hunger) (details in Chapter 3)

Phenomena in Classical Conditioning n Learning curve n Extinction and Recovery conditioned associations are remarkably durable q spontaneous recovery (after some period of time) q n Generalization q salvation at wide range of tones

John Broadus Watson n Profoundly influenced by Pavlov’s model of classical conditioning n Revolutionize American psychology n Behaviorism – observable aspects of behavior. It’s real goal is to provide the basis of control of human beings n Emotional Learning n Watson’s Environmentalism

Behaviorism n n n Before Watson: Behaviorism is a study of the phenomena of consciousness Watson: consciousness is an irrelevant concept. Behaviorists tried to limit psychology to the study of actual, observable behavior The main goals of behaviorism: q q to provide the basis for the prediction and control of human beings to derive laws to explain the relationships existing among stimuli, responses and consequential conditions (reward, punishment)

Emotional Learning n Little Albert q q q 11 -month-old boy At the beginning showed no fear to great variety of objects and people Everyday among other things he was given white rat toy Touched white rat – loud sound. Albert didn’t cried, he tried again and again – each time was loud sound A week later procedure was repeated. Rat and the loud sound were combined for 5 more times Albert behavior change dramatically

Watson’s environmentalism n n n Are humans primarily product of genetic makeup or are they developed according environment? He was convinced that there are no individual differences at birth, people is function of their experience Very popular ides in the United States at that time

Watson’s behaviorism n n n Exaggerating role of learning in determining the behavior and underemphasizing the role of heredity He was more of a spokesman for behaviorism than a researcher He popularized notion of environmental experiences

Edwin R. Guthrie Theory consisted of only a single law: “When organism does something in one occasion, it will tend to do exactly the same thing if the occasion repeats itself”. q He claims that the full strength of the bond between stimulus and response is reached during the first pairing n

Habits breaking n Fatigue Technique n Threshold technique n Method of Incompatible Stimuli

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