Behaviorism

• How do we know how to respond to different stimuli?

• Jumping at the sound of a loud noise.

• Feeling anxiety after seeing flashing police lights in your rearview mirror.

• Squinting in the bright sunlight.

• Pulling your hand away after touching a hot stove.

• Grabbing for your phone when hearing your ringtone.

Do Now

Behaviorism

Science of Observable Behavior

Mental process cannot be studied directly but behaviorists believe that people’s behaviors are directly related to mental process

Scientific approach - focus on experimentation

Movers and ShakersIvan Pavlov - discovered classical conditioning

John B. Watson - Father of Behaviorism - > Behavior without reference to thought

B.F Skinner - Operant Conditioning - Pigeons and Skinner Box

Behaviorism

Stimulus Response Pairing

Intro to Behaviorism Clip

Key Terms - Classical

ConditioningUnconditional Stimulus (UCS)- a stimulus that naturally triggers a response

Unconditioned Response (UCR)- a naturally occurring response to a stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)- a previously neutral stimulus that now elicits a response after being coupled with a UCS

Conditioned Response (CR) - a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Now Lets PlayDoggy Game

What about with People?

John Watson experiments with a baby named lil albert

Other TermsGeneralization - the tendency to respond to any stimulus similar to the CS - ex. lil Albert and all white furry things not just rats

Distinction - the ability to discriminate the CS from other familiar stimuli - ex. end of class bell vs fire alarm bell

Extinction - “unconditioning” - fading responses when the CS is no longer coupled with the UCS - ex. if Watson had paired white furry things with no loud noise many times, Albert would not be scared anymore

How do you feel about classical conditioning?

Option 1:What are you talking about!?!?

Option 3: Are you kidding? This is cake!

Option A:What are you talking about!?!?

Option A:What are you talking about!?!?

Option 2: I got it so far!

Option B: Are you kidding? This is cake!

Option4: Um..28? Sorry..I am obsessing over college stuff

Option 5: Ew...I hate slouchy hats.

Exposure Therapy

Used to extinguish phobias

Based on behaviorism

The anxiety provoking stimuli is presented to the person with greater frequency until there is no more anxiety

This is a good example

This is a bad example

What are punishments for behavior?

What are rewards for behavior?

Operant ConditioningThe learning of behaviors as a result of the

consequences that occur after those behaviors

Developed by B.F Skinner

Skinner was interested in the stimulus response

aspect of behaviorism but wanted to see if he could

train animals to elicit specific behaviors

Created the ”Skinner Box”

Example

Key Terms- Operant Conditioning

Positive Reinforcement - the addition of a positive consequence to increase a behavior - Rewards

Negative Reinforcement- the removal of a negative stimulus to increase a behavior

Punishment - the addition of negative consequence to decrease a behavior

Omission training - the removal of a positive stimulus to decrease a behavior

Lets see if it works with people?

Big Bang Theory

Skinner and his Pigeons

Pigeons Training Ping Pong Pigeons