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behaviourism using ivan pavlov classical conditioning
behaviorism classical conditioning essay
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Classical Conditioning and Behaviorism
When taking psychology classes I have always enjoyed learning about behaviorism because it seems so cut and dry; if someone wanted to get a clear understanding or their fellow man, all they would have to do is sit back and observe. With behaviorism there is no Id, Ego or Superego to take into account, just raw behavior. While this approach seems simple enough, I feel that it can only offer an incomplete window into seeing how people function and react with various things on a day to day basis.
I don’t feel that behaviorism alone can define people on their interaction with the environment they are presented. Freud was on psychologist who voiced concerns to this as well. Freud believed that while environmental factors help to shake who we are as human beings, the subconscious mind is much more influential in the shaping of personality and behavior.
Behaviorism and conditioning has its share of success stories especially when used to curb undesirable habits such as smoking and drinking, however they have also had their moments of darkness as well as seen in 1920 with John Watson and his little experiments that starred a young boy dubbed Little Albert. During Watson’s experiments to help explain conditioning, During his experiments Watson exposed Albert to a number of animals and recorded Albert’s initial reactions which were next to none at all. Watson then began exposing the same animals to Albert, and providing loud bangs that startled Albert at the same time. Eventually Albert began to cry at the sight of the animals even when they were not seen simultaneously with the loud bang.
Watson reasoned that Albert’s lack of visible emotion to his first exposure to the animals was based on ...
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...orks such as asking children to be quite because it’s almost bed time. Although a lot of behaviorism seems like it is based on common sense, Skinner Watson and others that contributed to its study and development forever changed the way science looks at, treats and explains humans and the way we behave.
Works Cited
Skinner, B. F. (1997). B.F. Skinner a life. Washington D.C.:American Pychological Association.
Watson, J.B. (1930) Behaviorism. New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Skinner, B.F. (1978). Reflections on behaviorism and society. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Princeton Hall, Inc.
Huffman, K. (2012) Pychology in action, Tenth edition. Hoboken, N.J.: John Whiley and Sons Inc.
Bartlett, T.B.,(2012). The sad saga of ‘Little Albert’ gets far worse for a researcher’s reputation. Chronicle of Higher Education. 58,2,3. DMACC Libraries Print Holdings.
In the following essay I will be looking into the study conducted by Watson and Rayner (1920) on a small child known as ‘Little Albert’. The experiment was an adaptation of earlier studies on classical conditioning of stimulus response, one most common by Ivan Pavlov, depicting the conditioning of stimulus response in dogs. Watson and Rayner aimed to teach Albert to become fearful of a placid white rat, via the use of stimulus associations, testing Pavlov’s earlier theory of classical conditioning.
In 1920, the search to prove that humans learn their emotional reactions was started by J.B. Watson and his research assistant Rosalie Rayner. The research that was conducted was to help Watson’s movement, behaviorism, which has the viewpoint that behaviors are created from outside factors of the person because of many different environmental stimuli, say a rat.
This was called the Little Albert study. The experiment was designed to test the theory that an infant could be conditioned to fear an animal that is shown at the same time that a loud noise is being made. In the beginning of the experiment the rat was shown to Albert with no loud noise. Albert showed no signs of fear. But when there was a loud noise made when the rat was shown he started crying and having avoidance showing signs of fear. The loud noise was made with a hammer and a steel bar. Two months after pretesting Albert with the rat, Watson and Rosalie showed the rat, small animals, and object. Albert showed fear to them. Then they moved Albert to a different room for testing, he had a reaction to the rat, rabbit, and dog. While they tested him in this room they were still making noise while presenting the animal. For example when the dog was shown it would bark in the middle of the session, and when the rat was shown the loud band was still made. According to Ronna f. Dillon, “Albert was said to show fear when touching a mask, a sealskin coat, the rat, a dog, and a rabbit” (2). Watson proved that classical conditioning works on humans with the little Albert
In chapter one, we discussed about John B. Watson’s theory that all behaviors were to be learned like what he did towards “little Albert” and the white mouse. There are several connections that I can make from my own experience of how John B. Watson conditioned “little Albert” mind. This can relate to myself but in case it is about seeing the dark. Ever since I was a kid my parents would always tell me that to not walk away from them especially at night. They would always scare me and say “there’s a monster there!!” or there’s a ghost and as a kid I
behavior as a response to a stimulus. A few of John B. Watson's literary works
Behaviorism is a branch of psychology that has a theoretical approach that gives emphasis to the study of behavior in place of the subject of the mind or the physiological correlates of one's behavior. Behavior is the externally visible response to a stimulus of an animal or human (Weidman). B.F. Skinner is one of the most prominent psychologists of the study of behaviorism. Skinner was on the advance of behaviorism. B.F. Skinner created a group of theories that set out to prove that subjective impetus is not what behavior in humans and animals is so much based on but that behavior is more based on possible reward received and chastisement applied to the animal or human (Newsmakers). Skinner entered into the branch of behaviorism in the 1920s. Behaviorism was still a fairly new branch to psychology at this time. However, Skinner's experiments in his libratory were broadly consideration to be electrifying and ground-breaking, illuminating an knowledge of human behavior and logistics (Newsmakers). Skinner called such behavior based on possible reward received and chastisement that was followed by the repetition of that behavior operant.
John Broadus Watson (1878-1958) has become well known for being the founder of behaviorism as a school of thought throughout American psychology. His view on psychology consisted of seeing it as a science of observation on behaviors. He believed that one must first observe a behavior in a certain environment or situation, then predict and determine the connection between the two. Much of his theory was based on the work of Ivan Pavlov’s observations through classical conditioning. Watson claimed that the process of classical conditioning could be used to explain any behavioral factor in human psychology. Classical conditioning involves the pairing of two different stimuli in producing a learning response from the participant. His belief on the topic was that single differences in behavior were caused by different experiences of learning.
The Little Albert experiment has become a widely known case study that is continuously discussed by a large number of psychology professionals. In 1920, behaviorist John Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner began to conduct one of the first experiments done with a child. Stability played a major factor in choosing Albert for this case study, as Watson wanted to ensure that they would do as little harm as possible during the experiment. Watson’s method of choice for this experiment was to use principles of classic conditioning to create a stimulus in children that would result in fear. Since Watson wanted to condition Albert, a variety of objects were used that would otherwise not scare him. These objects included a white rat, blocks, a rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, wool, and a Santa Claus mask. Albert’s conditioning began with a series of emotional tests that became part of a routine in which Watson and Rayner were determining whether other stimuli’s could cause fear.
According to the video entitled Behaviorism: A general overview of behaviorist learning theory, this approach to learning rejects the emphasis on the conscious and unconscious mind and focuses on the observable behavior of the subject. The principle of the behaviorism theory is that there is a direct association between a stimulus and the response an individual makes, the change in an individual’s behavior indicates that learning has occurred, and that individuals are not born with disposition to act in particular ways (Ormrod, 2012). In classrooms where the behavioral technique is used, there are often behavior modification and token reward systems in place (Campana, 2011).
As we all know behaviorism is also known as behavioral psychology. This is based on the idea that behaviors are acquired using conditioning. This occurs when a person interacts with his or her environment. Behavior can be studied in a systematic manner only considering the observable and not including the internal thoughts of the person. Behaviors are influenced by external factors from the conditioning of parents to situations in the environment. Behaviorism is concerned primarily with the observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. The behavioral approach is based on the concept of explaining behavior through observation, and the belief that our environment is what causes us to behave differently or suffer illnesses. Therefore when behaviors become unacceptable, they can be unlearned. Behaviorism views development as a continuous process in which children play a relatively passive role. It is also a general approach that is used in a variety of settings including both clinical and educational.
Behaviorism must be seen as a methodological proposal of explaining the behavior of organisms from the lowest to the highest. Explaining human and nonhuman behavior by reference to scientific laws and the theories expressed of physical states, events, and entities. Because modern psychology emerged roughly in the mid-19th century, information of behaviorism was gathered in its early stages by introspection (looking at your own inner states of being; your own desires, feelings, and intentions) then linking them to the outside observable state.
Jhon B Watson, a behaviorist, conducted an experiment inspired by the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov to determinate the classical condition in humans. Little Albert experiment was conducted in a 9 month old baby whom a rat is showed to see his r...
There are five main contributors to behaviorism. They are Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura, and Joseph Wolpe. The beh...
Behaviorism is defined as a school of psychology that takes the objective evidence of behavior (as measured responses to stimuli) as the only concern of its research and the only basis of its theory without reference to conscious experience (Merriam-Webster). B.F skinner, Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson are known as the fathers’ of behaviorism. They all had a different prospective on what makes someone learn, the one thing they had in common is reinforcement methods. Their experiments did have enough true findings to spark others to want to explore how behaviorism affects learning. Behaviorists often look at learning as a characteristic of conditioning and will promote a system of prizes and targets in education.
The two researchers that really shaped this belief are Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. Ivan Pavlov researched the digestive systems of dogs to discover the classical conditioning process, which demonstrated that this learning process could be used to make an association between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. The two elements are then known as the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. B.F. Skinner came up with the concept of operant conditioning, which showed the effect of punishments and reinforcements on behavior. Through operant conditioning, a connection is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. The basic principles of behaviorism are widely used today, in many situations ranging from parenting to education.