7 The Second Force: Behaviourism - Watson and Skinner Flashcards Preview

2014 Personality and Intelligence > 7 The Second Force: Behaviourism - Watson and Skinner > Flashcards

Flashcards in 7 The Second Force: Behaviourism - Watson and Skinner Deck (20)
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1
Q

What is the assumption of evolutionary continuity in Behaviourism?

A

Human and animal behaviour are not different in kind, but only in the degree of complexity

2
Q

What is the assumption of reductionism in Behaviourism?

A

All behaviour is understandable ultimately as the workings of the organism’s nervous system

3
Q

What is the assumption of determinism in Behaviourism?

A

Every behaviour is caused, and the cause can be traced to environmental stimuli connecting the action to its biochemical bases.

4
Q

What is the assumption of empiricism in Behaviourism?

A

Only phenomena that could be observed, measured and manipulated were fit subjects for psychology.

5
Q

What are the four assumptions of behaviourism

A
  1. Evolutionary continuity
  2. Reductionism
  3. Determinism
  4. Empiricism
6
Q

What kind of concepts, according to Watson, are beyond the realm of scientific psychology?

A

Mental constructs such as mind, personality, consciousness, introspection, instincts, sensation, perception, motivation and mental states

7
Q

How did Watson define Behaviourism?

A

Behaviourism is “the study of what people do”

8
Q

What was personality for Watson?

A

What we call personality was for Watson simply learned habit systems

9
Q

Birth/death dates of John Broadus Watson?

A

1878-1958. Also, elected president of APA in 1915

10
Q

What was the point of the Little Albert study?

A

To prove that emotions can be conditioned

11
Q

How did the Little Albert Study work?

A

By pairing sight of rat with loud noise (US), Watson was able to elicit fear (CR) as a conditioned response to the rat (CS)

12
Q

What are some of the limitations of the Little Albert Study?

A

i) the study’s reliance on only one subject;
ii) insufficient experimental stimuli to test for generalization effects;
iii) subjective observers’ accounts;
iv) technology that did not permit a reliable assessment of emotional responses;
v) insufficient follow-up of Albert’s long- term fear responses and
vi) a confounding of instrumental and classical conditioning paradigms.

13
Q

How do behaviourists account for phobias?

A

With difficulty. Arachnophobia, for instance, cannot be accurately traced to a specific traumatic event (UC that caused fear). Where is the pairing? General difficulty in tracing paired associations b/w US and CS is a significant limitation of radical behaviourist approach.

14
Q

What are 3 limitations to the radical behaviourist approach?

A
  1. The behaviourists have not sufficiently recognised that an individual is not a tabula rasa whose behaviour is determined only by the situation (or the stimulus-response–reinforcement pattern in the situation).
  2. Ethnologists have shown a strong genetic component to much of our behaviour.
  3. Biological limits, species-specific behaviour and innate pre-dispositions all place a ceiling on the effectiveness and reliability of conditioning paradigms (Seligman, 1972; Eysenck, 1976).
15
Q

Birth/death dates of Skinner?

A

1904-1990

16
Q

Did Skinner consider the possibility of thought in his model?

A

Yes, but thought it was secondary in importance to the role of environment

17
Q

What did Skinner call events that are non-observable?

A

Private events - such as remembering and emotional reactions

18
Q

Did Skinner believe most human behaviours were voluntary or automatic?

A

Skinner believed most human behaviours are voluntary

19
Q

In what conditions can a reinforcer shape voluntary behaviour?

A

When the reinforcer is contingent on the response

20
Q

What was the difference in the way Watson and Skinner conceptualised the role of the environment?

A

Watson: A specific stimulus in the environment triggers automatic or involuntary behaviour.

Skinner: The consequences of the behaviour
affect the frequency of re-occurrence of
that (voluntary) behaviour.

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