1、Chapter 13 Four Neobehaviorist psychologists,Dr. Nancy Alvarado,Four Neobehaviorists,The four neobehaviorists described in this chapter (Tolman, Guthrie, Hull, Skinner) accepted Watsons: Rejection of consciousness His definition of psychology as the science of behavior His insistence on objective, o

2、bservational data. These four had similarities but also many important differences from each other. As a result, the Behaviorist movement was extremely productive in terms of theory and research.,Edward Chace Tolman (1886-1959),Tolman grew up in Newton MA and went to MIT, graduating with a degree in

3、 electrochemistry. William James “Principles of Psychology” changed his life he went to Harvard breaking horses with successive weight on its back (contiguity). Signals to smoke (finishing a meal, starting work).,Cats in a Puzzle Box,Performing 800 escape responses, Guthrie observed that cat respons

4、es were highly stereotypical (the same each time). He suggested that cats had learnedto associate that specific movementwith escape from the box. Critics suggested the movementwas stereotypical because it was instinctive (species typical) to greet others by rubbing against them.,Guthries Clinical Vi

5、ews,Guthrie published “The Psychology of Human Conflict” in 1938. He translated Pierre Janets “Principles of Psychotherapy” and preferred Janets idea of force mentale to Freuds ideas about the subconscious. Everyone has a certain amount of energy (force). When it is depleted by crises, neuroses appe

6、ar. Mental health requires maintaining a balance of mental energy.,Clark Leonard Hull (1884-1952),Hull was born on a farm but worked hard to become more than a “chore boy.” He was intensely self-critical and had poor health (polio, typhus). He originally studied mining engineering but a paralyzed le

7、g ruled that out. He entered grad school at Univ. of Wisconsin, working with Joseph Jastrow, who had studied with G. Stanley Hall. His dissertation taught subjects associations to Chinese characters. He then became a lecturer at Wisconsin.,Clark L. Hull,Research on Aptitude Testing,Assigned to teach

8、 a class on psychological testing, he became interested in validating existing tests. His attempt to develop a universal aptitude test failed. Hull built a correlation machine to avoid doing the laborious calculations by hand. His machine predated calculators and computers and is now in the Smithson

9、ian Museum in Washington D.C. Without access to sufficient subjects to validate his tests, he abandoned aptitude testing as a research interest.,Research on Hypnosis,Teaching classes to medical students, Hull became interested in the role of suggestibility in medical cures. Jastrow shared that inter

10、est as a skeptic. He attempted to improve the quality of experimental work done to investigate hypnosis, wary of fraud. He believed susceptibility to hypnosis was normally distributed in the population with little correlation with other traits or sex. Children slightly more susceptible. He found tha

11、t hypnosis did not improve memory. His book Hypnosis & Suggestibility is still used as a text.,Hulls Behavior System,Hulls most significant contribution to psychology was his development of a comprehensive behavior system a model of how behavior occurs. At Yale, Hull intensively studied Newtons Prin

12、cipia and philosophers like Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead, Hobbes, Lock, Hume, Kant & Leibnitz. Spence (Hulls student) described his system as “a Herculean elaboration of Woodworths S-O-R formula” (Stimulus Organism Response). He conceptualized humans as elaborate machines.,Hulls Drive

13、 Theory,He attempted to extend the principles of classical conditioning to instrumental trial and error learning. He accepted the idea of reinforcement based on drive reduction. His theory was presented in “Principles of Behavior.” His theory had 17 postulates and 17 corollaries. It included interve

14、ning variables for habit strength, stimulus intensity, drive level, incentive value of the reward to determine output latency, reaction amplitude. He led an impressive program of experimentation.,Evaluating Hulls Theory,It was successful at stimulating new research. Some questioned whether the limit

15、ed range of experimental situations used in his research could shed light on more generalized behavior. Can a theory of behavior be developed without testing humans? Hull hoped to go on to test humans later. The theory was better at predicting group results than individual rat behavior. Hilgard said

16、 “For its time, Hulls system was the best there was.”,Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990),Between 1945 & 1975, B.F. Skinner was the best known psychologist in the world. 12 major books, numerous papers, a multi-volume autobiography, numerous works written about him. 3 journals are devoted to a Skin

17、nerian approach to psychology. He was the modern spokesperson for radical Behaviorism articulate, effective, opinionated and controversial. He said he would burn his kids before his books.,B.F. (Fred) Skinner,Skinners Early Life,His father was a conservative, small town lawyer. He started out to bec

18、ome a writer and poet but changed his mind because he had nothing to say. Pen name Sir Burrhus de Beerus Watsons “Behaviorism,” praised by his favorite philosopher (Bertrand Russell) inspired him to study behavior. He was accepted to Harvard. Skinner heard Pavlov speak & was impressed. He focused on

19、 reflex as the unit of behavioral analysis.,Operant Conditioning,Skinner developed the apparatus called an operant chamber (Skinner box). Operant = the animal operates on its environment. In Skinners apparatus the animal controls the response rate, not the experimenter. Response rate was his DV. Beh

20、avior could be manipulated by changing reward. This approach was an important step toward a scientific way of experimentally studying behavior. Animals learned right before his eyes.,Skinners Four Principles,Skinner proposed four principles of scientific practice: When you run into something interes

21、ting, drop everything else and study it. Some ways of doing research are easier than others. Some people are lucky. Apparatuses, especially complicated ones, break down. Skinner disliked statistics and didnt use many. He focused on individual animals.,Schedules of Reinforcement,This approach was dis

22、covered accidentally because he had only a few rat pellets left, so he could only reinforce an occasional response. Intermittent reinforcement maintained the frequency of responding, and even increased it. Research on schedules was a major contribution to psychology and is the research Skinner was m

23、ost proud of.,Behavioral Control,Skinner described approaches to shaping behavior in “How to Teach Animals” in 1951. Shaping is a powerful procedure for establishing and changing behavior. He shaped a rat to drop a marble through a hole and two pigeons to play ping pong. His students Keller & Marian

24、 Breland formed a company to train animals for entertainment & commercial businesses.,Skinners Utopia,In 1945 Skinner wrote “Walden II,” a utopian novel describing a community based on operant principles of behavioral control. He envisioned a happy, health, productive community. Other utopias includ

25、e Platos “Republic,” St. Augustines “City of God,” Rousseaus “The Social Contract,” and Huxleys “Brave New World.” Huxleys satire warns of the threat of psychology.,Skinners Applied Research,Skinner built a child compartment (early version of the incubator) to provide warmth & keep out germs. Called “air cribs” or “hei