Lecture

Lecture—

BEHAVIORISM

John B. Watson B. F. Skinner

Behaviorism is one of the simplest theories to explain—there’s really not much to it. The mission of this theory is to predict and control behavior. What Behaviorists are interested in is how changes in environmental conditions can bring about behavioral change. What it boils down to is that individuals will work to achieve desired outcomes and to avoid negative ones. All animals appear to be capable of learning in this way. As Thomas points out, Behaviorism as it was originally proposed technically doesn’t meet the criteria for being a theory that he discusses in your textbook. B. F. Skinner agreed with that assessment, as a matter of fact. Whether we choose to call this a theory or not, it certainly is an idea that revolutionized the study of behavior.

First, let’s briefly go over the differences between “radical” (as proposed by Watson and added to by Skinner) and more recent versions of behaviorism.

Skinner, the Radical

In 1971, Time magazine called Skinner “the most influential of living American Psychologists.” According to Science News, Skinner’s book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, was one of “the mostimportant happenings in 20^th century psychology.” In Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner asserted that the “autonomous man” does not exist. What he meant by the term were all aspects of humans that are different from other animals and, at the same time, not directly observable: reason, mind, values, thought, judgment, volition, purpose, memory, independence, and self-esteem. He dismissed these things as “prescientific superstition.” In fact, he called the cognitive movement (made popular by Jean Piaget) “the creationism of Psychology.” Here we have an extreme example of a “positivism”—the scientific and philosophical movement that contends that objective knowledge is directly knowable, and that we must use scientific methods to study directly observable phenomenon. So, according to the positivist framework, if you can’t see it, it’s not material that should be studied by any discipline that calls itself a science. This was not only an indictment of Freudian psychology, which was still popular, but of any study of human behavior that made inferences about things that were not directly observable by researchers. For Skinner, the study of cognition was just as absurd for science as the study of souls. Although his more extreme version of Behaviorism began to fall out of favor toward the end of his life, he went on arguing this position until the day he died. Reflect on Skinner’s position on cognition and other internal states as you read the web reading I assigned you. He’s not giving you a lesson in semantics. He’s making an argument about the nature of what we think of as “internal states.”

One of Skinner’s greatest contributions to Behaviorism and to social science were the innovative research methods he devised. This caused a flurry of research on animal and human learning:

Skinner Boxes:

For Rats/Rodents

Rats and other rodents could press a bar to receive food (positive reinforcement). The light was used to make the task more complex—sometimes a reward would only be administered when the light was on, and not when the light was turned off. The animal’s bar pressing would be recorded on the “cumulative recorder” to demonstrate the rate of learning taking place as a result of reinforcement. Although the diagram doesn’t show it, the box could also be set up to administer negative reinforcement, usually in the form of shock.

For Pigeons

The Skinner box for Pigeons worked essentially the same way. Pigeons don’t press bars, but they do peck. In fact, pecking lights near food sources is such an ingrained behavior in Pigeons, they would sometimes peck a light even if it meant that they missed the opportunity to get the positive reinforcement (grain or seed). This species specific response was somewhat problematic for “radical” Behaviorism.

For Humans

“AIR CRIB” “AIR CRIB” W/ SKINNER’S SKINNER & WIFE W/ DAUGHTER

DAUGHTER

The air crib was not actually used for research. He believed that all of the scientific advances that could be applied to research could also be applied in practice. He not only wrote a novel about it called Walden Two (real Walden Two’s were started as a result of this novel), he also devised a skinner box in which he raised his infant daughter. You’re probably wondering how this worked out. Although there have been rumors to the contrary, his daughter grew up to be perfectly normal by all accounts. I’ve read that the Skinners were excellent parents—open, warm, openly discussed things…actually, they were authoritative parents before Diana Baumrind proposed the typology.

Applications:

Behaviorist interventions such as token systems have been used with children who exhibit behavioral problems, children with ADHD, people with phobias, and in general these interventions have had enduring popularity with parents and others who work with children. Next time you happen to be in the diaper aisle at your local grocery store, read the side of a package of Huggies. Often these will come with charts and stickers or other advice for reward systems to aid in potty training. In grade school, it is still very common to see charts on the walls or other types of reward systems (usually involving candy—don’t we have an obesity problem in this country?—stickers, or other small treats) to encourage good behavior or academic performance. Next week, we’ll go into more detail about rewards and how they should be used as we discuss the implications of Social Cognition Theory for motivating students.

Applications:

Suggested Reading: