BEHAVIORISM

Behaviorism refers to a psychological approach which

emphasizes scientific and objective methods of investigation. The
approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-response
behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction
with the environment.

The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John Watson

wrote an article entitled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it,' which
set out a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology
and behavioral analysis:

All behavior is learned from the environment:

Behaviorism emphasizes the role of environmental factors in influencing
behavior, to the near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. This
amounts essentially to a focus on learning.
We learn new behavior through classical or operant conditioning
(collectively known as 'learning theory').
Therefore, when born our mind is 'tabula rasa' (a blank slate).

Psychology should be seen as a science:

Theories need to be supported by empirical data obtained through
careful and controlled observation and measurement of behavior.
Watson (1913) stated that:
'Psychology as a behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental
branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is … prediction and
control.' (p. 158).
The components of a theory should be as simple as possible.
Behaviorists propose the use of operational definitions (defining
variables in terms of observable, measurable events).

Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable

behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking
and emotion:
While behaviorists often accept the existence of cognitions and emotions,
they prefer not to study them as only observable (i.e., external) behavior
can be objectively and scientifically measured.
Therefore, internal events, such as thinking should be explained through
behavioral terms (or eliminated altogether).

There is little difference between the learning that

takes place in humans and that in other animals:
There's no fundamental (qualitative) distinction between human and
animal behavior. Therefore, research can be carried out on animals as
well as humans (i.e., comparative psychology).
Consequently, rats and pigeons became the primary source of data for
behaviorists, as their environments could be easily controlled.
Behavior is the result of stimulus-response:
All behavior, no matter how complex, can be reduced to a simple
stimulus-response association). Watson described the purpose of
psychology as:
'To predict, given the stimulus, what reaction will take place; or, given
the reaction, state what the situation or stimulus is that has caused the
reaction.' (1930, p. 11).

The History of Behaviorism

 Pavlov (1897) published the results of an experiment on
conditioning after originally studying digestion in dogs.
 Watson (1913) launches the behavioral school of psychology,
publishing an article, Psychology as the behaviorist views it.
 Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned an orphan called Albert
B (aka Little Albert) to fear a white rat.
 Thorndike (1905) formalized the Law of Effect.
 Skinner (1936) wrote The Behavior of Organisms and introduced
the concepts of operant conditioning and shaping.
 Clark Hull’s (1943) Principles of Behavior was published.
 B.F. Skinner (1948) published Walden Two, in which he
described a utopian society founded upon behaviorist principles.
 Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior begun in 1958.
 Chomsky (1959) published his criticism of Skinner's behaviorism,
"Review of Verbal Behavior."
 Bandura (1963) publishes a book called the Social Leaning
Theory and Personality development which combines both
cognitive and behavioral frameworks.
  B.F. Skinner (1971) published his book, Beyond Freedom and
Dignity, where he argues that free will is an illusion.

CLASSICAL & OPERANT CONDITIONING

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian conditioning) is
learning through association and was discovered by Pavlov, a Russian
physiologist. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce
a new learned response in a person or animal.
John Watson proposed that the process of classical conditioning (based
on Pavlov’s observations) was able to explain all aspects of human
psychology.
Everything from speech to emotional responses was simply patterns of
stimulus and response. Watson denied completely the existence of the
mind or consciousness. Watson believed that all individual differences
in behavior were due to different experiences of learning. He famously
said:
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist
I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and the race of his
ancestors” (Watson, 1924, p. 104).

Classical Conditioning Examples

There are three stages of classical conditioning. At each stage the stimuli
and responses are given special scientific terms:

Stage 1: Before Conditioning:

In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces
an unconditioned response (UCR) in an organism.
In basic terms, this means that a stimulus in the environment has
produced a behavior / response which is unlearned (i.e., unconditioned)
and therefore is a natural response which has not been taught. In this
respect, no new behavior has been learned yet.
For example, a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of
nausea (UCR). In another example, a perfume (UCS) could create a
response of happiness or desire (UCR).
This stage also involves another stimulus which has no effect on a
person and is called the neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a
person, object, place, etc.
The neutral stimulus in classical conditioning does not produce a
response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Stage 2: During Conditioning:

During this stage a stimulus which produces no response (i.e., neutral)
is associated with the unconditioned stimulus at which point it now
becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS).
For example, a stomach virus (UCS) might be associated with eating a
certain food such as chocolate (CS). Also, perfume (UCS) might
be associated with a specific person (CS).
For classical conditioning to be effective, the conditioned stimulus
should occur before the unconditioned stimulus, rather than after it, or
during the same time. Thus, the conditioned stimulus acts as a type of
signal or cue for the unconditioned stimulus.
Often during this stage, the UCS must be associated with the CS on a
number of occasions, or trials, for learning to take place. However, one
trail learning can happen on certain occasions when it is not necessary
for an association to be strengthened over time (such as being sick after
food poisoning or drinking too much alcohol).

Stage 3: After Conditioning:

Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned response
(CR).
For example, a person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume
(UCS) is now found attractive (CR). Also, chocolate (CS) which was
eaten before a person was sick with a virus (UCS) now produces a
response of nausea (CR).
Little Albert Experiment (Phobias)

Ivan Pavlovshowed that classical conditioning applied to animals.

Did it also apply to humans? In a famous (though ethically dubious)
experiment, Watson and Rayner (1920) showed that it did.
Little Albert was a 9-month-old infant who was tested on his reactions
to various stimuli. He was shown a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and
various masks. Albert described as "on the whole stolid and
unemotional" showed no fear of any of these stimuli. However, what
did startle him and cause him to be afraid was if a hammer was struck
against a steel bar behind his head. The sudden loud noise would cause
"little Albert to burst into tears.
When Little Albert was just over 11 months old, the white rat was
presented, and seconds later the hammer was struck against the steel
bar. This was done seven times over the next seven weeks, and each time
Little Albert burst into tears. By now little Albert only had to see the rat
and he immediately showed every sign of fear. He would cry (whether
or not the hammer was hit against the steel bar) and he would attempt
to crawl away.
In addition, the Watson and Rayner found that Albert developed
phobias of objects which shared characteristics with the rat; including
the family dog, a fur coat, some cotton wool and a Father Christmas
mask! This process is known as generalization.
Watson and Rayner had shown that classical conditioning could be
used to create a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear, i.e., a fear that is
out of proportion to the danger. Over the next few weeks and months,
Little Albert was observed and ten days after conditioning his fear of
the rat was much less marked. This dying out of a learned response is
called extinction. However, even after a full month it was still evident,
and the association could be renewed by repeating the original procedure
a few times.

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through

rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning,
an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a
consequence (Skinner, 1938).
By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and
other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of
learning other than classical conditioning. Perhaps the most important
of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious reasons,
he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913).
Skinner believed that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is
simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than
internal mental events.
The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning
was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human
behavior. He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look
at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach
operant conditioning.

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work
was based on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. According to this
principle, behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to
be repeated, and behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is less
likely to be repeated.
Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement.
Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened);
behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e.,
weakened).
Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments
using animals which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was similar to
Thorndike’s puzzle box.
Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that can follow
behavior.
• Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase
nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.
• Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the
probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either
positive or negative.
• Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the
likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.
We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been
affected by reinforcers and punishers. As a child you probably tried out
a number of behaviors and learned from their consequences.
For example, if when you were younger you tried smoking at school,
and the chief consequence was that you got in with the crowd you
always wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively
reinforced (i.e., rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the behavior.
If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught, caned,
suspended from school and your parents became involved you would
most certainly have been punished, and you would consequently be
much less likely to smoke now.

Positive Reinforcement
Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry
rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever on the side, and as the
rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever.
Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to
the lever.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of
being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed
the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.
Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a
consequence an individual finds rewarding. For example, if your
teacher gives you £5 each time you complete your homework (i.e., a
reward) you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future,
thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.

Negative Reinforcement
The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behavior.
This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an
adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person. Negative
reinforcement strengthens behavior because it stops or removes an
unpleasant experience.
For example, if you do not complete your homework, you give your
teacher £5. You will complete your homework to avoid paying £5, thus
strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.
Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in
his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current
which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it
would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the electric
current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to
the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of
escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action
again and again.
In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by
turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon
learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that
this would stop the electric current being switched on.
These two learned responses are known as Escape
Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment (weakens behavior)

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is
designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is
an aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows.
Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an
unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a
potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someone’s
pocket money to punish undesirable behavior.
Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and
negative reinforcement.
There are many problems with using punishment, such as:
 Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behavior
returns when punishment is no longer present.
 Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to
cope with problems.
 Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear
of school.
 Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior - reinforcement
tells you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.
 Principles of Child Development:

Development does not only see behaviour of any individual

child at a particular stage, but also looks into the involvement
of all people concerned with the development of the child.
It is not only that a child grows and changes his behaviour but
it is also necessary how other people around him look at the
child’s growing up and reconcile with his behavioural changes at
each stage.
The principles listed below govern all aspects of development—
physical, sensory-motor, cognitive, mental, behavioural
development as well as social- emotional development etc. The
following principles will help the adults around the child to
perceive him and his behaviour in the process of development,
which at times seem inexplicable to the adults surrounding him.
1. Development Proceeds Qualitatively from Simple toComplex:
In order to understand this principle, it is first necessary to
distinguish between “growth” and “development”. All
organisms including the humans increase in size as they grow
older. Their responsive behaviours also increase in number as
time passes on and life situations vary. This is an index of
quantitative change and is called growth.
These quantitative changes accumulate to form a noticeable
change of behaviour pattern—a qualitative change from earlier
to the present set of behaviour, which is termed development—a
noticeable difference in the pattern of the same behaviour will be
marked at this stage.
Development progresses qualitatively from simple to complex,
from reflexive to habit formation, from unsteady to bold and
stable ones. The growth and developmental process starts at the
prenatal stage, as and when a single-celled organism at
conception grows and develops to a highly complex body
structure along with variety of functions. The process by which
it takes place is known as development. It continues after the
baby is born up to maturational limit.
2. Development Proceeds from General to Specific:
As the child develops, his behaviour becomes more and more
intricate and complex leading towards specificity. In the
beginning his behaviour remains mass and undifferentiated— a
general response to all stimuli. But gradually they get
differentiated and specific response is elicited to specific
stimulus.
For example, the child at birth expresses only three kinds of
behaviour—they lie and rest on the bed, they sleep and they cry
when they are hungry.
The baby again cries when he is uncomfortable due to bed-
wetting or something else disturbing him. Gradually this crying
response becomes time- specific when he is hungry at intervals.
His crying responses due to uncomfortable feeling becomes
different from the earlier ones due to the presence of an
unfamiliar face or remaining alone in the bed and so on, thus
indicating this awareness of making different responses to
different stimuli.
This happens because development has taken place and the
child’s behaviour proceeds from general to specific.
Again, a baby makes general arm movements long before
specific responses for reaching objects. These are the examples
of behavioural development. Even in terms of physical
development, as the cells of the body change their character,
Specific kinds of tissues with specific functions are developed
— skins, bones, blood etc. Same thing happens during the child’s
language development.
3. Development Proceeds Directionally:
“The cephalo-caudal” principle refers to the fact that
development (as well as growth) always proceeds directionally
from head to foot. We see this principle demonstrated in
physical growth simply by comparing the changes that take
place in the comparative sizes of different parts of the body.
At birth baby’s heads are large in comparison to the rest of their
bodies. As children grow older, the rate of growth increases in
the lower extremities of the body. As this occurs, the head
gradually begins to look smaller in relation to the rest of the
body.
The other direction in which the body develops is known as
“proximo-distal” fashion i.e. it proceeds from areas closest to
the central nervous system outward to the extremities of the
body. Therefore, arm muscles develop before finger muscles.
4. Development Continues throughout Life:
Development is more or less a continuous process with spurts at
some stages. The changes that are controlled by the
developmental process are orderly and tend to occur in an
unvarying sequence. Therefore, the major changes are, more or
less, predictable. Everybody can be expected to sit before
standing, to stand before walking Havinghurst, (1952) .
Other psychologists tried to present some “developmental
tasks”of life according to the chronological sequence. According
to Havinghurst, each of the major periods of life involves some
of the important physical, cognitive, social and emotional tasks
which are to be mastered at the proper and accepted
developmental stage of the whole life span.
Since development is continuous, what happens at one stage
influences all ensuing stages. People change as a result of
maturation and experience. Psychoanalytic theorists have
pointed out great importance of the experiences the child receives
in the first year of life.
Particular emphasis has been laid on maternal affection he/she
gets at that period, the lack or loss of which can be expected to
exhibit predictable social problems in later stages of
development. It is necessary, therefore, to study the facts of
child development in order to understand the behaviour of the
adults.
Although the development is continuous and one stage merges
gradually to the next one and sometimes are overlapping in
character, still development sometimes seem to be discontinuous
and saltatory. This happens because development varies from
age to age for any given child.
For some, it is not very smooth and gradual. Sudden spurts in
development appear from time to time, especially during the
first two years of life and at puberty. A sudden noticeable
change appears at some stage which is entirely different from
the previous stage.
Taking the first step for walking is such a change, which is an
amazing and very satisfying sight for the mother. The rate of
development also varies from child to child. Any two children
born at the same time can be expected to differ somewhat as to
their height, weight or levels of sensory and motor development
and so on.
This means that each child is unique and tends to grow and
develop as per his/her own rate and characteristics. The rate of
development is also asynchronous, it varies as to different types
of development, e.g. emotional, social or language and concept
development.

Developmental Stages:
There is relationship between different aspects of development,
for example: there is a marked correlation between the rates of
physical and mental development. Thus we can surmise that the
developmental stages emerged logically from the principles
outlined in previous section. According to these principles, the
child develops in a systematic and orderly fashion.
The concept of the developmental stage becomes most useful
when it is used to describe not just one behaviour, but rather an
interrelated and unifying set of behaviours associated with a
given age level.
Inhelder calls this set of behaviours “a structural whole as
opposed to any isolated pieces of behaviour”. This view led the
psychologists to explore broader aspects of behaviour at
various stages of development and generalize the sorts of
behaviour expected of children at various age levels.
Consequently, some categorical stages could be labelled, as
childhood, adolescence etc. along the developmental continuum.
The hypothetical divisions are based on the descriptions of the
sequences of changes in behaviours at those levels. It is again to
be, considered that though development is a life-long process,
but viewed ability-wise, each development —physical, mental,
sensory-motor language, emotional or social etc. which can be
measured quantitatively—ceases as the child reaches certain
age level e.g. at the onset of adulthood.
The post-natal stages after birth are broadly divided as infancy
through childhood, preadolescence, adolesecence to adulthood
which provide descriptions and sequential changes at each stage
so named. For example, the term “adolescence” brings to mind a
particular description and sequence of behaviours different
from those of earlier stages at different age levels.
Description of developmental stages are based on
the “average”person’s bahaviour—that is, behaviour expected
of most people at any given age. Eventually, these behaviours
become age related, i.e. behaviour of the particular age group.
Their behaviours designate them as belonging to a particular
age group known as e.g.“adolescence”.
Thus infancy, childhood, adolescence etc. are considered as
periods of life i.e. developmental stages. They serve as a kind of
concise summation of what is happening to the individuals at
that point in their development. Kenistone described a
developmental stage between adolescence and adulthood, which
he called “Stage of Youth”.
Youth, he believes, “is characterized by behaviour associated
with tensions between self and society, pervasive ambivalance
alternating estrangement and omnipotentiality”.
The developmental stages are, in fact, not simply description of
age-related behaviour but according to Piaget the stages of
development describing certain sequence of behaviour—the
behaviours that gradually and predictably change in some
specific order.
To summarise, we can state that development is unified and
cumulative. The child’s physiological maturing interacts with
his experience. Thus, development has been equated with
readiness.
Apart from age-related behaviour, maturity can also be rated in
statistical terms, comparing an individual child’s behaviour with
the “norm” for his grade as the child enters school. Maturity
gradually changes its concept from age- related to achievement-
related behaviour.
This broadens the concept of maturity and refers to the extent to
which the children have mastered not only educational skills
and knowledge of subject matter but also general competence,
social competence, control of emotional behaviour, physical
coordination and so on.
The achievement-related maturational concept helps us to
understand such facts as “early maturer”, “physically
advanced children for their age”, “late maturer”, “immature
children” and “exceptional and bright children” etc.
The extent to which the child exceeds or lags behind the
developmental norms for his age tells us great deal about his
behaviour. Norms refer not only to physical development but
also to social and emotional development as well.
It may further be mentioned that the term maturity conveys two
notions from the behavioural point of view:
(a) Behaviour that is appropriate to the age of the individual
concerned, and
(b) Refers to the behavioural standards and expectations of
adults. The maturity level, judged from these two aspects,
involves an individual child’s readiness to engage in “prosocial
behaviours” like sharing, helping, cooperating, exchange of
ideas and so on.
Much depends on the kind of behaviour they see in adults.
Adult models are very important in the development of child’s
pro-social behaviour and equally important is the role of ‘role
playing’, ‘discussion’ and ‘formal training’.

Prepared By :

CHERRY MAE R. JORGE