BPSY 1113 History and Theories of Psychology

Chapter 9 Behaviorism
Lim Jia Hang
M. Clin. Psy
limjiahang@cyberjaya.edu.my
© 2019, University of Cyberjaya. Please do not reproduce, redistribute or share without the prior express permission of the author.
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic, you should be able

to;
• Describe the concept of behaviorism in the
history of psychology.
• Identify differences between behaviorism
and neo-behaviorism
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Behaviourism / Associationism
The First Force in Psychology (some say it’s the 2nd)
• Founding based on synthesis of many individuals’ work.
– Ancient Greeks
– Ideas of stimulus response models
– Empiricists
– Rationalists
• Usually credited to John B. Watson, but much work was
done before.
• The “Science” of Psychology
P4
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o • ‘The Behavioural Theory can be defined as a theoretical
g
y orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology
@
S should study only observable behavior”
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(Weiten, 2014, p.6)
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“Psychology should redefine itself as the science of behavior”

- John Watson (1913)
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Behaviorism – 1st spin-off of Functionalism

• How human nature can be learnt WITHOUT introspection of Wundt, Titchener
and James.

• Cattell (JMCK)  psychology shouldn’t just be about consciousness, but also

about behaviour.

• Echoed by Walter Pillsbury (1911)

– Psychology = science of human behaviour (Watson & Skinner)
– Influenced animal studies to reflect how behavioural concepts of learning
can be applied (functionalism) + (comparative psychology).
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Objective Psychology (Russian)

• Revisit – Baconian science
• Founder – Ivan M. Sechenov (1829-1905)
– Engineering first @ University of Moscow, then MD.
– Studied under Johannes Muller, Emil Du Bois-Reymond,
Hermann von Helmholtz.
– He was influenced by Spencer & Darwin’s evolutionary ideas.
• Uses associationism & materialism to explain psychic
phenomena.
– “Thoughts don’t cause behaviour, environmental cues do!”
• Did not deny unconscious but all due to physiological processes,
influenced by the five senses.
– All are reflexive. There’s no free will.
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Objective Psychology (Russian)

• Inhibition (Reflexes of the Brain, 1863)
– Inhibitory mechanisms in the brain means psychology can be studied using
physiology.
– Edwards Weber – stimulated vagus nerve to make frog heartbeat slower.

• Sechenov observed we can voluntarily inhibit / supress usually involuntary behaviours,

eg: sneeze, cough.
– He found:
• Brain stimulation by chemicals can inhibit reflexes.
• Beginning of a stimulus-response model.
• Stimulus type / intensity affects response.
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Objective Psychology (Russian)

• Therefore, +ve prior experiences can influence present experience and behaviour.

• Reflexes of the Brain explained excitation and inhibition of reflexes.

• There is no spontaneous behaviour, they all have causes.

• Psychology must studied via physiology  influenced by Muller, Helmholtz, maybe

later, Henry…

• Influenced neurophysiologists, especially studying inhibition.

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Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)

• Famous for classical conditioning

• Influenced by Sechenov, studied physiology, particularly
digestive system
• A materialist – facts more important than theories 
Baconian science, and a positivist.
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Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)

• Digestive system study gave Pavlov expertise in surgery in dogs to channel gastric juices
from stomach out to be measured / collected.
• Pavlov realised conditioned reflexes can be replaced by associative principles of
contiguity and frequency.
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Pavlovian Concepts (Conditioned Reflexes, 1927)

• US – Unconditioned stimulus
• UR – Unconditioned response / reflex (innate)
• CS – Conditioned stimulus; paired with contiguity / frequency
• CR – Conditioned response / reflex
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Pavlovian Concepts (Conditioned Reflexes, 1927)

• Excitation & Inhibition

– Learnt through experience
– Determined by brain  cortical mosaic
• Extinction =If a conditioned stimulus is continually presented to an organism and is
no longer followed by an unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will
gradually diminish and finally disappear, at which point extinction is said to have
occurred
• Spontaneous Recovery = after extinction
• Disinhibition = strong stimulus displaces inhibitory process.
• Experimental neurosis = forced confusion
– Presenting conflicting tendencies, eg: borderlinish behaviour
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Pavlov’s Beliefs
• Ironically, Pavlov (materialist / positivist) had a low opinion of psychology because it
uses introspection.
• Believed he has explained associations discerned by past philosophers by
demonstrating physiological mechanisms.
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John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Father of Behaviourism – USA
• Influenced by Functionalists:
– John Dewey, James Angell, Jacques Loed (1859-1924)
• Tropisim = simple organisms behave according to stimuli
• Ie: environmentalism

• Conflicts with Angell (pro-unconsciousness).

Therefore:
– Stuck to animals (rats & kinaesthetic
senses), and
– Sports psychology (Lashley)
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John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Note: Personal history can help understand development of Watson’s theories.

• Behaviourism (1913) – criticised for being too extreme.

• A few scandals – army, affair, sacking , drama  went into advertising & Pop
Psychology.

• Agreed with Objective Psychology – denounced mentalism and introspection.

– More similar to Bekhterev, than Pavlov.
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Watson  Stimulus- Response Model

• “Given the stimulus, psychology can predict what the response will be. Or, given the
response it can specify the nature of the effective stimulus.”
(1919, p. 10)

• Stimulus = environment / internal condition

• Response = behaviour
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Watson  Stimulus- Response Model

• 4 types of behaviour:
– Overt / Explicit (e.g. talking, writing, and playing baseball)
– Covert / Implicit(e.g increased heart rate caused by the sight of a dentist’s drill)
– Explicit Unlearned – ex: blinking, groping
– Implicit Unlearned – ex: glandular secretion

• 4 methods of studying behaviour:

– Observation
– Conditioned Reflex Method
– Testing – taking behaviour samples
– Verbal reports (not consciousness)
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Language and Thinking

• Speech = overt behaviour. Speech was simply a form of overt behavior, while thinking
was a form of implicit or subvocal speech

• Thinking = implicit / subvocal speech

– Not supported
There were a few simple reflexes, but no complex innate
behavior patterns in humans
• Our experience is what makes us who we are - radical
environmentalism.
Proposed that, along with a few basic reflexes,
humans inherit the emotions of fear, rage, and love.
• Through learning, emotions come to be elicited by many
stimuli, not just the stimuli that naturally elicit them.
• In addition, all other emotions are derived from these three.

(Adapted from : Henley, T. B., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2019). Hergenhahns: An Introduction to the History of Psychology
(8th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
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Emotions

• Little Albert Experiment on emotions.

– Generalized to other furry stuff.

• Peter and the Rabbit Experiment

(Watson & Mary Cover Jones):
– Start of systematic desensitization
using lunch time & rabbit distance
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– The research with infants (Little Albert) exemplified
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the conditioning (learning) of emotional responses in
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humans and the counterconditioning of those
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remotions.
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• It was one of the first examples of behavior therapy.
 Proposed that children should be raised in an
objective manner
• Few displays of affection.
• They are to be treated as adults.
• Watson also believed that children should receive sex
education.

(Adapted from : Henley, T. B., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2019). Hergenhahns: An Introduction to the History of Psychology
(8th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
• Learning was one of contiguity and frequency
• Events are associated in time, which produces conditioning of behavior to
occur.
• Law of recency.
• Adopted a physical monism position
• Eventually switched to a physical monism position regarding the mind-body
problem, rejecting the existence of mental events (consciousness)
altogether.
• Overt behaviors as an output of mental functioning

© 2019, University of Cyberjaya. Please do not reproduce, redistribute or share without the prior express permission of the author.
• There are two main types of monism.
• The first is materialism. In the materialistic view, nothing exists at all unless it’s a part of
the material, physical world. In the materialistic view, the brain exists, and the mind is
just a set of processes that happen in the nervous system.
• The second type of monism is subjective idealism, also called phenomenalism.
Subjective idealism is the opposite of materialism. Instead of saying that there is only
the physical world, it says that the only things that truly exist are the perceptions of
the mind.

© 2019, University of Cyberjaya. Please do not reproduce, redistribute or share without the prior express permission of the author.
Chapter 9B Neobehaviorism

© 2019, University of Cyberjaya. Please do not reproduce, redistribute or share without the prior express permission of the author.
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Neobehaviourism
• Following from Positivism of Bacon, then Watson and Russian Objectivists
– Dealing only with what is observable. Therefore, no theories.

• But theories such as gravity, magnetism, force, mass hold true.

– Therefore, need to use theories without any metaphysical (ie: physical) speculation.
– Logical positivism: Science = Empirical + Theoretical
• Empirical = Observation
• Theoretical = Explanation
– Theories only useful if they explain observation
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Neobehaviourism
• Operationism = Ensuring abstract term to be defined operationally (ie: as measurable).
E.g. Operational definition: how it measure.

• Physicalism = Unity of science = Physics

– Unification of common vocabulary among sciences (database language).
– All scientific propositions refer to physical.
– Conceptual denominator of sorts.
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Neobehaviourism
• Hence, Neobehaviourism = Behaviourism + Logical Positivism
– Theories are okay.
– Cf: Radical Behaviourism – “to hell with theories!”

• Despite diversity in neobehaviourists, common beliefs:

– Logical positivists
– All theories are operationally defined
– Animals used in experiments can be generalized to humans
– Learning process = The learning process is of prime importance because it is
the primary mechanism by which organisms adjust to changing
environments.

• Compare: Psychoanalysis, Gestalt, Cognitive Psychology

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Edward Chace Tolman (1886-1959)

• Rejected Watson’s associative principles of contiguity
and frequency, as well as Thorndike’s Laws of Effect..
– Divided behaviour into:
• Molecular behaviour (S-R reflex)
• Purposive behaviour (ironically mentalistic)
– Seeing purpose in behaviour, but not instinct
– Molar behaviour.
– Therefore, purposive behaviourism.
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Tolman’s Intervening Variables

• Tolman came to believe that cognitive processes really exist and are influential in determining
behavior
• Tolman argued that these mental processes, or intervening variables, are just as important as
the observable stimuli and responses in understanding behavior. He believed that by
understanding these intervening variables, we can gain a deeper understanding of why
people behave the way they do

For example, let's say a person is hungry and sees a

sandwich. According to Tolman's Intervening Variables,
there may be mental processes happening inside the
person's mind that affect how they respond to the
sandwich. These mental processes could include things
like their memories of previous sandwiches, their beliefs
about the healthiness of sandwiches, or their emotional
state at the time
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Tolman’s Influence

• Purpose and cognition into behaviourism.

– Intervening variables
– Active processing of information (in
accordance to modern cognitive
psychology)
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Clark Leonard Hull (1884-1952)

• Hypothetico-Deductive Theory
– Self-corrective learning.
– Extension of Tolman’s intervening variables.
• Added more intervening internal considerations;
primarily physiological.
– Reinforcement = drive-reduction
– Habit-strength = based on reinforced pairings
– Reaction Potential = probability of a learnt response

• Darwinian influence  Towards adaptation.

• Influence  Technical calculation of behaviourism

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Edwin Ray Guthrie (1886-1959)

• Maths graduate.

• MA philosophy – into learning.

• Believed in using simple language for teaching.

• Very functionalist / applied.

• Behaviourist – but argued with others (ie: Watson,

Tolman, Hull, Skinner)
– Saying stress too unparsimonious and subjective.
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One Law of Learning

• Influenced by Aristotle  law of contiguity
– What you do in the last situation is what you will tend to do if the situation recurs.
– For example, imagine that every time you visit a particular park, you see a particular
bird perched on a nearby tree. Over time, your mind will begin to associate the park
with the bird, and you may start to expect to see the bird every time you visit the park.

One-Trial Learning
• Aristotle: Law of Contiguity and Law of Frequency.
• E.g classical conditoning
• Skinner, Pavlov, Watson, Tolman and Hull agree
– But Guthrie says that pairing occurs at first response.
 Why Practice Improves Performance?
• If learning in one-trial, how to improve performance?
1. Movement – specific response to a specific configuration of
stimuli.
2. Act – response made to varying stimulus configurations and
movement (situation!)
3. Skill – involves many acts: many stimulus configurations.
• Performance improves after learning in various movements (specific
responses).
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Nature of Reinforcement
• Guthrie: “Reinforcement preserves the association that
preceded it.”

• Guthrie and Horton: Whatever the animal does last in the

same situation will be repeated – a mechanical arrangement
(see shaping) to prevent unlearning.
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Forgetting
• Can also occur in one-trial
– When an old S-R association is replaced by a new one.
• All forgetting involves new learning (not a passive fading).

Breaking Habits
• Habit = act that has become associated with a large number of stimuli
– More stimuli = stronger habit.

• Changing habits are to replace habit with a new habit, within the same stimuli
configuration / situation.
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Punishment
• Replace with behaviour incompatible with target behaviour- in same
situation.

Drives and Intentions

• Drives provide maintaining stimuli (internal / external) until goal is
reached.
– To stay motivated – surround self with maintaining stimuli.
• Ie: posters, self-talk practice.
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Guthrie’s Influence
• Challenge to other behaviourism.

• William Kaye Estes (1919-2011)

– Stimulus Sampling Theory
• More in line with cognitive psychology
 Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F. Skinner)

• Experimental psychologist
• Influenced by Pavlov and Watson.
• Studied at Harvard.

© 2019, University of Cyberjaya. Please do not reproduce, redistribute or share without the prior express permission of the author.
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Positivism According to Skinner

• Not logical, not Baconian.
– “Job of science is to DESCRIBE empirical relationships, not explain them.”
• To explain why is to use metaphysics.
– Theories don’t make sense.

Functional Analysis of Behaviour

• Based on being a physical monist.

• Task analysis – behaviour cued by environmental signals.

– Antecedent
– Behaviour
– Consequence
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Operant Behaviour
• Replace reflexive behaviour with Respondent Behaviour.
• Instrumental Conditioning – Thorndike
• Operant Conditioning – Skinner
– Operant behaviour = a behaviour carried out to produce consequences after
learning the pattern in ABC.
– Operant behaviour is controlled by the consequence, not antecedent.
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Nature of Reinforcement
• Increases behaviour when presented contingent upon it.
– Agree with Thorndike but not the “satisfying state of affairs”.

Importance of the Environment

• Stimulus control  towards surviving.
• Evolutionary function  to adapt and survive.

Positive Control of Behaviour

• Reinforcement and punishment not symmetrical.
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Application of Skinner’s Principles

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• To change behaviour: Change reinforcement contingencies.

• Similar to Watson – Skinner’s Utopia: Walden Two

– Programmed learning.
• Step-by-step
• Ie: Fluency building

• Behaviour Therapy
– BMod
– Token economies, etc.
– Added to Cognitive Therapy (combined in the late 1980s)
– World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy (WCBCT) – now
WCCBT (see WCCBT 2024 – Seoul, S.Korea).
 Behaviorism Today
 Skinner remains the most influential of all the
behaviorists
– Skinner remains the most influential of all the
behaviorists, which have been discussed.
 Major legacy of behaviorism:
– Psychologists generally now agree that the subject
matter of psychology is overt behavior.

(Adapted from : Henley, T. B., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2019). Hergenhahns: An Introduction to the History of Psychology
(8th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage.
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