PSYC 4520: Personality Ch. 13 NotesThe Behavioral/Social Learning ApproachObjectiveso Behaviorismo Basic Principles of Conditioningo Social Learning Theoryo Social-Cognitive Theoryo Application: Conditioning Principles & Self-Efficacy in Psychotherapyo Assessment: Behavior Observation Methodso Strengths and Criticisms of the Behavioral/Social Learning ApproachBehaviorismo John B. Watson  “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It”o New movement called behaviorismo “If psychology were to be a science, psychologists must stop examining mental states; only the observable was reasonable subject matter for a science”o We should study overt behavior That which can be observed, predicted, & eventually controlled by scientists Ex: emotions, thoughts, expectancies, values, reasoning, insight, & the unconsciouso Ivan Pavloso Animals could be made to respond to stimuli in their environment by pairing these stimuli with events that already elicited a response Classical conditioningo Other psychologistso Animals were less likely to repeat behaviors that met with negative consequences than were animals given no punishment Operant conditioningo Personality is the end product of our habit systemso B.F. Skinnero Skipping the party because you felt anxious  behavior does not change because you feel anxious decision to skip the party & the anxiety are both conditioned reactions to the situation Radical behaviorismo If you rush into a burning building it is not because you are heroic, but because you have been conditioned to do soBasic Principles of Conditioningo Conditioning is divided into 2 categorieso Classical conditioning Pavloviano Operant conditioning Instrumentalo Classical Conditioningo Classical conditioning  #1: Existing stimulus-response (S-R) association- Ex: dogs salivate when they see foodo Food= stimuluso Salivation= response- Food is unconditioned stimulus (UCS) & salivation is unconditionedresponse (UCR) #2: Pair UCS with new conditioned stimulus (CS)- Ex: whenever presenting food to dogs, sounding a bell- Salivation= conditioned response (CR) Other situation- If you were to pair a green light in addition to bell tone  x2 UCRso The process of building one conditioned S-R association onanother second-order conditioning Limitations- For a new S-R association to persist, the UCS & CS must be paired occasionally or otherwise reinforcedo Ex: when Pavlov presented bell ton only, dogs salivated less & less Sometimes you have to reintroduce the food- Gradual disappearance of the conditioned S-R association is calledo Extinctiono Operant Conditioning Law of effect- Behaviors are more likely to be repeated if they lead to satisfying consequences & less likely to be repeated if they lead to unsatisfying consequenceso Ex: Thorndike’s cats repeated the required behaviors because their actions led to the satisfying consequences ofescape & food Operant conditioning begins with behaviors the organism emits spontaneously- Operant conditioning concerns the effect certain kinds of consequences have on the frequency of behavioro Consequence that increases the frequency of a behavior that precedes it Reinforcemento Consequences that decreases the behavior Punishmento Two reinforcement strategies: Positive reinforcement- Behavior increases because it is followed by the presentation of a reward Negative reinforcement- Removal or lessening of an unpleasant stimulus when the behavior occurso Two methods for decreasing undesired behaviors Most effective: to cease reinforcement & let behavior extinguish Punishment- Frequency of a behavior is reduced when it is followed by an aversive stimulus or the removal of a positive stimulus- Limitations on Punishmento Doesn’t teach appropriate behaviors, only decrease frequency of undesired oneso To be effective it must be delivered immediately & consistentlyo Negative side effects Aversive feelings that accompany  Create negative emotionsShaping- Successive approximations of the desire behavior are reinforcedo Ex: rewarding patient for getting out of bed & sitting among the other patients  rewarding patient when he is in art therapy roomo Really useful when teaching complex behaviors Ex: children learning the alphabet Generalization & Discrimination- Generalizationo Pigeons trained to peck at large red circles to receive food will also peck at small orange circles (although not as frequent) Stimulus generalization- Discriminationo Pigeon is not rewarded for pecking at orange circles, it will soon learn to discriminate between rewarded & non-rewarded stimuliSocial Learning Theoryo Behavior-environment-behavior interactionso Not only does the environment influence our behavior, but that behavior then determines the kind of environment we find ourselves in which can influence behavior Environment influences behavior  behavior determines the kind of environment we find ourselves in  influences behavior - Ex: the way people treat you is partly the result of how you acto John Rottero “causes of human behaviors are far more complex than those of lower animals” Multifinalityo Behavior potential Likelihood that a given behavior will occur in a particular situation Two variables need to be considered:- Expectancyo Ex: before joining a soccer game, trying to figure out probability one will have a good timeo Generalized expectancies Beliefs we hold about how often our actions ty- Reinforcement valueo