Behaviorism: AntecedentsHans the Wonder HorseClever HansSlide 4Toward a Science of BehaviorIt was John Watson!Auguste ComteRene DescartesThe Influence of Animal Psychology on BehaviorismJacques Loeb (1859-1924)Jacques LoebOther Developments in Animal PsychologyThe State of the Field of Animal PsychologyIvan PavlovSo, was Hans really clever?Why am I telling you this?Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)E.L. ThorndikeSlide 19ConnectionismSlide 21A Little Bit StructuralistThe Puzzle BoxLaws of LearningContributions to PsychologyDiscussion QuestionsSlide 27Slide 28Slide 29Slide 30Slide 31Slide 32MONDAY, MARCH 2ND, 2015BEHAVIORISM: ANTECEDENTSHANS THE WONDER HORSE•Clever Hans could add, subtract, use fraction and decimals, read, identify coins, play card games, spell, recognize objects, and demonstrate memoryCLEVER HANS•“How many of the gentlemen present are wearing straw hats?” the horse was asked.•Clever Hans tapped the answer with his right foot, being careful to omit the straw hats worn by the ladies•“What is the lady holding in her hand?”•The horse tapped out “Schirm,” meaning parasol, indicating each of the letters by means of a special chart. He was invariably successful at distinguishing between canes and parasols and also between straw and felt hats.•More important, Hans could think for himself. When asked a completely novel question, such as how many corners in a circle, he shook his head from side to side to say there were none.•(Fernald, 1984, p. 19)CLEVER HANS•The horse’s owner, Wilhelm von Osten, was a retired math teacher who had rigorously trained the horse–First he tried with a cat and a bear•Why would he do this?TOWARD A SCIENCE OF BEHAVIOR•So, where are we now?–It’s the 1910s, and Wundt’s psychology is still respected, but no longer prevailing–Introspection, the existence of mental elements, and the idea of psychology as a “pure science” were out the window–Functionalism was still evolving (lol) from structuralism–Then, someone came along and decided, to hell with all that…IT WAS JOHN WATSON!•Studied at Chicago under James Rowland Angell•Called for a scientific psychology that dealt only with observable behavioral acts that could be described objectively in terms such as “stimulus” and “response”•Wanted nothing to do with mental concepts like sensations, images, consciousness, and mind because you couldn’t see or prove them, rendering introspection useless•More about him later, now let’s look to where he was getting these ideas…AUGUSTE COMTE•Believed in positivism/empiricism: the only valid knowledge is that which is observable•In fact, behaviorists really should have been called positivists because this was exactly what they were doing!RENE DESCARTES•Early mechanistic ideas about the way the body and the mind worked were hugely influential for behaviorism, especially Descartes’ reflex arc•Behaviorism would resemble mechanism much more than functionalismTHE INFLUENCE OF ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY ON BEHAVIORISM•Watson would say that animal psychology was the major precursor to his work in behaviorism•C. Lloyd Morgan’s law of parsimony was making animal psych more objective than it had been George John Romanes•However, the subject matter of animal psychology remained very much about consciousness and the continuity of mental functioningJACQUES LOEB (1859-1924)•German physiologist and zoologist•Didn’t like the anthropomorphizing that was going on with Romanes and his introspection by analogy•Instead, thought tropism was at work–Tropism: an involuntary forced movement–Looks like behavior that results from higher mental functioning, but is actually automatic (the lights are on, but nobody’s home)JACQUES LOEB•He did not reject the consciousness of animals that were high on the evolutionary scale (think mental ladder)•He came to this conclusion with associative memory: that animals could make associations between stimuli and appropriate responses, indicating at least some presence of consciousnessOTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY•The white rat in the maze had been introduced by Willard S. Small at Clark University–Studied not just their responses, but what the rat must be thinking•Margaret Floy Washburn, a student of Titchener, wrote “The Animal Mind,” which was really the last book written on animal psychology from a non-behaviorist view•Charles Henry Turner at Chicago published A Preliminary Note on Ant Behavior, bringing the term “behavior” to Watson’s attentionTHE STATE OF THE FIELD OF ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY•It was hard to be an animal psychologist!•Only 8 labs for comparative psychology in 1910•Animal psychologists were likely the first to be fired from a psych department in the event of downsizing•Education was seen as a more preferred and applicable direction for psychology•The field was growing very slowly, and there weren’t a lot of publicationsIVAN PAVLOV•A Russian physiologist•His research directed animal psychology to a more objective subject matter and methodology•This came at a good time in the Zeitgeist–Just two years before he published his research, the German government headed an objective investigation of Clever Hans!–This “task force” involved a circus manager, a vet, horse trainers, an aristocrat, the director of the Berlin Zoo, and psychologist Carl StumpfSO, WAS HANS REALLY CLEVER?•Sadly, no.•After many carefully controlled experiments, the task force came to find that Hans had been unintentionally conditioned to response of the question asker, even when it was a stranger•When the owner found out, he cursed the horse, got sick and died of liver cancer•Clever Hans continued to do tricks for his new owner, who made a large profitWHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS? •This demonstrates the value of the experimental approach•Encourages skepticism•Shows that animals are capable of learning and associating, but probably not of having raw intellectual gifts•Thus, it was more useful to study the animal’s behavior than speculate the role of its consciousness•Watson read this paper and was very inspiredEDWARD LEE THORNDIKE (1874-1949)•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCr0gFY0JlEE.L. THORNDIKE•Didn’t travel to Germany for his education, weird!•Was influenced by reading The Principles of Psychology and studied under William James at Harvard•Couldn’t study children due to a recent scandal at Harvard,
View Full Document
Unlocking...