John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner – Little Albert Experiment The aim of the experiment was to investigate whether fear can be acquired through classical conditioning on human beings. Before conditioning, pre-testing was done to see if Albert was capable of producing a fear response. The checked if he was afraid of different materials, such as: a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks with and without hair, cotton wool, burning newspapers, etc but he demonstrated no fear. They found that little Albert showed fear when exposed to loud noises. They started conditioning by showing Albert a white rat.
In its place, he then went further to recommend that, we as humans ought to come across only at the external, observable causes of human behavior. Describe the theory of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning defines as learning from which an intentional response is weakened or strengthened solely depending on its encouraging or fault-finding outcomes. Operant conditioning is one of the fundamental concepts in behavioral psychology. The guarantee or chance of a reward within itself has the ability to cause an enhance in a person’s behavior, however operant conditioning can also be used to diminish a behavior.
According to B.F. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, is punishment of unwanted behaviors or reinforcement of good behaviors more effective in childrearing? B.F. Skinner believed that it is more productive to study behaviors that can be observed rather than mental thinking, and therefore created his theory of operant conditioning. In 1938 when Skinner coined the term operant conditioning he stated that it means roughly changing behaviors by the use of reinforcement, which is given after the desired response1. Reinforcement is the strengthening of behaviors by either adding to a situation or removing something from a situation. Skinner studied the effects both positive and negative reinforcement had on rats.
Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a “Skinner Box” which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box. What is Classical Conditioning? Classical conditioning is the way we develop responses to certain stimuli that are not naturally occurring, e.g. when we touch a hot stove our reflex is to pull our hand back. It does so instinctively and no learning is involved, it is merely a survival instinct.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH created a strong feeling on individuals. Most likely because individuals considered that someplace in this world mice and rats might actually be up amazing like this. Having re-read it as an adult, individuals observe currently that sensible and unsentimental style of writing of Robert C O'Brien creates it all appear probable (Charlotte, 1998). Although they recognized the conclusion, they still discovered themselves drawn into the story from begin to end and entirely won over through the rodents of the title. Mrs. Frisby, a mouse, is attempting to watch out of her children on her individual since her husband was eaten through the cat of farmer, Dragon.
Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is a technique of learning that happens through positive and negative reinforcements. Sometimes called instrumental conditioning, a correlation is made between a behavior and the reward or consequence that follows the behavior. The reinforcement is a factor in whether same behavior will happen again or not. Burrhus Frederic Skinner, better known as B.F. Skinner is known for his approach or view of operant conditioning. Skinner liked Watson’s ideas regarding human behaviorism.
Classical Conditioning Paper MarQuise Simon University of Phoenix Psy 390 Robert Hicks August 11, 2014 In the field of psychology there are various forms of learning. Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning that Ivan Pavlov had stumbled across by mistake. Classical conditioning deals with five important principles known as the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned response and extinction. In the paragraph below it will give the definition of classical conditioning as well as describe and explain the theory of classical conditioning. Then a scenario will be use to explain an example of classical conditioning.
He was placed in a room with a white rat and showed no fear. In a trial later, Watson and Rayner made the loud noise using the hammer and steel bar every time Albert attempted to touch the rat. This noise made Albert scared and emotional. When the next trial took place they placed Albert in the room with only the rat and no sounds yet Albert responded to this with fear and always tried to move away in tears. 20 days later the same experiment took place with a rabbit, which purposely was not white like the rat yet he still had the same reactions towards it as he did with the white rat.
Building on the earlier work of Thorndike, B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) began to elaborate and extend Thorndike’s ideas on learned behavior. Skinner differentiated between what he termed respondent (or reflexive) behavior, and learned (or operant) behavior. Operant behavior could be characterized by “the observable effects it has on the environment. Operant conditioning, therefore, is learning in which the probability of a response is changed by a chance in its environment (PM, n.d.).” Reinforcement and Punishment Two concepts important to an understanding of operant conditioning are reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcers and punishment are specific types of consequences.
This relationship between behavior and its consequences is the law of effect. B.F. Skinner agreed with this view and extended this to the experimental analysis of behavior. According to Thorndike, the possible consequences of behavior can either increase or decrease the likelihood of response. So Skinner created an experimental situation where he brought about systematic variations in the stimulus condition, causing different environmental conditions which would affect the likelihood that a given behavior would occur. To analyze behavior experimentally, Skinner developed operant conditioning procedures.