“In the mind of the behaviourist, persons are nothing more than simple mediators between behaviour and the environment (Skinner, 1993, p 428). There are two major types of conditioning: 1.Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioural training in which a naturally occurring
Compare and contrast the approaches of Skinner and Harlow to investigating influences on behaviour This essay will compare and contrast the approaches of Burrhuss Frederick Skinner and Harry Harlow to investing influences on behaviour. Skinner and Harlow were both behaviourists. Behaviourists focus on measuring and observing behaviour to explain behaviour and not any mental internal events which go on within the mind e.g. thinking. They believed that behaviour is learned through our environment through operant or classical conditioning and that behaviour is just a response to a stimulus.
His first assumption was that mental illnesses are psychological in origin, the psychodynamic approach, unlike the biological approach, explains behaviour as a result of psychological issues rather than physical issues. Secondly, he explained the importance of the unconscious. He explained that the unconscious mind would determine a lot about behaviour. ‘Dynamic unconsciousness’ is used to explain behaviour when the cause is unknown. He assumed that if the unconscious behaviour was brought to awareness the abnormal behaviour would disappear.
The fear of losing agency is not an adequate reason to reject epiphenomenalism. Rather, the fact that so much of how humans behave seems to be attributed to their beliefs or desires, the emergence of psychology in explaining behaviour, and the lack of universal laws of causation, all contribute to undermine the strength of epiphenomenalism as a theory to explain the mind-body relationship. Beliefs and desires seem to be the reason why humans act in a certain way in certain situations. This type of behaviour is regarded as psychological and relates to an individual’s mind and behaviour. Psychologists, try to study an individual’s mind to determine the causes of their behaviour’s.
In exploring the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Immanuel Kant, there is a distinct parallelism running through their philosophical theories, the need to break free from immaturity or self-doubt in order to achieve enlightenment or self-reliance. The will to break free is an important function in developing self-trust. Self-consciousness is not simply a special kind of awareness each person possesses. Rather, the authority over the mind must be described as a kind of responsibility taken by the individual. To remain receptive to the intuitive process, an individual must trust in himself.
P1 Behaviourism: This theory is the study of human behaviour by John Watson. Scientific experiments are done in order to examine behaviour after being exposed to specific situations like changes in the environment. This is possibly because the mind cannot be observed thus not being able to study on it as said in Watson’s behaviourist manifesto ‘Psychology from the standpoint of a behaviourist’. And that is why they could have turned to a person’s actual physical actions to study through instead. This theory had the concept of: •How the surrounding environment affected one’s behaviour through their response •Behaviourism is on learning.
Obedience to authority can become dangerous when morality and independent thought are stifled to the point that harm is inflicted upon another person. "The Perils of Obedience," by Stanley Milgram reports on his controversial experiment that tested how far individuals would go in obeying orders, even if carrying out those orders caused serious harm to others. In Ian Parker's article, "Obedience," he introduces the concept of situational forces influencing how one would react in a given situation. He points out that people will behave according to where they are and not necessarily because of whom they are. And in "The Stanford Prison Experiment," by Philip K. Zimbardo, he discusses the results of his controversial experiment designed to examine the ability of individuals to resist authoritarian or obedient roles, if the setting and circumstances required those roles.
Content theory explains why human needs change with time. Another theory that attempts to explain human behavior is Process theory. Content theory includes the work of David McClelland, Abraham Maslow and other psychologists as they attempted to explain why human needs change, but not how they change. Content theories explain the specific factors that motivate people. In other words, they answer the question What drives behaviour?
He felt that there was no `underlying' meaning to words and that verbal behaviour was due to the conditioning that occurs between the words and the reinforcement properties of a stimulus. This does not just apply to physical reinforcement: `that if you ask for "a glass of water", you get one', but also social reinforcement in the form of praise and encouragement i.e. `well done'. This reinforcement is an important concept, and past experiences of verbal behaviour are important in determining whether they will be used again. Skinner used the phrase `Verbal Operant Conditioning' where a verbal response that occurs in a given situation that is followed by positive reinforcement becomes more likely to occur again in the same situation.
He felt that there was no underlying meaning to words and that verbal behavior was due to the conditioning that occurs between the words and the reinforcement properties of a stimulus. He believed that a sentence is merely part of a “behavior chain, each element of which provides a conditional stimulus for the production of the succeeding element.” (Fodor, Bever, & Garrett, p.25). Both physical and social reinforcement stimulation played an important part in this concept. Skinner believed that defining verbal behavior as the “behavior that is reinforced through the mediation of another person, we do not, and cannot specify any one form, mode, or medium. Any movement capable of affecting another organism may be verbal.”(Skinner Pg.14).