Please go to the following blog page:
http://www.psychologicalscience.com/bmod/abcs.html
Please read sections 3.3 (Classical Conditioning) and 3.4 (Watson)
After reading section 3.3, please respond to the following questions.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
After reading section 3.4, please respond to the following questions.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
Please fill out the boxes in the readings you may be quizzed on them in class.
Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
--Dr. M
Section 3.3 Classic Conditioning
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
The only thing that I liked about this section is that I now know the definition of positive contengencies and at least that was clear to me. The section started off by reaffirming what we learned in the previous section which is something that I can always appreciate, then it went into a new term. The simplicity of the format is always appreciated as well.
What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
Honestly, It was all rather confusing at times; I really didn't like it all, at all. And then there were some points that I had to reread and reread again just to see if I could come up with the examples. I am not sure if it was just that I was uninterested in the assignment or if it was because it was Monday. But for some reason I did not like this section at all. Once again, it could just be my frame of mind. I really wasn't interested in this section at all. I found it boring to say the least and that of coarse is just my opinion. Maybe there have been to many snow days :(
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
1) Positive contingencies can also be identified or called Excitatory conditioning and that is because it is a new term altogether so I wanted to remember it.
2) When someone or something is discriminate that means to tell two things apart in behavior modification terms; also a new fact that I discovered so I like to remember things like that and
3) that humans have been used in eye blink studies as well as studies that used very mild shock; ice water for example, is also used as aversive stimulus.
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
I now realized that it is all very complicated and not as simple as I thought. Yes, the ABC's always come into play but the real unconditioned response to the conditioned stimulus and so forth is all connected and affects one or the other. The process of behavior modification is not as simple as the ABC's illusion that I held but a couple chapters ago. Now, I have come to realize through the readings that things are not always as simple as they seem and the different aspects like Rescorla's contingency theory which states that the CS must simply be a good predictor of the US for the association to occur is just as the easily as explained as you will eat M and M's if I always put M and M's out during your birthday :) you will be conditioned to think M and M's must mean my birthday if that's the only time you eat them. I like this psychology stuff, really makes me think about the different target behaviors that I want people to "think" they are choosing to make the decisions rather than they realize that I am in control the whole time.
Section 3.4 Watson
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I really enjoyed reading about Watson and his linking that to the concept of introspection which is a very important term in psychology. Reading about Watson I was reminded of the other sections of psychology with are structurlists and funtionalists. For Watson, psych was the study of behavior & how humans and
animals have learned to adjust to the environment through habit & through reflex; because i find this fascinating is the reason why I really like this section, which leads us to the story of Little Albert. Just reading about that whole study is absolutely intriguing and really another moment in time for psychology. I love reading new information about Watson and his different perspectives. There was also something that i read that I did not know before. Watson never really had a plan to desensitize
Little Albert, in fact no one knew if it could be done until Mary Cover Jones demonstrated it with a subject named Peter. That was something that I found odd as well as no one ever documenting Little Albert's reactions or memories of his experience. I would think with such an important research but then again things got a little crazy with the affair from Watson and his then researcher eventually his wife.
What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
Because I couldn't really find a thing that I didn't like about the section and I didn't want to leave this space unoccupied, I want to include another thing that I liked:
I really enjoyed the links at the bottom of each page or section. On a very honest note, I have to admit I didn't always click on them at first but since they kept coming up :) I finally clicked on one and then was really glad I did, the information I found was amazing it was link to a video. Then I even went back to many of the ones that i had already bypassed and went through just to see what I missed. I found all sorts of links that I had missed during my initial reading frenzy of the material. So by far that was a real great find for me; it is very interesting to see the behavior modification happening right before me own eyes.
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
1) The way Watson used the Little Albert study to show the 3 basic emotions: fear, rage, & love which all could be conditioned into something much more; and the reason is because it was put so simply, sometimes if you just explain it in a very simply way people will truly understand it.
2) Mary Cover Jones is really the first one that showed that fear could be taken through the use of systematic desensitization; and that is because I read that in somewhere in this section.
3) and that Watson is best known for his behaviorist manifesto and his Little Albert study; because that was pretty much what the whole section was about.
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
Every single time I read a section I truly have to admit that even though I am not in class I am truly learning something new. Behavior Modification is truly a very complex thing and it is not as simple as i really think. I learn that one thing affects the other and CS and US are just the beginning; it's a very linking concept and truly the study of human behavior is a complex and interesting thing. Behavior Modification is just on small aspect of the whole which is Psychology; this is all becoming very clear to me. There are so many different branches of the tree and that is what Psychology is beginning to look like to me. Psychology is a great, big, old tree with foundations or the tree trunk going back centuries where time was almost invented. Psychology is then branched out in different areas and sections; it's leaves are the founders of each category and are the founding fathers in each field, guess you could say they would be the fruit it sprouts.
Terms: Conditioning, positive congencies, excitory conditioning, disciminate, behavior modification, psychology, aversive, stimulus, classical conditioning, ABC's, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, target behaviors, eye blink, memories, systematic desensitization, behaviorists manifesto, Little Albert, desentisize, functionists, structuralists and behaviorists.
Section 3.3
I hate to say that there wasn’t a single thing that I liked from this section, but to be honest there really wasn’t a lot that I looked back on and enjoyed learning from this section. I did like reading about the different conditioning devices used at the beginning, but after that this section got pretty confusing for the most part. This was by far the most confusing section that I have read thus far. I found it very easy to confuse the different conditioning types. I found a very simple example to try to help me differentiate them from each other. I use the example of food being presented when a bell rings, and apply each type of conditioning to this example. So, for backward conditioning the food is presented and then the bell rings (the bell being the Conditioned Stimulus and the Food being the Unconditioned stimulus). However, outside of these simple examples I have found it problematic to apply them to other examples. I found it very difficult to complete the examples presented, and identifying which type of conditioning is used for each one.
Three things I will remember:
1. Conditioned Taste Aversion – I will remember this because it is a concept that applies to my own life. When I was younger I ate too many pickles and threw up, so now the smell of pickles makes my stomach queasy. I also liked the example of cancer patients being told not to eat their favorite foods before undergoing chemotherapy
2. Simultaneous Conditioning – CS and US are presented together, which is said to be the most ineffective route of conditioning; I use my simple example of a bell that rings at the same time as the food being presented
3. Delayed Conditioning – The CS is presented before the US and stays until the US is presented; again, I use my example of a bell that begins to rings and continues to ring until food is finally presented.
Section 3.4
I really like this section, and thought it was by far the most interesting section I have read. I really enjoyed reading about Watson and his methods of studying infants. I also liked reading about structuralists and functionalists’ because that is a topic that I just got done studying in my history and systems class so I am pretty familiar with it right now (along with a lot of the other terms that were presented in this section, a few are under the 3 things I will remember). I also really liked Watson’s view on life, using his theory of “Tabula Rasa”, stating that the human mind starts off as a blank slate. The more I read about this theory the more I agree with it and how logical it is.
What I didn’t like about this section is how Watson didn’t really like babies, and it seemed like he more viewed them as test subjects rather than actual infants. Also, even though it was a fascinating experiment it is also viewed as very controversial.
Three things I will remember:
1. Systematic Desensitization – helping to overcome phobias thought the gradual combination of relaxation techniques, visualization of the phobia, and eventual exposure to that phobia. I found this really interesting to read about because the fear of sharks was one of the examples presented and happens to be probably my biggest fear. In the end, I am not sure that I would be able to go through with the process of systematic desensitization when it comes to sharks.
2. Method of Introspection – studying your own behavior and documenting your own experiences; this is another concept that I just got done learning about in history and systems, about how Wundt and Titchener presented these ideas
3. Structuralists and Functionalists – structuralists studied basic elements of psychology (more lab based) while functionalists were more focused on Darwin’s theory of evolution and genetics
These sections have definitely made behavior modification slightly more confusing for me, mainly from reading section 3.3. However, it has also opened the door further when it comes to the different types of conditioning and the differences between them. 3.4 really helped expand upon the history of conditioning (especially Watson) and the different ways to deal with phobias and the techniques required to do so.
Terms Used: Backward Conditioning, Unconditioned Stimulus, Conditioned Stimulus, Simultaneous Conditioning, Delayed Conditioning, Systematic Desensitization, Structuralists, Functionalists, Watson, Method of Introspection
Section 3.3
I liked reading about trace conditioning. I always wondered if the conditioned stimulus was presented WITH the unconditioned stimulus, or if it was before, or if it was after. This idea has always been somewhat unclear to me, as I have never heard it explained before reading this section. Trace conditioning means that the conditioned stimulus is presented slightly before the unconditioned stimulus. The CS is presented and terminated, then the US is presented and terminated. The trace conditioning method is used most often because it seems to be the most effective. Simultaneous conditioning is when the US and CS are presented together (the onset & offset of both the US & CS occur at the same time). When the US is presented before the CS, it is called backwards conditioning. This seems to be the least effective method.
I didn’t like reading about Robert Rescorla and his Contingency Theory. We talked in the last couple sections about how the neutral stimulus has to be paired a sufficient number of times with the unconditioned stimulus in order for the neutral stimulus to become a conditioned stimulus (so it can elicit the now conditioned response on its own). This theory basically says that it’s not necessarily how many times the neutral stimulus (which becomes the CS) signals the unconditioned stimulus, but how good of a predictor the conditioned stimulus is of the unconditioned stimulus. His theory also says that the unconditioned stimulus should not occur if the conditioned stimulus doesn’t occur.
I will remember that a lightning and thunder are an example of positive contingency because the flash of lightning signals that the thunder will be heard soon thereafter. If the flash of lightning (hypothetically) only signaled the thunder one out of every ten times, it would be a negative contingency. I will remember that positive contingencies are also referred to as excitatory conditioning, and negative contingencies are referred to as inhibitory conditioning. I will also remember the Pavlov example with the circle and ellipse. The circle was a positive contingency because it signaled the arrival of food, and thus elicited a salivation response. The ellipse was a negative contingency because it was never the signal of the arrival of food, and thus inhibited the salivation response.
Section 3.4
I liked reading about and reviewing the Little Albert study. It was nice to refresh the study in my mind and relate it to classical conditioning. In the beginning of the experiment, Little Albert had no fear of white rats, monkeys, or masks. However, he was scared of loud noises. Watson had an assistant make a loud clang (unconditioned stimulus that elicited a fear response, or unconditioned response). Watson then placed a rat in front of Albert (unconditioned stimulus). The rat then became a conditioned stimulus which elicited the fear response, or now conditioned response.
I didn’t like that poor Little Albert was put through this experiment, however. It seems unethical to condition a child to fear something. His fear was then generalized to all furry things. Watson should have at least conditioned him to stop fearing the white rat. He could have showed him the white rat and gave him candy or something. This reminds me of what I’m learning about in another psychology class. If Little Albert had a specific phobia – a fear of white rats, the most effective treatment would be gradual exposure and modeling. Watson could have had Albert’s mother come in and hold the rat and show Albert that it wasn’t scary. Then maybe his mother would ask him to pet it, or eventually hold it. I’m wondering which of these would be better for reversing the conditioned fear.
I will remember that Watson cheated on his wife and was asked to resign from his current university, and that he later married the research assistant whom with he cheated. I will also remember Mary Cover Jones’ study. She noticed that people were never scared when they were eating, so she paired the fear-inducing stimulus with food. In doing this, she was able to diminish the fear response once elicited by the stimulus. I will also remember systematic desensitization. It seemed kind of similar to gradual exposure to me. The plane crash example said that the psychologist would ask them to visualize a plane, and eventually have them visualize getting on a plane. It’s like gradual exposure within the MIND. Haha. Is there a difference between gradual exposure and systematic desensitization? Hmm…
TERMS:
Robert Roscorla, contingency theory, neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, elicit, conditioned response, positive contingency, negative contingency, excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, Pavlov, response, backwards conditioning, simultaneous conditioning, trace conditioning, systematic desensitization, stimulus
SECTION 3.3
1) I enjoyed comparing positive and negative contingencies with positive and negative correlations! It seemed easy to understand the concepts with correlations in mind. If it’s positive, when one variable goes up, so does the second. If its negative, one variable will go up whilst the second will go down. If I thought from this perspective it was easier to attempt coming up with examples.
2) There was nothing I disliked about this section. However,t here are a few new terms presented thatI will have to review to successfully recall them over the next couple weeks.
3) a) Discrimination training - I recall this concept easily because there are so many examples in society/world in which people, are in a last resort situation and cannot control the outcome, either becoming helpless (inhibitory behavior) or lash out (excitatory behavior).
b) Conditioned Emotional Response - NS followed by the US, which elicits the UR. I am very familiar with the concept of conditioned learning and the process conditioned learning follows, however I wasn’t aware of the term CER. It is easy to recall as this conditioned learning involves emotions, such as shock, not functional behaviors, as in many other examples of conditioned learning.
c) Trace conditioning - This is the underlying structure of conditioned learning, the most well-known and most effective thus it is easy to recall. Trace conditioning simply emphasizes the CS being presented slightly before the US. For example, Pavlov’s dog experiment, the door bell (CS) is presented right before food is brought out (US) which elicits the dog drooling (UR), and after the temporal relationship is developed, the door bell (CS) elicits the dog drooling (CR)
SECTION 3.4
1) I liked analyzing the differences between functionalism and structuralism in describing psychological processes. Structuralism is appealing to me because I very much believe humans differ on an individual level, that having a basic idea of psychological elements would allow psychologists to construct accurate profiles of both general human behavior but also individual human behavior. Functionalism also makes sense, because we human, we are functioning machines which survival instincts. But we are such a developed race, one of a kind, functionalism cannot be the only explanation for human behavior, we don’t just function, we think and create-what other species does that.
2) There was nothing I didn’t like reading about this section. It was good reinforcement of Watson’s contributions to psychology and understanding the different ideas concerning behavior as a function vs. complex nature is very interesting!
3) a)It is always interesting analyzing Watson’s study with Little Albert. Whilst it is a celebrated experiment it also often used as an example of unethical experimentation in today’s world. The method Watson used to test little Albert is considered unethical in today’s scientific world, yet it is still a most celebrated piece of psychological history.
b) The line between humans and brutes doesn’t exist. This is an interesting concept, considering the discussion of structuralist vs functionalist. There must be a line if one follows a structuralist explanation, whilst functionalist would be used if one truly believes this.
c) Systematic desensitization - this concept is as ingrained in me as I feel is possible! I understand the concept and the process, however I am ready to learn how to apply this understanding to relaxation techniques and in an actual office/career setting!
These sections have both built upon the behavior modification structure I am developing as well as strengthened what I have already learnt. As we get further through the semester I am becoming more confident with my understanding and ability to recall information and processes, that I feel I could apply it successfully to a personal behavior. To become a real expert I must be able to apply and utilize this information to solve problems, improve performance of myself and others etc..
TERMS: positive/negative contingencies, positive/negative correlations, discrimination training, inhibitory/excitatory behavior, helpless, NS, US, CR, conditioned learning, CER, trace conditioning, Pavlov, experiment, elicit, temporal relationship, functionalism, structuralism, Watson, Little Albert, systematic desensitization, relaxation techniques
Section 3.3-
This section had a lot of material in it, which for this particular article was both good and bad. The existence of the information was good and gave a good introduction to some experiments paired along with pictures of the contractions that the behaviorist used. However, with all of the information, the detail of certain aspects was lost and made some of the examples rather confusing. I do think that the visuals (i.e. graphs and pictures) helped to clarify some of the confusion especially when it got down to the Conditioned Emotional Response area and further along to the different types of conditioning schedules. Basically what I am getting at is I like visuals more then the over view of concepts.
That being said, what I didn’t like about it was the brief overview and the blandness of the descriptions—especially about the positive and negative contingencies. The reading elicited a sleepy response, which, during the wintertime with the snow, is not hard to do. I tried very hard to follow along but found myself getting side tracked by my own thoughts and could not find a foothold in this reading to gain back that focus.
Three things I will remember:
1. Positive Contingencies-they are also known as excitatory conditioning and Pavlov noticed in his dogs that some would exhibit this excitatory behavior for months and sometimes years.
2. Negative Contingencies-they are also known as inhibitory conditioning and Pavlov also noticed that some of his dogs would emit this behavior by sort of cowering or submitting.
3. Taste Aversion-the occurrences in which food or drink is associated with something toxic (i.e. throwing up). I have a taste aversion with Ramón noodles.
Section 3.4-
I found this section much more interesting to read and comprehend. The concepts in this section were just much easier to comprehend—even without visual aides. Watson was a very interesting person and the controversy around the ethical concerns of the Little Albert experiment was especially intriguing to read. I also liked how much detail was given to thoroughly explain the differences between concepts and apply them to our own lives through the interactive examples. These activities not only elicited comprehension of the reading but also provided other active learning possibilities in order to supplement the sections purpose.
There really wasn’t anything that I didn’t like about this section. I thought everything was clear and concise—even without the aide of visuals. If there was one thing that I would have to say that I didn’t like was the clarity of the Little Albert video—that could however have been the slow speed of my Internet not really working at its fullest capacity.
Three things I will remember:
1. Psychology is subjective at points more then objective—Watson pointed this out in his Behaviorist Manifesto that outlined his views of his field.
2. There were basically two separations of behaviorism—Structuralism and Functionalism. Structuralism focuses on the breaking down of psychology into smaller units of study while Functionalism focuses on the traits and abilities we, as humans possess as survival skills.
3. Fear can be removed by systematic desensitization—we actually discussed this process in Abnormal Psychology pertaining to phobias and panic disorders.
I found it interesting that terms and concepts that I use in my other psychology classes are starting to be used in this one! It goes to show you how interconnect different subdivisions of a general field are and how important and complete understanding of a general field is to a successful career.
Terms: Fear, Systematic Desensitization, Phobias, Panic, Functionalism, Structuralism, Survival Skills, Watson, Behaviorist, Behaviorism, Elicited, Taste Aversion, Negative Contingencies, Inhibitory Conditioning, Positive Contingencies, Excitatory Conditioning, Conditioned Emotional Response, Conditioning Schedules, Emit.
Section 3.3
One thing I really liked about this section was all the model examples. After each set of readings there was a visual that I could look at that helped me understand the process. For example the diagram for simultaneous conditioning, short delayed, and trace conditioning. It showed the different drawing for each example. Another good diagram was the human/rat eye blinking device. It gave me an idea how exactly it worked. I always like a form of visuals to help me understand what im reading. When the visuals accompany the example boxes it makes the text much easier to interpret. The one thing I didn’t like in this section was the difficulty of reading. I found a few different parts confusing. I had to read the section several times to understand the process and information being presented. Some of the abbreviated terms also threw me some trouble because I had to remember what all of them were and put them in each sentence. At times it was difficult to understand what the message was trying to get across.
Three things that I will remember are:
1) Positive contigency. I felt this was an important term in the section. This is when as association develops to the extent where the controlled stimulus predicts the onset of the uncontrolled stimulus.
2) An obvious on that stood out to me was the term discriminate. This is when you can tell two things apart. Added another term to my BM vocab.
3) The human eye blinking studies. I found it very interesting that they used humans. Also the process it self was fairly interesting and memorable.
Section 3.4
I liked a few things in section 3.4. I liked being refreshed on structurlists and functionilists. I remember learning about those terms in H&S and found it fairly interesting. I always like being refreshed on old topics so I can relearn it and have it help me remember better. Watson has always been an interesting topic to me. I have always found his ideas and research interesting. The methods he used on babies and how he viewed life. He has several interesting ideas when it comes to life views. How he believes humans start off with a blank slate of views and learned ideas. This is interesting compared to other psychologists which believe some ideas are already imbedded in our minds. I found in also interesting that even though he did baby studies he didn’t really like them all that much .
Three things I will remember are:
The one thing I didn’t like which I blogged about in history and systems as well was how little albert was effected after the research study. Like the section says albert was taught to fear a lot of things and it had a big impact on his life afterwards. It was also unethical in todays terms. I didn’t like knowing the post issues he had for some research that Watson wanted. Although at that time it wasn’t looked on as a bad or unethical thing but rather a simple research idea to gain knowledge on stimulus.
These sections have expanded on several terms and ideas from past sections and even past classes. The examples on stimulus and how they work isn’t a new topic. The diagrams helped expand further on past terms and ideas in reexplaining them. Also discussing Watson and his research methods expanded on the field of psychology as a whole but also specific topics we have discussed in the class like controlled stimulus, ect.
1) The term Tabula Rasa which is Watson’s terms for the mind starting off as a blank slate. Reminded me of Watsons ideas on the brain,
2) systematic desensitization which is the used today in clinics to help people get over phobias. This put the term into working use for me.
3) Watsons ideas and research studies. The behavior manifesto, little albert. These were a great refresher from past classes
Terms: structurlist, functionalist, Watson. simultaneous conditioning, short delayed, and trace conditioning, positive contingency, discriminate, behavior manifesto, systematic desensitization, tabula rasa.
3.3
This section was interesting but it was also slightly confusing to me. I guess this is because there were so many terms to keep straight. Anyways something that I found interesting about this section was the information about taste aversion. I thought that it was interesting that conditioning can occur in only one trial. The example that was given was when you eat or drink something that is toxic. When the food makes you sick you develop an aversion to that particular food. I remember having this experience when I was a kid. After eating rice with soy sauce I became extremely ill for some reason. To this day I still don't like soy sauce on my food. It also took me awhile to eat rice prepared in a certain way because of the experience. Something else that I found interesting was that a conditioned emotional response can occur in rats. When the rat is subjected to an electrical shock that is followed by a tone the rat freezes up. After conditioning the rat has the freezing up response just from the tone. I am curious as to how exactly this applies to humans. It would be an interesting thing to learn about. The last thing that I found interesting was Rescorla's theory. The theory states that the unconditioned stimulus should not occur if the conditioned stimulus is not present. I thought that that was an interesting fact to learn.
Something that I did not like about this section was that it was a lot of terms to try and keep straight compared to other chapters. I think that I will most likely have to go back and reread this section to make sure that I fully understand everything.
The three things that I will remember most from this chapter are the three topics that I discussed above. I will remember these things because they stuck out to me as the most interesting. I thought that they made me really think about what I was learning and I think that they helped me to understand the chapter as a whole. I also will remember those things because I have experienced one of them in real life, I just didn't have a term for it then.
3.4
Many of the information that was covered in this section was a review for me. I have heard about the little albert study many, many times in most psychology classes. It is still something that I find interesting even though the study was completely unethical. The Little Albert study was a study done by Watson. In the study Little Albert was presented a white lab rat, the rat was then paired with a loud noise which scared Albert. Albert soon became afraid of all things that were furry. This study was unethical because Albert was never desensitized of the fear. Something else that I found intersting about this section was that Jones demonstrated that fear could be removed through the use of systematic desensitization. She did this by having kids eat while she brought in something that scared the child. Soon the child overcame their fear.
There was really nothing that I didn't like about this section. I felt that it was all pretty straight foreward. Even though this was a review for me I think it helped me to better understand the things that we have been learning.
The things that I will remember most are the topics that I discussed above. I will remember them because they are what I found to be most interesting.
Terms: Conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, desensitize, systematic desensitization, conditioned, rescorlas theory,taste aversion, conditioned emotional response, stimulus.
Section 3.3 Classical Conditioning
One thing I liked about this section was the explanation of positive contingencies- which occur when the CS predicts or signals the arrival of the US. Positive contingencies continue the behavior, whereas negative contingencies discourage the behavior. Another thing I liked was the explanation of taste aversion, because it was an exception to classical conditioning- which says it takes repeated trials to develop a conditioned stimulus. In this case once a person learns they don’t like a food, they don’t ever eat it again! Discrimination training was something we reviewed before, but it was a good refresher to me. Pavlov used this to examine experimental neurosis which occurred when animals could no longer discriminate between stimuli.
One thing I disliked about this section was the examples- it was difficult to give examples and I feel it would’ve been helpful to go off of some that you gave us. When it got to the order of CS and US presentations, things got a bit confusing for me. I wish there were examples that went with each type of conditioning because without them I had trouble understanding this concept and giving examples.
3 Things I Learned:
1) Positive and Negative Contingencies- Positive occurs when an association develops where the CS can predict the US. Negative Contingencies signals the likelihood that the US will occur is decreased.
2) Discrimination training was used to examine experimental neurosis which occurred when animals could no longer discriminate between stimuli. Some become passive and some become aggressive.
3) Temporal time order is important. There are different types of conditioning in which the US and CS occur at different times.
Section 3.4 Watson
One thing I liked from this section was the comparison of structuralists, functionalists, and then Watson’s point of view. Watson believed that behaviorism could be used to deliver applications that would help people and society based on stimulus and response and could be used to improve the human condition. I also liked the part describing the Little Albert experiment because I learned about this in Intro to Psych and so I had a little background knowledge on it. I felt the explanation of systematic desensitization was very thorough and how it gave examples- like biofeedback and meditation. There wasn’t really anything I disliked about this section.
3 Things I Learned:
1) Watson created the Little Albert experiment to demonstrate a conditioned response by making a loud noise to make the baby afraid and presenting it with neutral stimuli.
2) Fear can be removed by systematic desensitization- using different methods of relaxation such as meditation, visualization, and slowly exposing yourself to the fear.
3) Structuralists and functionalists had different views on psych. Structuralists believed that psych was broken down into elements and used as building blocks to construct the complex nature of humans. Functionalists believed that if a trait existed already, that it had something to do with the survival rate and was necessary.
Terms Used: Positive and Negative Contingencies, Taste Aversion, Classical conditioning, Discrimination training, Experimental neurosis, discriminate, Structuralists, Functionalists, systematic desensitization, neutral stimuli
Section 3.3
This section presented some challenging concepts. One thing I really liked was the last section about one trial learning-taste aversion. I found it interesting that the scientists were so convinced that it would take more than one trial to develop a CS from a neutral stimulus. This section sort of made me chuckle and cringe at the same time because it hit close to home as a college student. During college, we have been exposed to many different types of alcohol. At times, emitting the behavior of drinking too much can occur. This can cause conditioned taste aversion to occur which makes you want to vomit from just smelling the alcohol.
I felt that the majority of the chapter was kind of confusing. The more you intertwine CS, US, UR, CR the more complicated it gets. This section really talked about how an US can develop into a CS caused by a neutral stimulus. Some of the examples were pretty good but I am still having some trouble fully wrapping my head around this.
1. I will remember what a positive contingency is because of all of the weather examples (lightning and thunder).
2. I will remember that a CS can only occur if an US is present because of Rescorla’s theory and because it makes logical sense.
3. I will remember that CS can occur even after one time because of the taste aversion section.
Section 3.4
I enjoyed reading this section because of the studies presented by Watson. It was admirable how Watson went against what others believed to form his own speculation of how human beings emit behaviors and are raised in society. I agree with his blank slate and his experiments’ success suggests the same. I enjoyed the baby example where the loud noise US turned into a CS with furry animals. I thought it was eye opening to see an example where it worked on babies. I am convinced that the upbringing and external environment that humans grow up in and are exposed to determine the behaviors they will emit and the ways they go about learning.
For the most part, I liked mostly everything in this section. It would be interesting to see if Little Albert would still be conditioned to be afraid of furry animals when he grew up. I also wonder if he would have desensitized or not.
1. I will remember that functionalism deals with Darwinism because it is based off of survival value.
2. I will remember that there are 3 basic emotions because of Little Albert.
3. I will remember that desensitization can be used to eliminate phobias in humans because of the plane example
The readings have added onto my understanding of behavior modification. However, as the material increases it does become more challenging. The stimulus concepts are what make it that difficult.
Terminology: target behavior, emit, elicit, taste aversion, neutral stimulus, CS, US, UR, CR, positive contingency, functionalism, desensitization
Section 3.3
I really enjoyed learning about positive and negative contingency. Those were the two terms that I understood the most from this section. I found it quite easy to come up with examples for positive contingency, but not so much for negative contingency.
I disliked how there was only one example given for negative contingency. I think that that term should have been explained better so I would be able to come up with more examples and understand it better. The rest of the section was also kind of confusing. Everything seemed to run together and I couldn't tell apart the different conditioning styles.
Three things I will remember from this section:
1. Positive contingency- when the CS predicts or signals the arrival of the US. The simple example of thunder and lightening helped me understand this concept. It was easy to come up with things that signal something else is going to happen.
2. Conditioned emotional response- presentation of a stimulus followed by a shock. This helps explain how a person/animal will react to the US.
3. Conditioned taste aversion- when a taste is associated with something toxic enough to make us sick. The first example I related this to was drinking, some people can not drink certain alcohol because they had a bad experience with it. So even the slightest sip of that beverage could be enough to make a person sick. I found this term was easy to apply to every day life.
Section 3.4
I really liked how this section when into more detail about Watson's experiments. It was not all just terms to remember. Being presented with information this way helps me understand the concept better rather than learning new terms and examples.
I didn't dislike anything in this section. Overall I thought it was very interesting and easy to follow. Everything related well with each other and I understood all of the material.
Three things I will remember:
1. Watson believed we are born with three different basic reflex emotions; fear, rage, and love. I believe this to be true. I think that our other emotions are learned throughout our lives depending on how our parents or primary caregiver raise us.
2. Systematic desensitization- helps people overcome phobias. This was a useful term to know because I can relate to it. It was interesting to find out how people can deal with, and sometimes even overcome, the things that they fear most in life.
3. The difference between structuralists and functionalists. Knowing the two different ways that people approach things will help me decide which side I believe best fits the occasion/situation.
These readings have built on what I have learned in behavior modification by going into more depth on CS, US, UR, and CR. When we first learned about them I thought they were pretty easy terms to understand, but as we read and learn more I am finding that there is a lot more to know about these four terms and the way they are observed and used in psychological experiments.
Terms: positive contingency, negative contingency, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned taste aversion, systematic desensitization, structuralists, functionalists
Section 3.3:
From this section I really liked the explanation of the Rescorla’s contingency theory because I don’t think I have learned about it in any other classes. The Rescorla’s contingency theory states that the conditioned stimulus must simply be a good predictor of the unconditioned stimulus for the association to occur. Another thing for the contingency theory states that the unconditioned stimulus should not occur if the conditioned stimulus is not present. I will remember this because it is new information to me and I found it interesting and easy to understand. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like from this section because I enjoyed everything I read. Something I will remember is an example of the contingency theory which is suppose that every time it rains the weather person told us in advance that it was going to rain. So we can say that every time it rains, the weather station predicted it. Also, excitatory versus inhibitory contingencies, positive contingencies are referred to as excitatory conditioning and negative contingencies are referred to as inhibitory conditioning. A positive contingency signals increased likelihood that the unconditioned response will occur. Whereas the negative contingency signals that the unconditioned stimulus will occur is decreased. The last thing I will remember from this section is that the conditioned emotional response and how it works. The CER, involves presentation of a stimulus followed by a shock.
Section 3.4:
From this section I really enjoyed Watson’s Little Albert study he did. I really like learning about this study because it is really easy to understand and the results and everything done in this study makes sense. In this study, Watson used Little Albert to demonstrate how humans learn to generalize the basic of reflexes they are born with to a wide range of objects and with a complexity of emotions. There wasn’t anything that I didn’t like from this section because there was a lot of new information in it for me except for the Little Albert Study. One thing I liked was again the Little Albert study which Watson believed that we have three basic reflex emotions which are fear, rage, and love. In this study he wanted to demonstrate how simple reflexes of fear can be conditioned to something much more. Another thing was the Mary Cover Jone’s study in this study Peter a three year old boy had a fear which was conditioned naturally. In this study she wanted to discover if these fears could be removed. Jones discovered that people are never afraid when they are eating. Lastly, I will remember systematic desensitization which is a behavior method used in helping people overcome phobias.
Terms: systematic desensitization, behavior, generalize, conditioned emotional response, positive contingency, negative contingency, unconditioned stimulus, inhibitory conditioning, excitatory conditioning, excitatory versus inhibitory contingencies, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, contingency theory.
After reading section 3.3 the thing I liked most was the discussion of different conditioning methods used throughout history, along with the examples provided from animal to human research for the fact I just found it interesting to see how the things we are learning about today in psych courses came to be. One thing I disliked about this section was the fact I found the concepts very confusing. Between all the abbreviations and introduction of new terms, I found myself a little lost but hope to get things straightened out during class discussion on Thursday.
The three things I will take away from this section include the following for the fact I found the topics interesting and they also added to my knowledge of not only behavior modification, but also the history of psychology itself.
1. Contingency Theories- Contingency theory, developed by Robert Rescorla based on Pavlov’s research, is when the degree to which the conditioned stimulus predicted the unconditioned stimulus. The better the conditioned stimulus is as predicting the unconditioned stimulus the more reliable the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus become.
2. Excitatory and Inhibitory contingencies- When breaking down contingencies even further you find that contingencies can sometimes be positive which signals an greater likelihood that an unconditioned stimulus will occur, or negative which signal that the unconditioned response will not be present/delivered. Positive contingencies are what we call excitatory conditioning, and negative contingencies are referred to as inhibitory conditioning.
3. Condition taste aversion- In the last section of this chapter conditioned taste aversion was discussed. What this is when a taste is associated with something toxic that would make us sick or nauseous felling. Many people develop taste aversion after having a bad experience with a specific type of food or drink. For example, getting food poisoning from Mexican food and every time following that experience, the thought of Mexican food makes you feel queasy. I found this really interesting for the fact that it is easily relatable to everyday life, especially after having a little too much vodka in one night and never again drinking vodka because you get very sick from it.
After reading section 3.4 the thing I liked the most was the in depth discussion of John B Watson for the fact I didn’t take a lot away from my History and Systems class and it was really nice to be able to review Watson as a Psychologist and look deeper at his contributions to the field. Overall, there was very little about this section that I found un-appealing and cant really pin point something I didn’t like in this reading.
The three things I will remember from this study have to do with the work done by Watson himself. I feel that after reading this section, I have a better understanding of his famous studies and am able to apply them to behavior modification.
1. Little Albert Study- Watson, a functionalist who focused on behaviorism, believed that by applying psychology, the human condition could be improved. In order to do so, Watson along with his assistant Rayner, took a 9 month old baby and conditioned him to be fearful whenever seeing a rat. Watson used the rat (the unconditioned stimulus) and paired it with a loud noise (unconditioned stimulus). The paring of the loud noise and the rat then created and conditioned response to the sight of the rat in the fact Little Albert would exhibit fear and distress.
2. Ethics in the Little Albert Study- In Watson’s study, there was no evidences of desensitizing to Little Albert and his new found conditioned fear to small furry animals. In today’s sense, this would have been seen as highly un-ethical in the fact the experiment could have posed dramatic effects for little Albert throughout his life.
3. Systematic Desensitization- Systematic desensitization is used today as a behavioral method to treat people in overcoming phobias. A phobia is a fear that encompasses our lives, and can cause a great deal of anxiety, stress, and physical discomfort. Systematic desensitization usually occurs by a step by step process of relaxation tips used to overcome and individuals phobia, or to at least make it more bearable in a person’s life.
All of these topics have further built into my knowledge of behavior modification in the fact that it is becoming easier to identify different behavior aspects within my everyday life, as well as being able to apply different terms and concepts in the behavior observations I am making from day to day.
Terms: Contingency theory, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, excitatory contingencies, inhibitory contingencies, unconditioned response, positive contingencies, negative contingencies, conditioned taste aversion, ethics, systematic desensitization, phobia.
Section 3.3
One thing that I really liked about this section were the graphs that illustrated each type of conditioning. When they are described in words, it is harder to get a good understanding on what is occurring in each type of conditioning. It was easier to understand the other types by comparing them to the trace conditioning picture. This is the easiest to understand because it is used most often and is the most effective. It is the type of conditioning we think of first when we talk about classical conditioning. So, from that, I was able to get a really good grasp on what was going on in the other examples.
One thing that I did not like was the short part on negative contingencies. I feel as though I really did not get a good grasp on that particular topic. I was really looking for a couple more examples because I found it hard to come up with any myself. I understood positive contingencies, but I am still having trouble thinking of examples for negative contingencies.
The first thing that I found interesting is that conditioning can occur in one trial. Before I read about the taste aversion concept, I had a hard time thinking of an example where this could occur. It makes sense, that after one time of associating something as toxic, that we are conditioned not to eat it again. This probably played an important part in evolution and how species learned to not eat a certain plant or animal.
The second thing I found interesting was the concept of discrimination training. The part about it that got me most interested was the responses of the dogs when it became to hard to tell. Some were became very agitated and some were very passive. This shows the two ways the nervous system can react when it is confused.
The last thing that I will take from this chapter is the different types of conditioning. Each have different levels of effectiveness with backwards being the worst and trace being the best. The illustrations give you a better understanding of how each type operates. These different types are present in our everyday life.
Section 3.4
One thing that I really like about this section were the ideas of structuralism and functionalism. I have often thought of things in terms of functionalism and never realized it is a whole theory of thought. The idea of evolution is a big driving factor. Functionalism makes sense because we are pretty positive that evolution exists. However, it is always important not to get stuck on one idea because there are many factors in any given situation. I like that Watson did not totally except either idea and thought of a different approach to the topic.
There really was not anything that I did not like. I thought all of the information was important and relevant to what we are learning.
The first thing I will remember is the process of systematic desensitization. These techniques can be very useful and can directly effect our everyday lives. Some phobias are so intense and extreme that they can be very difficult to overcome. Systematic desensitization is a great way to overcome that fear little by little.
The second thing are the ideas that Watson had. I really find myself agreeing with a lot of the theories he had. I think that environment has a massive effect our the outcome of our lives. It is hard not to agree with this notion. People might only see and understand what they have grown up around. If someone grows up around gang life and everyone he or she knows is in a gang, what do you think this person is most likely to do? They might not even understand that there are other ways to live your life. This is important for us because it can help prevent such tragedies from occurring.
I will also remember the two different ideas about psychology, structuralism and functionalism. Each has great ideas but, again, it is important to remember that no one theory is 100% correct. Each can build on each other and can lead us all in the right direction in psychology.
These sections have built on to the previous sections quite a bit. We were introduced to different methods of conditioning and how each one works. We also learned more about behavior and how we are conditioned growing up by our environment. It teaches us that we are conditioned from the day we are born.
terms: Watson, systematic desensitization, structuralism, functionalism, contingencies, taste aversion, discrimination training, trace conditioning, backwards conditioning,
Section 3.3
This section was a bit confusing when I was reading it and then I read over the summary and I started to piece a few things together. However, one thing I did like from this section was when I was reading under the “Order of CS and US presentations” and learning about all the different kinds of conditionings, such as, simultaneous conditioning, short delayed conditioning, trace conditioning, and backward conditioning there were graphics for each different type of conditioning. For me, since I am a visual learning that really made a lot more sense in my brain to see it on paper like that. I understand the different conditions much better now.
On the other hand, one thing I disliked from this section was how in the wording on the graphics for the rabbits and humans face was a bit too small for me to read. I didn’t understand the classical conditioning methods as first so I wanted to read what I said to figure it out more but it was too small.
Three things that I will remember from this section are:
1)A positive contingency will occur when an association develops when the CS predicts the onset of the US.
2)Conditioning can happen in just one trial. According to the reading, taste aversion is the most common and it can become aversive.
3)There are many different types of conditioning, such as, backward, long-delayed, trace, short-delayed, and simultaneous conditioning.
Section 3.4
What I liked most about this section was the review about Watson and how he contributed to psychology. To read about the Little Albert study and Watson’s introspection theory is a good reminder of how far psychology has come over the years. Dr. Maclin stated a couple times in the reading how now a days, testing on babies would be unethical. To even think about testing on a baby is crazy to me because you don’t know how it will affect them in the future. I wonder if Little Albert mother wouldn’t have pulled him from the study what else other experiments Watson would have performed on Little Albert.
There wasn’t really anything I disliked about this section. I feel it was a summary of Watsons work and it got the information acrossed about introspection.
Three things I will remember include:
1)An approach to treat a phobia would be the systematic desensitization technique. It’s used to help with relaxation approaches, and ways to overcome your overall phobia. I will remember this technique because of the good example that was given about the phobia of flying.
2)Before reading this section I did not know that Watson demonstrated the Little Albert study to show the three emotions, fear, rage and love. I will remember that from this section because I think the only emotion we saw was fear.
3)Finally, I will remember that Watson believed that there was no defining line between humans and non-human animals. I will remember that because I agree with him and much of Watson’s theories I believe in also.
I believe that much of what I’m learning in this class also corresponds with what I am learning in other classes as well. Also, some of the information I have learned in previous classes are reappearing in this class, I love that I can recognize that and the more I see the information appear that better I will remember the information for the future.
Terms: Backward conditioning, Trace conditioning, Delayed short conditioning, Delayed long conditioning, Simultaneous conditioning, Aversive, Controlled stimulus, Uncontrolled stimulus, Systematic desensitization, Little Albert, Watson, introspection
One thing that I liked about section 3.3 was how much practice we got with unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response. I liked that it reviewed this terms in this section because it is good to keep fresh with new terms. It gave several examples and chances for us to retain the information to use the terms in the future. These terms allow me to understand where and when a stimulus or response becomes conditioned.
One thing that I disliked about this section was how little explaining this section gave on the different types of conditioning. I felt like this section did a poor job at giving examples of the different types, which therefore made it hard for me to point out the different types. The diagram that was shown in the section did not help me understand these types of conditioning.
Three things I will remember from section 3.3 is that 1) positive contingencies are where conditioned stimuli which elicits an CR the paining a neutral stimulus with an US, 2) negative contingencies signal that the UR will not be present/delivered, and 3) that excitatory conditioning are also called positive contingencies and inhibitory conditioning are also know as negative contingencies. I will remember that positive contingencies are where conditioned stimuli elicit a CR and paining a neural stimulus with an US because positive contingencies signal an increased likelihood that the US will occur. I will remember that negative contingencies signal that the UR will not be present/delivered because negative contingencies means that the UR will not be conditioned as a positive contingency would be. Lastly, I will remember that the excitatory conditioning are also called positive contingencies and that inhibitory conditioning are also know as negative contingencies because the section emphasized on these terms throughout the section.
One thing I liked about section 3.4 was the background information that was given on Watson. I liked that this section gave more background information on Watson because it helps me better understand the concepts that he focused upon during his research. I liked that he is known for his behaviorist manifesto and that he studied white rats. I liked this about Watson because its interesting to be the difference in animal choice compared to Pavolv and Shinner.
One thing I disliked about section 3.4 was how little examples and practice problems there were. I like when there are some practice problems because he helps me retain the information better if it challenges my mind. Granted, this section didn’t have a ton of information to practice with, I wish I couldn’t done something with it.
Three things I will remember from section 3.4 is that 1) structuralists are interested in breaking psychology into basic elements using the method of introspection, 2) functionalists are influenced by Darwin, and believe that if an ability or trait existed then it must have something to do with enhancing our survival rate, and 3) Watson rejected both structionalists and functionalists. I will remember that structuralists are interested in breaking psychology into basic elements using the method of introspection because they are all about things be completely separate from each other. I will remember that Darwin influences the functionalists because they focus on the biological aspects and the human races survival. Lastly, I will remember that Watson rejects both structionalists and functionalists because he believes that there is no dividing line between humans and animals. He believed in applied psychology.
These sections have built on my previous knowledge of what I already know about behavior modification because I learned more about a behaviorist by the name of Watson. Also, I have learned more about CR, CS, UR, and US from section 3.3.
Terms: behavior modification, behaviorist, Watson, CR, CS, UR, US, structuralists, functionalists, excitatory conditioning, positive contingencies, inhibitory conditioning, and negative contingencies.
I found John Garcia’s discovery of taste aversion interesting. It was previously believed that it always took repeated trials for the CS to develop from a neutral stimulus for classical condition to develop. Conditioned taste aversion occurs when taste is associated with something that makes you sick. This has been found to be especially true after chemotherapy or even a night of drinking. The smell of the food that has been conditioned can cause you to feel sick. I know I’ve had this personally happened to me. When you’re sick and you eat a certain food, the sickness can cause you to throw up, but you now associate the food with the aversive behavior of making you sick. This type of conditioning has happened to pretty much every human.
I like when we get practice examples, such as in this chapter, but when I don’t know the answers it gets frustrating. Distinguishing the US, UR, CS, and CR gets confusing and since we didn’t have class last week because of the snow it never got clarified for me. I think these are going to be important things to know for future chapters of behavior modification. The types of conditioning seem to make sense to me, it just differentiating on my own which part of the example is what in the conditioning type.
Three things I will remember from this chapter are the different conditioning types. The three that stuck out to me the most are simultaneous condition, trace conditioning and backward conditioning. Simultaneous condition is when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time. An example would be when a bell begins to ring when food is delivered. In trace conditioning the conditioned stimulus is introduced before the unconditioned stimulus. An example of this would be a belling ringing before food is presented, ending right before food is delivered. Finally backward conditioning is the least effective, presenting the unconditioned stimulus before the conditioned stimulus. The food would be presented before the bell is rung. These types are important to remember when conditioning something because there are problems with each one and not used consciously could cause no association to be made.
I’ve learned about desensitization in my abnormal psychology class and found it very interesting. I didn’t know though that is was discovered by Mary Cover Jones and it was not known until after the Little Albert study was done. She also found that people were never afraid when they were eating. To test this theory she used a subject named Peter. She used food as a US and then could gradually present an animal (the CS) and it would reduce his fear level that he usually experiences. Doing this gradually is known as systematic desensitization and is the most effective when dealing with phobias.
One thing I disliked from this chapter was the section on Watsons’s passage. The section from his Behaviorist Manifesto, I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and felt it unnecessary to explain it. Functionalism and structuralism differences also confused me. Structuralists are interested in basic elements that are the building blocks to construct the complex nature of humans. While functionalists believe if the ability or trait existed, it must have something to do with enhancing our survival rate, or survival of the fittest. They are very similar views and hard to distinguish between the two types.
Three things I will remember are desensitization, Little Albert and Watson’s psychology. Desensitization as I discussed above, it is reduce the cause of a phobia in an individual. An example of this is Peter being desensitized to animals while eating. The Little Albert experiment was done on an infant to see if he could be a condition simple reflex of fear into something more by associating them with something he was scared of, such as loud noises. Finally Watson’s psychology, which is the study of behavior and that humans and animals, learned to adjust to the environment through habit and reflex. He thought that what we learned from animals, we could apply it to humans as well. Applied psychology could improve human condition through the use of psychological science.
More and more specifics are being introduced as the chapters’ progress. I never considered all the specifics that needed to be thought through when conditioning something. It started out as just the ABC’s, reinforcement and punishment. Now there are so many different specifics one must considered before just using reinforcement or punishment to modify a behavior.
Terms: reinforcement, punishment, ABC’s, conditioning, behavior, modify, simultaneous conditioning, trace conditioning, backward conditioning, aversive, CS, US, CR, UR, association, conditioning types, John Garcia, taste aversion conditioning, classical conditioning, desensitization, Little Albert, Watson’s psychology, phobia, simple reflex, reflex, behaviorist manifesto, Functionalism, Structuralists, building blocks, desensitization, abnormal psychology, Mary Cover Jones, systematic desensitization and phobias
After reading section 3.3, I felt very confused and lost on what exactly the material was trying to explain. The thing I liked from this section was learning that positive contingency is also referred to as excitatory conditioning and negative contingency can also be referred to as inhibitory conditioning. I like this because I understood when the example of Pavlov and neuroses of the dogs were given. As for what I disliked about this section that would be trying to figure out the conditioning responses for the examples given. I have no idea what they would be and feel very confused about this section and trying to connect what kind of example is associated with each stimulus and response. The first thing I will remember from this section is the example of lightning and thunder given for positive contingency because that is a simple visual that helps to explain what the term means. The second thing is that positive contingency is similar to positive reinforcement because it is aiming to get a probability to increase in the future. The third thing I will remember is conditioned taste aversion because of the helpful examples given regarding the smell of liquor after a long night drinking and getting sick.
From this section I enjoyed reading and learning about Mary Cover Jones’ experiment with Peter and the process of systematic desensitization she applied to the experiment with him. She found that fear was not commonly felt when human were eating, so to reduce Peter’s fear of animals, she gradually placed an animal near him while he was eating. Peter eventually remained calm when animals were present. I found this to be interesting because it’s a great technique to use when phobias interfere with a person’s life. I didn’t enjoy that Little Albert was the victim of Watson’s behavioral experiment that led to Albert being so frightened of furry things. The experiment is so unethical and seems cruel to do that to a child. I will remember systematic desensitization and the technique used on people because of how in-depth the process was explained. The second thing I will remember is the term structuralism that describes that a structuralist broke psychology down into basic elements. I will remember this because it is a concept that led to many experiments being done and is something I remember from previous classes. I will also remember functionalism because it was created in response to structuralism and followed along the thoughts of Charles Darwin. I’ll remember this because functionalism focuses more on the purposes behind behavior, which I find to be most interesting in regards to motivational techniques.
These sections have built on to previous sections in that it has introduced other researchers that challenged their peers, like how Rescorla did off of Pavlov’s work. The beginning of chapter three discussed three laws created by Thorndike, these laws present themselves in many of the experiments done. For example, in the Little Albert study, the law of exercise can be tied with behavior conditioning because the association between fear of a loud noise and fuzzy objects became strengthened when repetitions of the experiment were performed.
Terms: Positive Contingency, Excitatory Conditioning, Inhibitory Conditioning, Conditioned Taste Aversion, Systematic Desensitization, Structuralism, Functionalism, Little Albert, Watson, Mary Cover Jones, Pavlov, Thorndike, Law of Exercise
3.4
One thing I liked about this section was that it was very informative and I liked the short review section in it. One thing I did not like was the charts because I did not understand a couple of them.
Three things I will remember:
1. Positive contingency- The probability of an event happening is higher because another event had taken place before. Example is thunder and lightning. If you see lightning, the chances of hearing thunder shortly after are high because light travels faster than sound.
2. Positive contingencies are also known as Excitatory Conditioning and Negative Contingencies are also known as Inhibitory Conditioning
3. conditioned taste aversion- When a taste is associated with something toxic enough to make us sick. Example is if we eat something that has made us sick in the past, the smell or taste of that food could make us feel sick again and not want to eat that food.
3.4
I thought the examples in this section were really good and helped me understand what I was readying. There was nothing I did not like about this section.
Three things I will remember:
1. Watson used white rats for his experiments. Watson studied Myelinization in the brain and the rats ability to learn. Though he found no relationship and his thesis was a failure, he is a major figure in psychology.
2. Structuralists and functionalists- Structuralists were interested in breaking psychology into its basic elements using the method of introspection and functionalists believed that if an ability existed then it has something to do with our survival rate. Watson rejected both the structuralists and functionalists.
3. Little Albert study- Albert was chosen because he was not scared of much. He wouldn't be afraid when a rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, masks, etc. were placed in front of him. He was afraid of loud noises though. When they placed a rat in front of him and made a loud noise, he started to become afraid of the rat associating it with the loud noise.
Reading these sections built on what I have already learned about behavior modification. We learned about a new psychologist today that had his own way of doing things compared to the other psychologists we have previously learned about. This proves to me that there is not one specific way to do things in psychology. Watson rejected structuralists and functionalists while others believed in it. Watson also used white rats while others used cats or dogs and even humans.
Terms: Positive contingencies, excitatory conditioning, negative contingencies, inhibitory conditioning, conditioned taste aversion, structuralists, functionalists, little albert study
3.3 Classical Conditioning
In previous sections in our text we have learned about neutral stimuli, conditioned stimuli, conditioned and unconditioned responses along with their relationship to one another. A neutral stimulus can eventually become a conditioned stimulus when paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit an unconditioned response. When a neutral stimulus is presented enough a relationship is created enabling it to become a conditioned stimulus which then, in the right circumstances, can elicit an unconditioned response. What we didn’t know is what the relationship is called when the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus become correlated with each other and the neutral stimulus becomes conditioned. This is called a positive contingency interestingly enough. Positive contingency occurs when the conditioned stimulus can predict the unconditioned stimulus. I was trying to come up with an example besides the thunder and lightning example given in the text and a good one I thought of would be hearing the garbage truck picking up my neighbors garbage signaling me that our garbage will be picked up next. All too often I have forgotten to put the garbage out the night before and I’ve woken up to the sound of the garbage truck next door eliciting me to run downstairs and take it out quick before it’s too late. While there are positive contingencies there are also negative contingencies as well.
Robert Rescorla, someone who built on Pavlov’s research on classical conditioning, came up with what is known as the Contingency Theory. I had heard about the Contingency Theory through other classes but I never fully grasped it until now. He theorized that it wasn’t the number of pairings between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus but how well the conditioned stimulus predicted the unconditioned stimulus. When you have contingencies, there are positive and negative occurrences; negative contingencies signal a decreased likelihood that the unconditioned stimulus will occur and positive contingencies signal an increased likelihood that the unconditioned stimulus will occur. Positive contingencies are also known as excitatory conditioning while negative contingencies are known as inhibitory conditioning.
While there are different contingencies there are also different types conditioning. Each type of conditioning operates on a temporal relationship (there are different time frames in which each type of conditioning occurs). Trace conditioning, the most common and most effective form of conditioning, involves the presentation of the conditioned stimulus just before the unconditioned stimulus. There is also Simultaneous Conditioning where the CS and the US onset and offset happen at the same time, Short Delayed Conditioning where the CS and the US overlap in such a way where the CS happens first and before it becomes offset the US becomes onset, Long Delayed Conditioning occurs when the onset of the CS occurs way before the US and before the CS offsets the US onsets, and lastly Backward Conditioning; when the US onset occurs before the onset of the CS. Each type of conditioning has their own applications in different situations.
3.4 John B. Watson
Back when Watson was alive and practicing, Introspection was the leading method to which collect data which was very subjective. Also during his time as a psychologist there were two operating groups working to understand the nature of humans; Structuralists and Functionalists. Structuralists believed that psychology was better understood when broken into the basic elements so they could be used as building blocks to construct the complex nature in which people behave (much like what we are doing in class). Functionalists however were more interested on the influence Darwin had on psychology. Darwin was all about evolution therefore the functionalists believed that if an ability or trait existed than it had to be correlated with passing on our genes and surviving to evolve into a stronger species. Watson believed that that behavior came from how we adjusted to our environments through habit and reflex. If psychology operated on a stimulus and response model, Watson believed that behaviorism could ultimately be used present the public with ways to help people and society as well as improve the human condition.
Watson believed that humans are born with three basic reflex emotions; fear, love, and rage. Using “Little Albert” Watson, over a period of time, was able to demonstrate the conditioned response of fear with almost all furry things. It started out the Little Albert wasn’t afraid of much but was afraid of loud noised. Watson figured this out and would hit a hammer on a piece of steel every time a rat was present and Little Albert eventually became afraid of rats. As the process of habit and relfex continued Little Albert elicited the same fear response with all fuzzy things because he learned to generalize and associate “fuzzy” with “fear”.
After the little albert study, no one really knew of albert could be desensitized to fuzzy things until Mary Cover Jones did an experiment with a child named Peter. Peter was a child at the age of three who became easily upset and who had a naturally conditioned fear of animals. After, through the process of what is now known as systematic desensitization, Peter overcame is fear of animals. The process of systematic desensitization involves the introduction of a fear or phobia into everyday life little by little until the fear or phobia is no longer present.
Terms: neutral stimuli, conditioned stimuli, unconditioned stimuli, conditioned responses, unconditioned responses, classical conditioning, contingency theory, positive contingency, negative contingency, excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, temporal relationship, trace conditioning, Simultaneous Conditioning, Short Delayed Conditioning, Long Delayed Conditioning, Backward Conditioning, Introspection, Structuralists, Functionalists, reflex, systematic desensitization.
Section 3.3 looked at classical conditioning more in depth. I liked learning about the different animal experiments and the new terms involved. I find learning about how terms were established interesting. What I did not like about the section was the explanation of the types of conditioning. I thought the types were confusing and not explained as well as I would have liked. Three things I will remember from this section include excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, and finally conditioned emotional response. Excitatory conditioning as stated in our text occurs when the CS predicts or signals the arrival of the US. I will remember this term with the thunder and lightning example. Light travels faster than sound therefore the lightning (CS) usually signals the arrival of thunder of few seconds after. Inhibitory conditioning involves a stimulus that causes a person or animal to inhibit or resist a response. An example is showing a dog a circle every time he will not receive food. The circle becomes a CS which causes the dog to resist salivation. A conditioned emotional response typically involves the presentation of a stimulus followed by a shock as defined in our text. I will remember this by an example of rats hearing a tone (CS), and freezing up to expect a shock (CR).
Section 3.4 was very interesting in learning about Watson’s experiment with little Albert and systematic desensitization. I thought the text was very clear and unbiased, thus helping me understand the material well. The only thing I didn’t like about the section is that I wish it had more examples of systematic desensitization. I find this psychological technique interesting and would like to learn more about it. Three things I will remember from this section are systematic desensitization, the little Albert study, and Watson’s 12 infant quote. Our text describes systematic desensitization as a behavioral method used today in helping people overcome phobias. I will remember this term by the plane phobia example. You slowly and progressively begin to expose people to their phobia such as visualization, touching a plane, etc. The little Albert study involved classically conditioning the infant to fear fury animals. This experiment led Watson believed that almost all behaviors are learned and parents could shape the behaviors of their infants and children. This led Watson to his 12 infant quote: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief and, yes, even a beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” Watson believed that behaviors are learned as do I and that we can shape children’s behavior with knowledge of behavior modification such as the knowledge learned in this class.
These readings have built on my knowledge of behavior modification by providing me with new terms and experiments. These terms and experiments have broadened my terminology and have increased my understanding of how behavior modification techniques work and why. I have also learned that many behaviors children exhibit are learned whether the parents meant to teach them those behaviors or not. With knowledge from this class I hope to teach my children to behave respectability.
Terms: behavior, systematic desensitization, the little Albert study, Watson’s 12 infant quote, conditioned response, conditioned stimulus, classical conditioning, excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, finally conditioned emotional response, inhibit,
Section 3.3
One thing that I liked about this section was the re-explanation of Pavlolv's experimental neurosis. I liked this becacuse it gave me a much clearer understanding of contengencies which was first introduced the page before. This experiment and explanation was layed out and well explained as to what was a positive and negative contingecy and why they were. The examples and explanations prior to this had me confused and I was not sure about what exactly a contengency was. I also like the explanation of the different conditioning models. Its good to see how we are able to test differently depending on the subject and gives people a better understanding of why we do tests on animals and then project the findings on to humans. Some people find that this shouldn't be done because they believe that humans are more complex than animals and therefore cannot share the same attributes but science has shown otherwise and it allows for many more experiments to be done than what could be done soley on humans.
Overall I did not like this section. I found it to be confusing when it first tried to explain contingencies, and I still am very confused as to how to relate the definitions to real wrold examples. I understand that if there is a contengency than the controlled stimulus predicts the occurance of the uncontrolled stimulus, but with the examples given I had a hard time coming up with other examples that I thought showed the same concept. I think more examples and maybe another way of explaining it would be helpful, becaues looking at other people's posts there were many of us that found this to be struggling. I also did not like that the examples did not have answer keys so there was no way for you to know if your thinking is on the right path. There have been some sections that give answer keys and others that have not and I don't understand why that is. I know personally I would like to be able to know if I am understanding the material fully so that I can go into class prepared, especially seing that we have reaing quizzes. I also would have liked to have examples of each type of conditioning that were shown and the pros and cons of each one of them.
Things to Remember
1. One thing to remember from this section is that the order in which the controlled and uncontrolled stimuli are presented matters in how successful the conditioning will be. One type of conditioning is trace conditioning which is when the controlled stimulus is presnted first and then the uncontrolled stimulus is presented. There is also some variation withing trace conditioning which depends on how long after the controlled stimulus that the uncontrolled stimulus is presented. Either way trace conditioning has been shown to be the most effective form to choose. Simultaneous conditioning is another type of trace conditioning which is when the controlled stimulus and the uncontrolled stimulus are presented at the same time. The last type of conditioning is backwards conditioning which is when the unconditioned stimulus is presented before the conditioned stimulus. It is important to know these different types of conditioning as we continue to learn about classical conditioning in a deeper was so that you can be able to set up a conditioning procedure in a percise way which will allow for a more likely chance of recieving the expected behaviors.
2. Another thing that should be taken from this section is that postive contigencies signal an increased chance of the unconditioned stimulus occuring. It should also be understood that negative contingencies signal a decreased change of the unconditioned stimulus occruing. These describe if a conditioning process is either excitatory or inhibitory. It is good to know the exact of a procedure and what the overall goal of a behavior modification procedure is so that results can be better understood to have been successful or not.
3. I will remember from this chapter that it does not always take repeated exposure for a neutral stimulus to become a conditioned response. This is shown with conditioned taste aversion which is when a taste or smell is associated with something that has made us sick and afterwards that taste or smell is conditioned to make a person sick all by itself. Understanding this has allowed for us to prevent it from happening, especially in cases such as going through chemo therapy so that a positive stimulus is not made aversive.
Section 3.4
One thing that I liked about this section was the history given behind the theories and developments of psychology. Many times the history gets lost and all that people are interested in are the facts but knowing the history allows for people to get a deeper understanding of the facts and information. I had studied Watson in previous psychology classed but had never heard of Mary Jones before. Its important to understand that though there are the great minds of psychology that we typically look at, that there are many other people that have taken from those ideas and created expantions of them so that we have the understanding that we do today.
There was not really anything that I particulary disliked about this section. It would have been nice to have a little bit more context besides the history behind some of the theories and development understanding but I understand that this section was focused on the historya and that more context may be brought into the picture later in the textbook.
Things to Remember
1. One thing to take from this section is the process of systematic desensitization. This process attempts to associated something positive with something that is percieved as aversive. Slowly they expose the person to things that are aspects of what is seen as aversive until they are able to use the postive stimulus in which overrides the aversivness that was once seen. This is most often used in dealing with phobias.
2. Another thing to take from this section is the idea that we can condition a simple reflex to be generalized to something much greater. Some also believe that we can condition one to do or be almost anything. This should show as a reminder that the field of psychology has many theories that do not always agree with each other and there is simply no way of conducting experiments in order to make things stern facts. We use certain theories and findings as buliding blocks but research is always going on to get a better understanding.
3. I will also take away from this section the difference betwee structuralism and functionalism. Functionalists believe that every trait that a human has serves a purpose is providing an advantage to survival. Structionalists beleive that aspects of psychology should be broken down into basic building blocks and then use those to better understand the presence of traits and how they make us who we are. This also reitterates that there have been changes from what used to be the commone accepted beliefs in psychology and that theories may not always agree. It is up to each person to look at each theory carefully and use the information to make their own informed decision as to what to believe.
These readings have taken a deeper aspect into what we have already learned with classical conditioning. It is important to continue to learn the advanced contexts and factors of this procedure so that one is able to better understand how to use it and how to understand the results. It gave a history to information that we have a basic understanding on and allows for us to remember that theories have grown and developed from the past. More people have taken basic principles and expanded upon them to get some of the more deeper understandings that we have today.
Terms Used: positive contingency, negative contigency, experimental neurosis, controlled stiumlus, uncontrolled stimulus, trace conditioning,simultaneous conditioning, classical conditioning, systematic desensitization
Section 3.3
One thing I liked about this section was learning about the discrimination training. We had already talked about it in other chapters but this made it more clear for me what exactly he was doing with the different shapes. It’s interesting how the dogs were able to discriminate between the shapes and understand that either food was coming or it wasn’t. One thing I didn’t really like about this section was learning about how the animals were treated. It seems to me that shocking an animal is cruel, even if it is to make new discoveries for Psychology. I’m glad we have ethics that researchers need to follow, especially if we are conducting experiments with humans. Some of the research done in the past has been questionable, especially the experiments on infants. Three things I will remember about this chapter are 1. Positive Contingencies- these are when we are signaled that there will likely occur the US. So when Pavlov’s dogs were shown one of the shapes they knew the food was coming and began to drool. 2. Negative Contingencies- this would be the opposite so when the likelihood that the US will happen is diminished. The third thing I will remember from this chapter is 3. Conditioned Emotional Response (CER)- this is usually when a stimulus is presented and a shock follows. The example used in the chapters uses the example of the rats learning that the tone and the shock go together. Without this training through the rat would not make the association.
Section 3.4
One thing I liked about this section was learning about the Little Albert experiment. Although it is clearly unethical it is very fascinating. Humans can be conditioned quite easily, which can be both a good and bad thing. Unfortunately for Albert he was conditioned first to fear rats which later developed into fear of all things fuzzy, all because they were associated with something he did fear which was loud sounds. Watson thought that this experiment proved that most behaviors were learned, this meant parents could help to shape the behaviors they wanted in their children. Watson’s idea was a very interesting idea indeed. One thing I didn’t really like about this chapter was the two different psychology camps during Watson’s time. They seem odd to me, especially the functionalists. They believed that what traits people had were there because they had served to keep us alive. I guess being a psych student in the present I believe that our traits come from many different factors. The three things I will remember are 1. Systematic Desensitization- This is when a person systematically tries to help someone who has a fear of something get over this fear or phobia by desensitization. This can help many people with crippling fears that can live normal lives because their fears hold them back. By using visualization and relaxation techniques patients will hopefully learn not to be afraid. 2. The Structuralists were the other group of psychologists during Watson’s time. They believed that psychology should be broken down into basic parts and that once you knew these parts you could use them to understand human behavior. 3. Desensitize- this means that you are reducing something, like reducing a fear or phobia in systematic desensitization.
These chapters built more on what we had learned about conditioning, and the different kinds of stimulus. We also learned about some very famous experiments and what they did for the field of psychology. They taught us a lot about behaviors, and even how to control them. In some ways bad and in some ways good, the good being systematic desensitization.
Terms: desensitizing, systematic desensitization, positive contingency, discrimination training, conditioned emotional response, conditioned, negative contingency, stimulus.
3.3
I very easily understood the concept of a positive contingency...It is kind of similar to a positive correlation in that it has predictive value. However, in classical conditioning it would generally be stronger than just a correlation. So much of science is based on correlations, and it is very interesting that we can unconsciously learn these correlations and determine predictive value by having a conditioned response to a neutral stimulus.
I find taste aversion to be a very interesting phenomenon. I am definitely conditioned to dislike certain foods based on sickness.
I also think it is important to remember that conditioning can occur as simultaneous, trace, short delayed, long delayed, and backwards.
3.4
I have very mixed feelings about Watson. I am troubled by the research he did on Little Albert, and believe that the data he got from that should be thrown away. Some might call that a radical response, but that's what we did with a lot of data that the Nazis collected by conducting horrible research on their victims during the Holocaust.
The part that I find troubling is that as much as I hate Watson for what he did to Little Albert, I agree with him on his behaviorist manifesto. He is absolutely right that introspection does not belong in psychology, and that we should primarily focus on observable behavior and how to manipulate it.
I find it interesting to be basically studying different people on the same timeline in two different psychology classes. I literally just read about the differences versus functionalism and structuralism for History and Systems within the last hour. I do not necessarily agree with Watson that we should do away with functionalism and structuralism altogether, but I know that observation of behavior is a very important component of psychology
I would like to know why the title of "Radical Behaviorist" went to Skinner instead of Watson. Watson was definitely a radical scientist, and disagreed with a lot of other people in the field.
Terms:
Positive Contingency, Correlation, Predictive Value, Classical Conditioning, Unconscious, Conditioned Response, Neutral Stimulus, Taste Aversion, Simultaneous, Trace, Short Delayed, Long Delayed, Backwards, Watson, Little Albert, Behaviorist Manifesto, Introspection, Psychology, Observable Behavior, Manipulate, Functionalism, Structuralism, Radical Behaviorist
Section 3.3
One thing I really liked about this section is the conditioned taste adversion. I liked this part because it reminds me of funny stories about peoples weekends and how they can not drink certain alcohol anymore. I also found the part about cancer patients really interesting. My grandmother died from cancer and she never turned down food when i vistited her and she never talked about this so I had no idea about this.
I have no complaints about this section. Everything was clearly written and the information was clear and to the point while giving examples to help the reader grasp the info.
1)Taste adversion- I really thought this was interesting and now know the term for when my friends get really drunk then cant drink a certain drink anymore
2)I will remember Rescorla believed that the number of pairings of CS and US was less important than how good of a predictor the CS is. This made a lot of sense to me because if the predictor is really good like a really loud noise or some sort of pain then teaching a CR will come a lot sooner because the individual or animal will be fully aware of what is coming next.
3) I will rememebr positive and negative contingencies as being excitatory and ihibitory conditioning. I will remember these because the terms they go for are similar and make sense to me so when you say either negative or positive contingencies i will corrilate them with excitatory and inhibitory.
Section 3.4
One thing I liked about this section is the Little Albert experiment. I know that it is highly immoral and contriversal but it is the easiest way and fastest to really test how behaviors can be learned by humans.
The only thing I had a problem with in this section is I couldn't get the URL to the video to work other than that the section was pretty simple.
1)Little Albert- I have read about Little Albert before so going over it was just a review and sinced a remembered this experiment from intro to psych then ill definatly remember it after this class
2) I will rememebr Mary Jones's study because it is the exact opposite of Watson's. Watson conditioned Albert to be scared of a previously nuetral stimulous. Jones conditioned behaviors to become extinct when it came to a UR.
3) I will remember using relaxation tecniques to relieve phobias. I will remember this because I know people who have a phobia of flying so using these relaxation tecniques could possibly help them.
Reading these sections has built upon my knowledege of bmod. I took intro to psych so these psychologists and their experiments have already been taught to me so reading this was a review for me. After reading though I learned some new terms such as adverse taste conditioning and systematic desensitation. These terms are what built upon my previous knowledge of bmod and will help me exremely when talking about bmod.
Terms: Phobia,adverse taste conditioning,systematic desensitation,CS,US,CR,UR,positive contingencies,negative contingencies,excitatory conditioning,inhibitory conditioning,Little Albert,neutral stimulous,relaxation
Section 3.3
One thing i really liked in this section was learning about the temporal relationship between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus and how it effects what type of conditioning it is. I liked this because it was a simple way to differentiate between the various types of conditioning. I also liked learning about it because I had never thought that the variance in the correlation of the two would have any effect on the conditioning style. One thing that i disliked was the use of the chart to illustrate the relationship between the forecast and the actual occurrence of rain. I like when things are simple, but this just seems a little unnecessary. Three things I will remember from this section:
1. When a correlation between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus is achieved, it is referred to as a positive contingency.
2. Positive contingencies are excitatory, whereas negative contingencies are inhibitory.
3. Taste aversion is the exemption to the rule of the association between stimuli, as it only takes one trial to make the correlation.
Section 3.4
One thing that I liked in this section was the 12 infants quote. I've heard this before and I found it interesting to see the confidence in his belief of psychology. When it comes to the nature v nurture debate, i acknowledge they are both playing a role in the behavior of the person, but i am more on the side of the influence of nurture. Because of this i liked seeing Watson acknowledge the power of behavioral influence on the adult life of a child. I also liked the Little Albert case example, because i like seeing how these studies play out on actual people. One thing i disliked was that the Little Albert case didn't undergo the desensitization process. This upset me because I would like to have seen the actual example from the example of the preconditioned child. Three things I will remember are:
1. The two camps of psychology were the functionalists, who focused primarily on evolutionary influence, and the structuralists, who focused on the basic tenants of psychology.
2. Introspection occurs when the participant self documents their perception or behavior.
3. According to Jones, people do not get afraid while they are eating.
From these two sections, I learned more about the association process between stimuli in the beginning stage of classical conditioning, as well as more about the life of Watson, and other little information that I wouldn't know otherwise.
Terms: temporal relationship, condition stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, behavior, desensitization, excitatory, inhibitory, functionalists, structuralists, introspection, classical conditioning, positive contingencies, taste aversion,
SECTION 3.3
In this chapter, one thing that I liked was that it re-explained how a neutral stimulus came eventually become a conditioned stimulus. An example of this, as it was in a previous chapter, is blinking when air is puffed into the eye. I was happy that we went back to this concept because I didn’t quite grasp it when it was first presented. I am not completely sure that I fully understand it the best I should, but there is a better understanding.
I was a big fan of this chapter because it was very confusing. I had to reread it multiple times and I still don’t know what I read. I thought this chapter was a bit wordy and not well organized. I would really like to go over this section more in depth is our next class so maybe I’ll be able to get a better understanding.
Three things that I hope to remember from this section are:
1) A positive contingency occurs when an association develops to the extent where the conditioned stimulus predicts the onset of the unconditioned stimulus. The example the book used is lightning and thunder. When lightning strikes, thunder is predicted to follow.
2) Excitatory and Inhibitory Conditioning. Excitatory Conditioning is also known as positive contingencies and Inhibitory Conditioning is a negative contingency. The example used to represent these in the book is in Excitatory Conditioning, the rabbit will blink when he hears a tone. For Inhibitory Conditioning, the rabbit will resist blinking.
3) Pavlov would use discrimination training to examine experimental neurosis which occurred when animals could no longer discriminate between distinct stimuli. Some animals would become agitated, while others became very passive.
This chapter has really shown me that it is important to know and understand the concepts of the previous chapters before I move on. There is a lot more to behavior modifications than meets the eye and I hope that in class, I will be able to better understand what I read in this section.
SECTION 3.4
In this chapter, I liked to that the Little Albert study was talked about. I know of this study in passing of other classes. It has always been used as an example of just mentioned but was never really taught. Little Albert was a 9 month old baby who wasn’t afraid of much beside loud noises. Watson put a rat in front of Little Albert and made a loud noise. Ultimately, Little Albert became afraid of mice, all things fuzzy and white. This experiment was conducted to test how humans learn to generalize reflexes.
Though this experiment has a lot to do with what psychology is today, I find it to be unethical. I can’t help but to feel bad for Little Albert. Watsons research and findings were done at Little Albert’s expense.
Three things I hope to remember from this chapter are:
1) Little Albert and his part in Watson’s research.
2) That there are two basic separations of behaviorism, structuralism and functionalism.
3) Mary Cover Jones found a way to desensitize Little Albert.
This section has built on my knowledge of Watson’s Little Albert research. As I said earlier, I knew of Little Albert from examples in other classes but it was never really explained. I’m happy that I was finally taught what he was trying to accomplish.
Terms: neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, positive contingency, unconditioned stimulus, Excitatory Conditioning, Inhibitory Conditioning, negative contingency, Pavlov, discriminate training, Watson, Little Albert, Mary Cover Jones.
Section 3.3 Classic conditioning
What was the one thing you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I enjoyed the short overview reinforcing how conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, and unconditioned response influence each other. I like the quick overview because it is a nice reminder as to what we have gone over. It also helps to verify that I understand what the terms mean and how to use them. The section also discusses a few new terms such positive contingencies and negative contingencies. .
What their anything you disliked about this chapter?
There were a few parts of this section I found to be a little hard to understand. I found myself re- reading parts over and over again. Maybe if there was a few more examples, it could help me understand a few concepts a little better such as experimental neurosis.
three things that you will remember
1.Delayed Conditioning- This is when the CS is presented and is continued to be presented until the US arrives, the CS only stops til after the US is nearly over.
2. The idea of excitatory and inhibitory contingencies- To but it simply excitatory contingency is another way to express positive contingencies, this is when the likelihood that the US will occur again. Inhibitory contingency is another way to explain a negative contingency, this is the likelihood that the US will decrease.
3. A positive contingency occurs when an organism develops an association between the CS and the US.
3.4
I enjoyed learning about John B Watson, I never knew that Watsons first interest in research was in Myelination. Even though watsons theory was never proven, he still ,made great contributions to psychology with his case study over Little Albert. There wasn't anything that I did not like about this section.
three things I will remember from this section
1. Structuralists and Functionalists- Structuralists psychologist believe that if you study and understand the building blocks of psychology one could possibly construct the complex nature of humans. Functionalist psychology is more influenced by Darwin with the ideal that if there is a trait or ability we have it has something todo with enhancing our survival.
2. would be new information about the Little Albert Study that I never Knew about before. Such as how the study touched bases not only on fear but also rage and love.
3. Lastly I will remember systematic desensitization, this is a principle that uses a combinations of relaxation and visualization to take small steps towards the individual facing their fear.
Terms:positive/ negative contingencies, inhibitory/ excitatory behavior,, Watson, Little albert, systematic desensitization, relaxations techniques, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response
3.3
In this section I liked the positive and negative contingencies. They were one of the only things that were completely clear for me in the section. In addition to liking the part on contingencies I liked that chart used to better explain the example of the forecast and the actual occurrence of weather for the day. If the forecast calls for rain and there is no rain, it is a negative contingency. Also, if the forecast does not call for rain and there IS rain, it is also a negative contingency.
I did not like the section on conditioning methods for animals and humans. They were both so vague they might not as well have been in there. I find experiments like these to be very interesting so I was disappointed that there was not more information on these terms. These methods of classical conditioning were barely even touched on and not explained thoroughly enough for me.
I will remember what positive and negative contingencies are thanks to the weather chart about the forecast and the actual occurrence of the weather that day. I will also remember that positive contingencies are also known as excitatory conditioning and negative contingencies are also known as inhibitory conditioning. They are the same thing. Lastly I will remember that in trace conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is presented slightly before the unconditioned stimulus. This is important because it matters when they are presented and in what order. The conditioning will not be sufficient if they are presented together.
3.4
I found this section to be really interesting—probably one of the best sections thus far in the course. I really liked the Little Albert study done to show how humans generalize basic reflexes to a wide range of objects. It is fascinating to see conditioning being done on a human, particularly a human who cannot yet speak. It does pose some ethical concerns however, which is possibly why it is so interesting. They should have conditioned him back to no longer fear furry things.
There was honestly nothing that I didn’t like about this section. The discussion of conditioning, Little Albert, phobias, systematic desensitization, et al. were interesting and compelling. The section was short and sweet and explained everything well.
I will remember that after doing the Little Albert study it was found that the three basic emotions could be conditioned into much more. I will remember that systematic desensitization involves techniques used to help people overcome phobias. Some of these techniques include visualization and taking small steps toward overcoming the phobia. Lastly, I will remember that although Little Albert was not conditioned back to NOT fear furry things, Mary Cover Jones did demonstrate that fear could in fact be removed.
These sections have added to what I have already learned and read about thus far in class. Everything seems to be of importance for fully understanding behavior modification. The sections are kind of like building blocks…we need to know one thing before we can add to it and learn another. It will all come together in the end, and already appears to be doing so the further we get into the class.
Terms: positive contingencies, negative contingencies, classical conditioning, excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, trace conditioning, systematic desensitization,
Section 3.3
MKH
In this section, I liked the example of a positive contingency of thunder and lightning. The lightning precedes the thunder and lets us know that a loud noise is on its way. Another example could be the sound of a fuse on fire before fireworks go off. Because the sound of the fuse burning is followed by loud fireworks, it is another example of positive contingency.
It also reviewed classical conditioning through the unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, and vice versa with conditioned//response/stimulus.
An example would be the rabbit restraint when they used puffs of air to blow into the rabbit’s eyes, and elicit the behavior of blinking. This experiment reminds me of when I went to get prescription eyeglasses; they had me look into a machine that tested my sight and peripheral vision. It also got close to my eye and blew in a puff of air. It was quite unpleasant and took the second eye several times to get the machine positioned just right.
Section 3.4
The example of Little Albert has been in several of my psych classes. It was a very controversial study by John Watson, which probably led to the child having a phobia of rabbits instead of only studying the basic reflexes and emotions of infants.
With the example of phobias, I am arachnophobic. I am absolutely terrified of spiders. I’m not sure of any origins, but I do remember being in an old garage on a chair with dozens of daddy-long legs running around underneath me when I was very young. It frightened me enough to probably make me phobic. Another example is my fiancé’s mom. She is terrified of snakes and can’t even look at a cartoon snake or a picture of one. Her phobia began when she was walking home from school when she was a kid, and her brother’s friends hung a snake overhead and it fell on her and scared her enough to give her a phobia. Also, a friend of my fiancé’s family used to be afraid to drive over bridges. She wouldn’t be able to drive while crossing a bridge, especially the one crossing the Mississippi River. She would have to have someone else drive while she closed her eyes. Unfortunately, she passed away some time ago.
As far as desensitization, my phobia has gotten better because my friends post pictures of spiders on my Facebook wall. I made the mistake of telling my friends what I was afraid of and ended up with horrific pictures of spiders all over my Facebook page. Because I have been looking at the pictures, I’m less afraid and my anxiety has decreased. I’ve even told my friends they’re inadvertently desensitizing me due to their posts.
Terms: desensitization, phobia, classical conditioning, unconditioned response, conditioned response, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, positive contingency, elicit, stimulus
3.3
In this section I liked learning about all the different methods of conditioning used throughout history. Also I found taste aversion and contingency theories to be interesting. I've had experiences with taste aversion before and thought the experiments that had been done on this to be interesting. I found this section to be a bit more difficult so I might reread it. Three things that I will remember from this section are:
1)Taste aversion and how taste can be associated with something that makes us sick
2)Positive contingency: an association develops when a CS predicts the US
3)Negative contingency:called inhibitory conditioning and Pavlov saw this behavior exhibited by his dogs
3.4
I enjoyed learning about Watson's experiments in greater detail. I liked reading more on the Little Albert study because I've heard about it in many of my classes, also learning more about behaviorism.
Three things I will remember from this section are:
1)Fear and desentization: learning that fear can be removed by using systematic desentization.
2)The different views of structuralism and functionalism
3)Watson and his thoughts on how we were born with basic reflexes love, rage, and fear.
Terms: conditioning, taste aversion, positive and negative contingency, desensitization, reflex emotions
I liked that this section worked off of information that we should already know. About how Pavlov’s theory and how it went more in depth about the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus but then also talking about doing experiments on rabbits and humans to show the relationship and progression of making a neutral stimulus a conditioned stimulus.
I disliked reading about the shocking of rabbits or humans, because it just sounds like a painful experiment to do on animals or humans. I would never want to participate in an experiment where I would voluntarily get shocked. No thank you.
Three things I will remember is that there is such a term as a conditioned emotional response. Because this made me think of how children react to when their parents say their full name. If I heard my parents call me by my full name I would immediately stop what I was doing and get anxious, because I would know that I am in trouble. I have learned this over time.
The second thing is that positive contingencies are referred to as excitatory conditioning. With positive contingencies the animal will respond to the stimulus such as Pavlov’s dog would salivate when appropriate.
The third thing is that negative contingencies are called inhibitory conditioning. With negative contingencies the conditioned response will stop or inhibit the response. This is the opposite of an excitatory conditioning.
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why? What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
I really liked the section about baby albert, and how it explained that through the use of a loud hammer and a piece of metal the experiments were able to modify baby albert’s response to furry animals. Even though loud noises have no correlation to furry animals, but as an infant he would not know the difference.
I disliked the background of the controversy with this experiment because I do not feel that as an experimenter that I would be able to purposely frighten a baby in order to prove my theory.
Three things I will remember is that Watson believed that infants have three emotions fear, rage, and love. This would be a legit proposal but humans are more complex then just three emotions.
The second thing is that desensitize means to remove the fear. Unfortunately sometimes things happen to you when you are a child that you are not able to overcome your fears, but hopefully when Albert got older he was just able to realize that loud noises and animals have no correlation.
The last thing is that functionalists were influenced by Charles Darwin. They believed that if an emotional was displayed then it must be essential for humans survival rate.
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
This has built on my understanding because I love when I can read about experiments that help me think about behavior modification. The baby Albert experiment is an interesting experiment because it shows a clear example of how you can alter someone’s fear but also how it can be reversed and through desensitization the effects may be reversed. This makes me think that when I have children I could potentially alter the way they feel about things but I would want to maybe increase their fear of strangers not animals.
Terms: conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, desensitize, behavior modification, experiment, functionalists, negative contingencies, positive contingencies, inhibitory conditioning, excitatory conditioning, neutral stimulus.
**My late posting
3.3 Classical Conditioning
I liked the section about inhibitory and excitatory contingencies because it's something that I needed clarified and I thought the example of the weather predictions really helped me grasp the terms. I also appreciated how you wrote the term weather person instead of weatherman. I will further explain contingencies on the part about three things I will remember. I disliked the rat restraint and operant chamber pictures only because I feel like it evoked negative feelings for me toward learning this section. I realize that animal experimentation had its advantages to learning behavior modification and might be a necesarry aid in understanding the material, but nevertheless it made me empathetic towards the animals and sympathetic toward the scientific cause.
The three things I will remember are
1. negative contingencies, or inhibitory conditioning, signals that the UR will not be delivered, so it stops the response basically.
2.positive contingencies, or exitatory conditioning, signals an increased likelihood that the US will occur
(So in Pavlovs dogs a circle was excitatory because it elicits the salivating and the ovals were a negative contingency because they inhibited the salivation)
3. The example of the shapes I just gave in Pavlov's dog examples were discrimination training because the two stimuli ( circle and oval) had different contingencies.
Section 3.4 Watson
I loved the explanation of structuralism vs functionalism and what the introspectionist approach was because it ties in so perfectly to my History of Psychology course. We are actually talking about how introspectionism died off and gave way to functionalism before ultimately everyone was studying behavioralism and it actually just got me more excited to go to my other class! I do not believe there was anything that I specifically disliked in this section. The three things I will remember, because I wanted to know them, are
1. functionalism was influenced by the discoveries of Charles Darwin, who didn't know anything about biology in all actuality, but he did know about traits and how traits were more likely to be passed on if they enhanced survival. So functionalists were intrigued by what functions had to do with natural selection.
2. Structuralism on the other hand was based off of introspection. If my memory serves me well introspection was Wundt's idea that he called volunteerism, and brought to the U.S by E.B Titchener, and challenged by those studying at Wurzburg. Introspection is percieving an experience and structuralists would break down psychological phenomena using introspectionist approaches.
3. I remember the example of systematic desensitization with little Peter (something not done with little Albert). Peter was presented with food (US) and as he ate he was shown an animal(CS) and animals made Peter feel fear (UR). The rabbit was paired with food (US) because food did not elicit fear in Peter. Eventually Peter was able to be calm around the Rabbit because it was paired with the food and this was a pioneering discovery in treating phobias.
These sections have built upon what I know about behavior modification because it gives a history/ background to the theories we either no longer follow today, or the ones we still use. It really shows where behavior modification came from, where it went, and why we still use it today.
Terms:CS,US,UR, systematic desensitization, functionalism, introspection, structuralism, discrimination training, inhibitory contingencies, excitatory contingencies, operant chamber
More terms: Elicit, emit
3.3 Classical Conditioning
I really liked how the book explained contingency theory. We need to be able to tell if the conditioned stimulus is giving us enough information in order for us to understand why the unconditioned stimulus happens. When we switch back and forth from US to CS and then the other way around it gets a little confusing. I have to read a lot slower because I don’t want to think I see a different abbreviation and then learn the wrong concept.
Three things I will remember:
1) Positive contingency happens when the conditioned stimulus predicts the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus. The example in the book that I think explains it very well is that relation between lightning and thunder. We know that light travels faster than sound so when we see lightning, it allows us to predict that thunder will soon follow.
2) Positive contingencies=excitatory conditioning
Negative contingencies=inhibitory conditioning
3) A conditioned emotional response typically involves “freezing up” (in the case of a rat). Another way to think of it (I think) is if you know someone is going to shoot a rubber band at you and then you freeze waiting for it to happen because you are preparing yourself. It also matters in what order they are presented and what time they are presented. If someone says I am going to shoot this rubber band at you and then ten seconds after they tell you they do the behavior, then you are receiving good information.
3.4 John B. Watson
I like how this section “sets the scene” for understanding where psychologists were coming from. The structuralists were focused on understanding the basic elements. They wanted to break up everything into smaller pieces in order to understand the parts as a whole. The functionalists believed that if a trait existed, it is because it needed to develop in order to survive (Darwin). Watson believed that we adapt to our environment through “habit and reflex.”
Three things I will remember:
1) Watson believes that psychology should be objective not subjective.
2) The “Little Albert” study was done to show how the three basic emotions (fear, rage, and love) could become much more through conditioning. Little Albert, who was not afraid of any of the animals Watson put in front of him was conditioned using a loud noise (which Albert was afraid of) so now he is afraid of all fuzzy things.
3) Systematic desensitization is used to help treat people with phobias. Understanding the facts about why someone may have a specific phobia can help them get past it.
Terms: classical conditioning, contingency theory, positive contingencies, negative contingencies, excitatory conditioning, inhibitory conditioning, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned emotional response, structuralists, functionalists, systematic desensitization
Section 3.3
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
I didn’t much like reading this chapter, but the most interesting thing to me was reading about how conditioned and unconditioned stimuli influence each other. The term positive contingency meant little to me before reading the chapter, but after reading through, the meaning is now clear. I disliked that I felt overloaded with information while reading this chapter, and I think I was a little intimidated by the wording of the concepts. Hopefully they can be elaborated on further in future chapters.
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
1.One thing I will remember is the example of thunder and lightning, which put positive contingencies into a little better perspective for me. There were many other things that also helped me out with this term as well—lots of information!
2.I will remember terms excitatory conditioning and inhibiting conditioning due to the example with rabbits and blinking responses. These terms were further elaborated on when mentioned again along with Pavlov’s dog experiments. If the dog lashed out, became frustrated, etc., then these behaviors would be considered excitatory. On the other hand, if he decided to hide his head or lay on the ground, Pavlov considered those behaviors inhibiting.
3.A last thing I found interesting was the small section on conditioned taste aversion. I think I thought it was cool because I could relate to it in many instances. For example, when I was in about eighth grade, I got sick after eating spaghetti subsequent to playing in a basketball game. From then until I went to college, I would not eat spaghetti due to the fact that all I could think about was getting sick. The reading then goes on to say that taste aversion can happen backwards, too; it is not always the food making someone sick, it can be that the sickness is making them not want food. I can relate to that because when I am sick, I do not want to eat what I usually eat as not to upset my sickness further.
Terms: conditioned stimuli, unconditioned stimuli, positive contingency, excitatory conditioning, inhibiting conditioning, Pavlov, experiments, conditioned taste aversion
Section 3.4
What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why? What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
I enjoyed reading the passage from John B. Watson’s behaviorist manifesto and picking it apart to come up with my own interpretations of it. When he said that the goal of psychology was to predict and control behavior, I agreed with him, but also thought of other goals, like as humans just wanting to understand why people do the things they do. In the context of behavior modification, though, his statement seems spot on. As we have learned so far, the concepts learned in this class can help us to manipulate, or “control” the world around us.
What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
1.I thought the video with Little Albert was the most interesting thing from the chapter. John B. Watson’s view of behaviorism was mentioned in the clip, as was that he believed some behaviors which we think are instinctual, are actually learned (ex. fear). He said that when we are born, we have a kind of “blank slate” in which we need to be conditioned and learn behaviors in order to adapt to the world around us. I felt bad for baby Albert while watching, and I’m pretty sure that experiment would not be considered ethical today. I also wondered what happened to him after the experiment; did he ever become desensitized to furry animals? I was so intrigued by this question that I did a little research on the matter. It turns out Little Albert, whose real name is Douglas Merritte, died at the age of six, and due to a disease called hydrocephalus. There are rumors that Watson knew about the disease and distorted the baby’s health in his report.
2.I found the term systematic desensitization to be very interesting. It reminded me of a Maury episode I watched a long time ago where people with phobias came on the show and were exposed to them. One woman was afraid of pickles, which was a little entertaining. I guess I do not really have any huge phobias, but there are things that I would prefer not to be exposed to (such as spiders, snakes, flying, and small spaces). Pickle girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-FGE7QELQ
3.There are three basic emotions that Watson came up with after his experiments with Little Albert: fear, rage, and love.
Terms: John B. Watson, behaviorist manifesto, psychology, behavior, predict, control, behavior modification, manipulate, Little Albert, behaviorism, blank slate, conditioned, experiment, ethical, desensitized, Douglas Merritte, systematic desensitization, phobias
How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
The chapters continue to build on one another, and I am glad to have read through each of them. I feel like if one were to miss reading a chapter, they would become lost in the next one, so we have to read in order. Also, we have learned deeper terms in this chapter like behaviorism and desensitization, which are two very big concepts that I feel we are not finished with quite yet.
3.3
Without any prior knowledge of Robert Rescola’s work I have always felt that an organism will learn to associate things immediately if the stimulus is a good predictor of what is to come. I enjoyed hearing of his contingency theory because it made me feel like I had a good idea (even though the thought was taken). While it was useful in the section I did not think that such dedication to timing of the US was very necessary.
Three things I will remember from this chapter:
1) Positive and negative contingencies, and the fact that the contingency is positive if association between CS and the UR is created. And with a negative contingency there is disassociation between the CS and UR. And the fact that they are also called excitatory conditioning and Inhibitory conditioning.
2) Experimental Neurosis is a very fascinating aspect of behavior modification. I have seen the real life application of an organism not being able to tell the difference between two stimuli and becomes confused on whether or not it going to receive something or not. What I will take most out of this is the fact that there are two possible responses based on the organism. The response can be inhibitory or excitatory.
3) And finally I’ll take away the importance in timing of the neutral stimuli you are trying to pair with the unconditioned stimulus, I feel like from introspection it should be obvious that trace conditioning would be the most effective, so I am glad evidence shows that. I liked the chart displaying the different times, I wish there was something showing the effectiveness of the timing. I think that would make the graph more effective.
3.4
I really liked reading the 12 infants quote, I would love to see that put into play and how he planned on controlling the minds of these growing children to get them to believe in a role, even though I think he was just making a point on giving them the skills they needed to be such.
Something I do have a slight bone to pick with is Watson’s Behaviorist Manifesto, while I know that studying the behavior of animals has proven useful. I want to point one criticism in Watson’s view on the behaviorist, if the behaviorist does not care to see a dividing line between man and brute then the behaviorist is doing himself a disservice in his studies. The behaviorist should always be aware of mind. And the mind of men is much more capable and aware of their advanced behavior.
I also have a comment on the little Albert experiment, why was the association of all furry things made after the pairing of the loud noise and the rat? If Albert was older I am almost positive that no association would be made between the two stimuli.
Three things I will take away from this chapter:
1) Mary Cover Jones and her work on desensitization, I find it brilliant that she was able to inhibit the fear response of the child with food. I wonder what other types of US could be used to cut off a fear response. And I have a theory about the level of the CS, if the stimuli causing fear is too great I feel like there is a great chance of the Fear response still being emitted.
2) I also do not understand why in today’s world of psychological experimenting, the little Albert experiment is seen as unethical?
3) And finally the role that introspection plays in behaviorism, none. Even though Id like to think that introspection plays a role in self behavior modification.
These two sections have tied some connections with some other pieces to psychology that I have learned about. When I can tie this in from other thoughts I think it is a very educational experience, I also think that it trains me to be more philosophical and pose some important questions
Terms Used: Rescola, Associate, Contingency Theory, US, Positive Contingency, Negative Contingency, CS, UR, Excitatory Conditioning, Inhibitory Conditioning, Experimental Neurosis, Neutral Stimuli, Unconditioned Stimulus, Introspection, Trace Conditioning, Watson, Behaviorist, Little Albert Experiment, Association, Pairing, Mary, Cover Jones, Desensitization
Section 3.3 (Classical Conditioning)
1.) What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I like the explanation you gave on the definition of conditioned taste response. The example given about chemotherapy patients was very interesting. I always love little bits of information that can be related to our world. Not only from a behavioral modification view but just learning about what others have experienced.
2.) What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
I really disliked all the abbreviations (CS, US, CR, UR, etc). It started to get a little confusing while reading and made it difficult to read through without having to stop and think about which term we were talking about.
3.) What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
a.) I will remember that a positive contingency occurs when the conditioned stimulus predicts or signals the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus. Just like a flash of lightening signals to us that thunder will be sounding next.
b.) I will remember that a negative contingency signals the likelihood that the unconditioned stimulus will occur is decreasing. This is also called the inhibitory conditioning. Just like when the rabbit resists blinking.
c.) I will remember discrimination training is when you use two different stimuli to signal different contingencies. Just like Pavlov did with his dog experiments.
Section 3.4 (Watson)
4.) What was one thing that you really liked that was in the section? Why?
I found the Little Albert Study and Mary Cover Jones’ study to be very interesting. I liked how it was incorporated into this section. It helps expand my understanding of the terminology used.
5.) What was one thing that you disliked that was in the section? Why?
There was nothing specific that I did not like in this section. All the information was pertinent to the sections and explained very well.
6.) What are three things you will remember from what you read in the section? Why?
a.) I will remember Structuralists believe if you understand the basic elements they can be used as building blocks to construct the more complex nature of humans.
b.) I will remember that Functionalists believe for every trait or ability we have it is because we developed it in order to enhance our rate of survival. They believe in Darwinism.
c.) I will remember that systematic desensitization is used on people who want to overcome their phobias. This is done by using meditation techniques, biofeedback, and visualization techniques.
7.) How has reading these sections changed or built on what you originally thought about behavior modification? How so?
After reading these sections I have a more knowledgeable understanding of topics I’ve heard or read about before. I know the “science” behind it. I know who conducted the experiments and I can understand the results in a more scientific way.
8.) Terminology: conditioned taste response, positive contingency, conditioned stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, negative contingency, inhibitory conditioning, discrimination training, Structuralists, Functionalists, systematic desensitization