Reading Activity Week #9 (Due Tuesday)

PART I
SECTION 3.5
PART I
SECTION 3.5

1. CER - Conditioned emotional response - I recall this term because of it’s orientation towards species specific response, responses orientated towards eliciting a response only emitted by that particular animal vs classical conditioning that focuses on conditioning a response that generalizes across species.

2. Discrimination Training - recallable due to our recent analysis of experimental neurosis tested by Pavlov. This sort of training involves the experimental stimuli being trained to discriminate between stimuli that will produce certain responses and others that will not.

3. Differential reinforcement - this term is easy to recall due to its focus on discrimination and our recent analysis on discriminative stimuli. Differential reinforcement occurs when one stimuli elicits a response but another does not, the experimental unit discriminates between which stimuli to react too.

4. Trying to understand the difference between Type S conditioning and Type R conditioning. Understanding the difference between these two is very important in understanding how to effectively apply behavior modification. Type S is classical conditioning - paired stimuli- whilst Type R is operant conditioning-reward system. In Type S conditioning the stimuli comes first then the response, in Type R conditioning, the response comes first then the stimuli.

5. I found it confusing reading about discrimination training and and differential reinforcement. Whilst I feel I have a good understanding of the two concepts, the examples were hard for me to imagine.

6. I occurred to me that the work these historical figures of behaviorism do, emphasize the importance in the develop meant of experimentation and repetition. The experiments and conclusions each have drawn, are both similar and different, however the fact that each holds may similarities and conclusions has basically proven the legitimacy of the science of behavior modification.

PART II

7. I am most favorable towards Thorndike’s work on behaviorism. Whilst the other historical figures have added much to the field of behaviorism, I feel Thorndike has the most realistic and generally applicable theory of behavior modification then the other three. Pavlov’s work focuses primarily on a process of behavior modification, classical conditioning, Skinner (would be my second choice) focuses on shaping and discrimination and Watson also focuses on conditioning. Thorndike however, looks at the overall concept of trail and error and the strengthening of associations between stimuli that shapes behavior based on the consequences, which is a basic summary of all forms of behavior modification. Thus I find his work more useful in understanding he underlying, general concepts of behavior modification.

8. I feel as though Pavlov has made the most important contribution to the field of behavior modification after identifying the most common form of behavior modification that can occur both naturally and artificially, classical conditioning. Classical conditioning, unlike operant conditioning, does not only occur within a laboratory, organisms classically condition themselves daily using stimuli from the surrounding environment.

9. I would like to look at both Skinner and Watson’s work more in-depth because both of their works focus on specific methods to be used in behavior modification. Skinner looks at operant conditioning and affects of discriminative training whilst Watson’s work takes a look at structuralist and functionalist behavior and along with CER. The concepts both of these figures formulated obviously coincide with methods used to treat unwanted behavior or phobias, such as systematic desensitization and extinction. Understanding how behaviors can be both modified to change and return to a baseline is completely relevant to a job in psychology!

TERMS: CER, species specific response, emit, classical conditioning, discrimination training, experimental neurosis, Pavlov, discriminate, experimental/paired stimuli, Type S conditioning, Type R conditioning, behavior modification, operant conditioning, differential reinforcement, behaviorism, Thorndike, shaping, consequence, Skinner, Watson, structuralist, functionalist, systematic desensitization, extinction, baseline

Section 3.5 (Skinner)

Three things that I will remember:

1. Ratio Strain – this was a new concept that was introduced, and is when the ratio schedule is increased too fast and by too much. I will remember this because of the example that was presented, about the rat having too much strain put on it when trying to reinforce it to FR25 too quickly.

2. Shaping – teaching the rat to push the lever a certain amount of times; done through CER

3. Skinner Box – a secure chamber to study reinforcement, used in the past for both rats and pigeons; I will remember this because it is a concept that we have learned about in past sections as well

I like that several new terms were introduced in this section, especially the terms that have to do with the different experiments that Skinner conducted. A few specific ones include Manipulanda (Lever the animal manipulates to elicit the conditioned response), Successive Approximation (when the rat emits a behavior that is close to the target behavior it gets reinforced, and then lets it progress to eventual continuous reinforcement) and a few others that I mentioned above under the three things that I will remember from this section. I also really enjoyed reading about Skinner’s Air Bed, where he replaces the concept of blankets to keep babies warm (due to over heating or under heating) so he introduced the concept of using a controlled temperature bed, that starts off at 86 degrees when they are infants but eventually cools down over time when they grow older. I also found his writing, “Walden 2”, very interesting; the concept of his Utopian Community with residents using behavioral principles was fun to read about and really caught my attention.
One thing that I disliked from this section was trying to differentiate Type S (Classical Conditioning) and Type R (Operant Conditioning). Also, even though I did enjoy the new concepts that were introduced, it seemed that there was an overwhelming amount of them at the beginning of the section. At the same time, however, I understand this is required in order to learn everything. A different ideas came to mind when reading this section. One thought that came to mind was when I was reading about the concept of Social Engineering: residents in the Utopian Community using different behavioral principles. This made me think of the hole in the wall experiment, and how the kids used their own learning and behavioral techniques in order to teach themselves. After reading about the specific responses that rats emit, it made me think about how dogs always give the response of twitching their face or backing away in fear when we blow a puff of air directly in their face.
Of the four historical figures I have read about thus far, I think that Skinner is the most interesting to me and would like to find out more information about him. I thought this for 2 reasons: his writings and his inventions. As I mentioned before, I enjoyed reading about his concept of Utopia, and his controversial belief that freedom and dignity were traits that stood in the way of advancing society. It may not be a concept that I completely agree with, but it is very interesting nonetheless. I also mentioned that I was fascinated by his Air Bed concept and the ability to keep a baby in a comfortable, controlled environment. It is hard to say which of them made a more important or more significant contribution to psychology or to society in general, because all of their concepts and ideas are very important in learning about behavior today. However, I feel like Pavlov’s conditioning and his original experimentation with the salivating dog was almost groundbreaking in a sense. I feel like this simple concept of conditioning is used so much in our daily life, much more than we actually realize.

Terms Used: Manipulanda, Elicit, Conditioned Response, Successive Approximation, Emit, Target Behavior, Continuous Reinforcement, CER, Social Engineering, Specific Response

The first thing I will remember in reading section 3.5 is the overall work done by Skinner, especially his believe that by creating the right environment through what he called social engineering, we are able to predict and control behavior and create a better society. Another of skinners contributions that I will be sure to remember from this reading is his invention of the operant chamber (Skinner Box) used to study conditioning in animals, and his ‘Air Bed’ invention used to raise children in. The second thing I will remember from this section was the discussion of Skinners distinction between classical conditioning, when a stimulus comes before a response, and operant conditioning, when the response come prior to the stimulus, terms in which her referred to as Type S (classical conditioning) and Type R (operant conditioning). The final thing that stood out to me the most in this section was the discussion of shaping. During conditioning processes using the operant chamber, Skinner would want a desired outcome, to condition the rat to press a lever 25 times in order to receive food. In order to condition the rat of proper behaviors to receive the reinforcement, Skinner would use shaping which is used to shape a desired behavior. Along with shaping, successive approximation is also used. This is when the subject dose something relatively close to the desired behavior and gets reinforced. After the subject realizes they get reinforced for a specific behavior, the experimenter then changes the condition in which the subject is reinforced creating extinction for the already reinforced behavior. The subject then experiences extinction burst until they are reinforced again for a behavior that is closer to the initial target behavior. I think the reason that all of these topics will stick with me is the fact I found them all to be interesting as well as add on to what we have already learned in this class. The more I learn, the easier it is to identify behavior modification in everyday life.

The thing I liked most from this section was just getting to understand more of what Skinner contributed to the field of psychology. Like I mentioned in previous post, I didn’t take much away from my History and Systems class, so being able to learn more about these psychologist who had an impact on behaviorism is really interesting to me, which leads me to the fact that there was very little I didn’t like about this section. I really enjoyed reading and learning more on the topic.

Some different ideas that came to mind while reading this section was the section about how taxes modify our behavior. This is something that never crossed my mind and really got me thinking about other things that modify our behavior that we give little to no thought on, such as traffic laws, to rules that we learn as toddlers. With ever section we read, behavior modification becomes more interesting and I begin to see it more in everyday life.

When looking at all the different psychologist we have talked about in this chapter, each are unique in their own individual way, yet at the same time have many things in common. One of their similarities is the fact that they all have made contributions to behavioral psychology from Pavlov’s experiments with salivating dogs, Watson’s little Albert study, Thorndike’s puzzle boxes, and Skinners believes of social engineering. Although they may have had similarities, some differences include the fact that Skinner differentiated between Pavlov’s classical and operant conditioning, and Watson believed that he could mold any child to be whatever he wanted that child to be, where Skinner believed in the environment shaping behavior in individuals. With both similarities and differences, all made lasting impressions on behavior modification.

Out of all the historical figures we looked at in this chapter, the one I liked the most was Skinner because I really found his ideas about social engineering as well as other concepts of his that really had me thinking about behavior modification. I also felt that with his contributions, the other terms and concept I have learned so far really seemed to fall into place. Because I found Skinner to be so interesting, I would really like to look more into his concepts and contributions to behavior and psychology as a whole. When it comes to deciding which made the most important contributions, I feel that all four figures hade huge influential roles in behavior psychology today and each had their own specific contributions to the field.

Terms: social engineering, operant chamber, conditioning, ‘Air Bed’, Type S, Type R, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, shaping, successive approximation, extinction, extinction burst.

Part 1
From this chapter, I will first remember Skinner’s box. I will remember this because the box had a lot to do with the majority of the section. The box was used to manipulate the behavior of rats and pigeons.

I will also remember Skinner as the Writer. I will remember this because I had a hard time deciding if I agree with him or not. It all makes sense. Control the environment, work on behavior from a young age and teach society to work for the whole, not the individual but it seems a bit too extreme. This utopia community was presented in Skinner’s Walden Two and then again in a more broad aspect, in Beyond Freedom and Dignity. These books focused on social engineering.

One of the last things I am sure to remember form this chapter is Skinner’s “Air Bed.” I wasn’t completely sure what Skinner was trying to accomplish with this. Skinner raised a child in an air bed where the temperature was controlled. Skinner found that as the baby got older, the temperature could be made cooler. It was also found that if the temperature was changed too rapidly by more than a couple of degrees, the baby would become uncomfortable. I will remember this because it was an interesting experiment. I found it slightly odd to be raised in such a way but Julie Vargas, a girl raised, was completely content with how she was raised.

I really like how well this Chapter was organized in explaining Skinner. It was simple to understand and interesting, I liked this chapter because I feel I really grasped Skinner’s research and views. It made me question my own opinions of society and I liked that.

The one thing I disliked about this section had nothing to do with the section itself but Skinner’s box. I do not approve of animals being harmed in anyway, I did not like that the rats and pigeon were shocked while participating in the experiment.

Part 2
It is very hard for me to choose between Thorndike and Skinner. I liked Thorndike’s puzzle box, trial and error and his Law of Effect. I thought his puzzle box was simple, creative and got the job done. Though Thorndike was interested in animal intelligence, he associated it with human behavior as well and I feel that was a big step for psychology. On the other hand, Skinner’s controversial proposals also intrigue me. I couldn’t help but stop and think what if there was more control in our environment? Is freedom really a blockade for a utopian society? I have never thought of it that way but it makes sense and it made me rethink my own opinions. Because of that, because I put more thought into Skinner’s research, I have to say I liked him the best. I would like to look more into his books and how he planned to achieve this utopian society. I think because Skinner was so controversial, his contributions were most important.

Utopia society, Skinner, Skinner’s box, Walden Two, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, social engineering, Air Bed, Julie Vargas, Thorndike, trial and error, Law of Effect, puzzle box, animal intelligence.

I found Skinner’s ideas and testing methods interesting, the ‘Air Bed” especially. The concept of having a child raised and spending so much time in a temperature-controlled chamber was thought provoking. The reasons behind it were all valid, but I don’t know if I would want my own child in one. I’m wondering about how the temperature change affected the child once they were out of the Air Bed? Another idea he had was about a Utopian society. I found it interesting that people don’t like it because it takes away the concept of free will, something that humans find essential. He believed in social engineering, which used behavioral principles to guide and direct their behavior, which he discussed in Walden Two. He also thought of the operant conditioning equipment such as the operant chamber (otherwise known as Skinner Box), and the cumulative recorder.
I didn’t like the section going into detail explaining the operant chamber. I found it a dull section. It’s probably good to explain the Skinner Box, but I felt it was more about getting tons of terms into one section. It was important to discuss stimulus continuum although it kind of got lost in the explanation of the box. This section was over my head.
Three things I will remember from this chapter are the Air Bed, differential reinforcement and conditioned emotional response. The Air Bed is such a strange concept that will always stay in my mind. Differential reinforcement is reinforcing under one condition (S+) and not the other (S-). This is only beneficial if the subject is on a schedule of reinforcement. Finally conditioned emotional response, which we’ve talked about last week. This chapter talked more about each species specific response which needs to be considered when working with different species.

Looking back at the historical figures in the past sections, I enjoyed Watson the best. He believed that we are born with three basic reflex emotions, such as Fear, Rage and Love. He used this belief to transform a simple reflex of fear into something more. He did an experiment with Little Albert to condition him to be afraid of white furry things by associating it with aversive stimuli such as a loud bang. This demonstrated that most all behaviors are learned and that parents could shape the behaviors of their infants and children. I found this discovery very interesting and it was very influential in the future of psychological research, but it did touch on some ethical issues.
This leads me to who I thought made a very important contribution, Mary Cover Jones. She used the concept of Little Albert and planned to use desensitization to revert the effects. She used a boy name Peter who was afraid of animals. While humans were eating she found that they were less scared. This method that she used on Peter would then later be adopted to treat phobias using systematic desensitization. This would become a huge break through in psychological treatments. Systematic desensitization can be used for all types of phobias to the more extreme end such as PTSD. Many people are crippled in their everyday lives by these phobias and this type of treatment is a way to help them function easier. This also has lead to other treatments such as flooding or virtual reality simulations. They also are planning on using these treatments to help prevent PTSD or phobias from developing further. Although I discussed systematic desensitization and PTSD treatments in a previous post, I find this topic extremely interesting. PTSD affects many people around the world and having a treatment and prevention. I would enjoy looking into future research of this topic because I believe it could be very pertinent to the future of medical treatments.

Terms: species specific response, differential reinforcement, Air Bed, conditioned emotional response, operant chamber, Skinner Box, stimulus continuum, Skinner
temperature-controlled chamber, Utopian society, social engineering, behavioral principles, behavior, operant chamber, cumulative recorder, Watson, reflex emotions, simple reflex, experiment, Little Albert, condition, aversive, stimuli, ethical issues, Mary Cover Jones, desensitization, phobias, systematic desensitization, flooding and simulations

3.5 Skinner

Three things I will remember, and probably because Dr. Wind Goodfriend assigned countless hours of homework using Sniffy the virtual rat to learn about schedules of reinforcement, how to shape, and how to write up very accurate lab reports are as follows: (Thank you Dr. Goodfriend as many of your students take what they learned and go on to train dogs in shelters in order to make them more adoptable)
1. In operant conditioning the stimulus follows the response and the response is more voluntary than it is in classical conditioning.
2. Shaping is used to make a desired behavior occur and in shaping
another technique is used called Successive approximation, which basically means when anything close to the behavior is displayed reinforcement is used in succession, and then behaviors that are not as close to the target behavior are not reinforced, ultimately leading to the learning of the target behavior.
3.species specific response is pretty much just as the title sounds, It is a response that is specific to a certain species. Rats freeze when scared, possums play dead when scared, while a snail will hide in its shell. Which means you can evaluate how scared the animal is when you know its species specific response.
An idea I had while reading this is just that I have mentioned this previous professor and class I had on several occasions now and it's because I learned a lot. It wasn't nearly as fun but I remember a lot from it and she taught us how to apply what we learned to the real world, much as we are encouraged to do in this course (like when we wrote about a target behavior for a week). So it occured to me that perhaps in the future students should spend one day doing just that...applying what they learned in this course to the real world whether it be training dogs or extinguishing a behavior, or perhaps using a token economy and I think that could also be used as a final project!
I realized when reading about Thorndike, Pavlov, Skinner, and Watson that they all used animals and many were creative inventors because they were making new headway in an area that hadn't been clearly defined. They remind me of "mad scientists" making their own devices to study phenomena and observe animals such as Skinner's Operant chamber ( Skinner box). Skinner used the Operant Chamber to study rat behaviors and makes a distinguishment between operant and classic conditioning, where as Watson really sets the occasion for Skinner's work because he thought what we could learn from animals we could apply to humans. Watson is probably most noted by students for his Little Albert study using white furry animals. Thorndike invented his famous puzzle boxes to study how cats learn, and everyone remembers Pavlov's dogs, and whether they remember anything about experimental neurosis is another thing.
I think I like B.F Skinner the most because I find his background a little fascinating. When reading more about Skinner I learned that he really did want to become a writer to begin with, going to college for it first before becoming interested in Psychology. I can relate as I first went to college for something completely different before coming back a few years later to start persuing a Psych major. His biography also states that he was an inventor throughout his entire life from making things with his brother in childhood to inventing the baby air crib for his own child in adulthood. it leads me to believe that he was meant to persue Psychology/Science research. I rather enjoyed his book Walden Two and I think it's all aspects of Skinner that make him not just one things but many, an inventor, a writer, a husband, a father, a behaviorist, and perhaps this is why I think he made the most contributions to Psychology. In all fairness I do believe it was more of a Psychology Zeitgeist "spirit of the times" that lead each person to make their own equally important contributions to Psychology. Had the buzz about introspectionism not died off and people not took a rigorous turn for studying A LOT of behaviors than perhaps Skinner may never have contributed much at all. But nevertheless he did and since the class I am taking is called Behavior Modification I am going to conclude with my answer is Skinner.
Terms: behavior, extinguish, token economy, operant conditioning, classical conditioning, operant chamber, shaping, successive approximation, reinforcement, target behavior, species specific response, Thorndike, Skinner, Watson, Pavlov, set the occasion, experimental neurosis, schedules of reinforcement

Part one

Section 3.5

One thing that I really liked in this section was the time devoted to talk about Skinner's inventions. I thought that it was really cool that he lived with an extensive career in psychology gathering much recognition while simultaneously being so hands on in his work making his well-known skinner box and equally impressive air bed. I like reading about the structures that are designed to create an environment conductive of research as it sets the antecedent for the change in behavior. There wasn't really anything that I disliked in the section. I guess what I liked least was actually dedicating the small amount of time to sit down and read it.
From this section I will remember that during shaping, it is appropriate to provide the reinforcer when the subject does something similar to, or acting as a precursor to the behavior. Then only reinforce them for doing something more similar to the behavior until they start actually emitting the target behavior. This technique is called successive approximation. I will also remember that later in the shaping process, if you need to change the reinforcement schedule from continuous to intermittent then you will have to lean out the reinforcement schedule. This must be done gradually so that the subject learns that they will be reinforced left often, otherwise they will experience a ratio strain. In this scenario, the extinction burst actually works to the advantage of the person administering the reinforcer. Also, I will remember that in the air bed, they found that crying and fussing could always be stopped by slightly lowering the temperature. This may or may not be useful in parenthood when that time arises.
When I was reading this I was focusing a lot on the shaping process, specifically successive approximation, leaning out, and discrimination training. I had often wondered how they get the subject to preform the behavior the first time. I kept thinking about the example with the dolphin in the pool and gradually hiring the ring that they want it to jump through. I tried to think about using this in my life somehow, but as i don't have pets and i don't want to train my roommate to press buttons on command i couldn't think of any applicable uses as of yet.

Part two

Of the four figures that we have looked at thus far, I am most intrigued by Skinner. I enjoyed learning about Watson a lot, and I found the information about Thorndike enjoyable as well, but I can't be intrigued by Pavlov anymore. As I said earlier, I liked reading about Skinner's shaping process and I enjoyed reading of his inventions and writing career. I also really liked reading about Watson's Little Albert study, which is why he was my second favorite. As far as contributions go, I would say that Skinner is the frontrunner yet again, but for as much as every class goes over Pavlov I can see how he would be the most relevant in this particular field of psychology. Although I did really like Skinner and Watson, I wouldn't say that I want to learn more about either of them. I don't particularly enjoy learning about people, I enjoy the research. I really like the works of Darwin. I have three of his books. However, i found a documentary about his life to be disinteresting. I would read more into their contributions, but I don't really care about who the success may be attributed to.

Terminology: skinner box, antecedent, behavior, shaping, reinforcer, target behavior, emitting, successive approximation, continuous reinforcement schedule, intermittent, ratio strain, extinction burst, lean out, discrimination training,

Three things I will remeber from this chapter:

1. Operant Chamber or Skinner Box. I will remember this because it is something that I have always been interested in. An operant chamber is a secured chamber where a lab animal like a rat or pigeon is placed to study reinforcement and punishment in non-human animals. Obviously Skinner invented this and it was used to help train animals to press a lever and receive a small food pellet.

2. Conditioned Emotional Response. I will remember this because it is someting that I also found interesting. A conditioned emotional response can occur when an animal is caused distress. For example when a rat is conditioned that a certain tone is associated with an electrical shock, soon just the tone is enough to evoke a response from the rat. Many times the rats response will be to freeze up in anticipation of the shock.

3. The last thing that I will remember is that Skinner wrote a book called Walden Two. I will remember this because I have never heard of it before and after reading about it I would like to possibly read the book. The book is about a eutopia in which people live their lives based on behavioral principals. Skinner called this type of social planning as social engineering.

Something that I really liked about this chapter was that it discussed things that I did not know before reading this section. For example I did not know about Skinners book before reading this section. I have learned about Skinner in many other psychology classes but as always it was nice to get a review on some things. There was nothing I really disliked about this chapter.

Skinner was similar to Pavlov in that they both studied animals and their behavior. Pavlov used dogs to study classical conditioning and to learn about what causes experimental neurosis. Skinner was similar to Pavlov because he also used animals to study different things. For example Skinner used a Skinner box to condition rats and pigeons to press a lever. Skinner also studies something similar to experimental neurosis called conditioned emotional response. In both cases the animals they studied experienced some form of distress when introduced to a stimulus. Like Skinner, Thorndike also used animals in his studies. Thorndike used a device called a puzzle box to see how long it would take a cat to figure out that if they moved a lever a door would open. The more times the cats were put in the puzzle box, the faster they figured out how to open it. Thorndike used the puzzle box to help show how people and animals learn. This is similar to what Skinner did.

Section 3.5
I found this section to be very interesting. I liked learning about Skinner and his background. I think it always helps to know information like that because it helps me understand the things they did better. Overall this section was a good read and I didn't really dislike any part of it.

Three things I will remember:
1. Operant conditioning- the stimulus follows the response and the response is more voluntary.
2. Successive approximation- in Skinner's experiment this happened when the rat did something close to the desired behavior and go reinforced.
3. Species specific response- a unique response to fear that animals emit.

While reading this section I thought about how each historical figure, in some way, built on each others experiments and beliefs and took them a step further to understand behavior and behavior modification on a different level.

Compare and contrast:
Thorndike: Thorndike's main focus was the intelligence of animals. One of his well known experiments was how a cat figured out how to escape from a wooden box. He developed "Law and Effect" which is related to trial and error. (The cat emitted a number of behaviors until one specific behavior lead to him getting out of the box). Basically he believed that things that lead to positive outcomes would be stamped in and things that lead to negative outcomes would be stamped out.

Pavlov: Pavlov is well known for discovering the conditioned reflex. His experiment included observing if a dog would associate the sound of a bell with food and begin to salivate.(To put it simply). Most of his experiments dealt with Stimulus -> Response.

Watson: Watson believed that humans and animals learned to adjust to the environment through habit and reflex. His well-known study dealt with a baby and manipulating things to ellict certain behaviors dealing with the three basic reflexes (fear, love, and rage.)

Skinner: Skinner believed that by creating the right environment we can predict and control behavior to the benefit of society. He came up with operant conditioning where the stimulus follows the response. His experiment dealt with mice and pressing levers and receiving positive reinforcement when they emitted the behavior Skinner was looking for.

I don't believe that any one of them are more important than the other. They all took their own ideas and built on each other's thinking to improve the understanding of their experiments. If one of these historical figures didn't exist we may not have the same information that we do now about behavior modification.

I would like to learn more information about how we can manipulate behaviors to improve society.

Terms: operant conditioning, successive approximation, species specific response, behavior modification, emit, ellict, conditioned reflex, stimulus, response

Three things I will remember from this chapter are: 1. Successive approximation- this means what when the organism does something close to the desired behavior the organism will be reinforced. This is done in to lead the organism in the right direction. Otherwise the organism has no way of knowing what behavior to perform in order to be reinforced. We can’t tell the animal what behaviors we want to it preform; we must lead them to it. 2. Leaning out- this is when we have gotten the animal to perform the desired behavior but we now need it to start it on a reinforcement schedule. So before it was getting reinforced every single time it did the behavior, which is called continuous reinforcement. Now the animal needs to learn that it will only get reinforced if it follows the schedule. These could be fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio and variable interval. By ratio meaning they either happen a certain amount of times, or vary in the number of times. Interval means a reinforcer will come after a certain amount of time has passed. 3. Species specific response- this is how certain animals or organisms react to certain situations. An example could be when dogs get scared they tuck their tail between their legs. Or when cats are content they might purr. One thing I liked about this chapter was learning about Skinner’s book called Walden Two. I might be interested in reading that book sometime. His ideas of what society could be like are very interesting to me. I think as Americans we often feel threatened when taking away freedom is mentioned. Some of what Skinner is talking about makes sense to me though. I’m not sure a perfectly utopian society could exist but some behavioral principles could probably be applied to make society are better place. There was really anything I didn’t like about this chapter. I enjoyed learning about Skinner and his practices and ideas. I thought it was very odd that Skinner was allowed to experiment on an infant. I’m sure that today there are a lot more ethics considerations to follow and raising a baby under such conditions might not be allowed. Although the woman who was raised this way thought it was fine and didn’t have any problems with it, it could still be risky.
Of these four figures I think I find Skinner the most interesting. His ideas of how behavior could be used to change society are fascinating. Like I said before I would possibly be interested in reading his book. I also think many of his ideas make a lot of sense. The figure I think contributed the most was Pavlov. Even though his research wasn’t meant to be psychological, he discovered the dog’s behaviors and created classical conditioning. We still use his conditioning methods today. Later psychologists have built off of what he discovered and continue to expand on it. I think he helped to pave the way for other behaviorists to follow. I would probably like to look more into Skinner, because his ideas of how behavioral methods can be used to make a better society interest me. He called this social engineering.
Terms: successive approximation, leaning out, species specific response, reinforcer, reinforced, classical conditioning, fixed ratio, fixed interval, social engineering, variable ratio, variable interval.

Section 3.5

I really enjoyed reading about B.F. Skinner. I feel like I learned a lot more about him from reading section 3.5 then I have learned about him in other previous classes. Three things that I will remember from this chapter are include; Skinner believed in a concept called ‘social engineering,’ basically he said that he could take any random child and condition/raise them to be a banker or a thieve. What mattered most for the child would be the environment that the child was raised in. I will remember that because I have also learned that in previous classes and the more I repeat it the better it stinks in my brain. The second thing I will remember from this section is that Skinner was the first person to distinguish a difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. He called classical conditioning Type S because the stimulus occurs before the response. In operant conditioning, Type R, the stimulus occurs after the response. The third thing I will remember is that Skinner invited the operant chamber box, also known as, the Skinner box. The operant chamber box helped study punishment and reinforcement on animals such as, pigeons and rats. I will remember what the operant chamber is because it’s also named after B.F. Skinner called the Skinner Box.

One thing I really liked from this section on Skinner was learning more about how he believed the environment has such an influence on someone. He believed that environment shapes a person into who they are and who they become and I am a firm believer of that idea also. One thing I disliked about this section was learning about how Skinner used an ‘air bed’ instead of a crib. I am glad that the section included how Skinner’s daughter was affected by the air bed and she concluded that she thought it was fine. It must not have been that detrimental to her. What occurred to me while reading the sections about the significant people in psychology is how important their research, experiments and studies actually are. They have affected psychology is many, many ways and who knows where we would be without them. They have all brought something different into psychology but also in many ways something similar.

After reading all four sections about the important people who have contributed so greatly to psychology, I would have to say that B.F. Skinner is my favorite to learn about. I liked learning about Skinner because I didn’t know he was a writer, inventor and researcher. I just feel like he has done so much to impact the psychology world. Skinners belief in ‘social engineering’ is probably the reason I like him the most because I strongly believe that the environment shapes you into the person you become. I also find him interesting to learn about because I didn’t know what an air bed was before reading this section. For me, I believe Skinner has made the biggest contribution to psychology but that could be because I believe in his believes the most. I would like to learn more about B. F. Skinner because he could have more experiments for me to learn about and try to understand why he did so. I know other psychologists have done this also but I like when they try experiments on their own children. Skinner used his own daughter while testing the air bed and so me that shows that he really, truly believes in it. I do have questions about it though, like, what was the purpose of the air bed? Just to have complete control over it? It was good to hear that Skinners daughter, Julie was doing fine. Although I did enjoy learning about each psychologist and how they affected psychology I enjoyed learning about Skinner the most.

Terms: Classical conditioning, Operate conditioning, Punishment, Reinforcement, Operant chamber, B. F. Skinner, Social engineering, Skinner box, Shaping, Air Bed, Type S, Type R, Julie Vargas.

Section 3.5 - Skinner

"The consequences of an act affect the probability of it's occurring again." B.F. Skinner

So simple and in my opinion the the core of behavior modification.

What are three things you will remember from what you read in the chapter? Why?

For one thing, I will definitely remember that B.F. Skinner was an inventor and a writer who believed in social engineering and wasn’t just someone who I thought influenced psychology through behaviorism. I did not know that Skinner invented a lot of his own contraptions to which he used in his experiments. This was surprising to me and the reason why I think I remembered it after reading the chapter.
Second thing that I found fascinating was that Skinner was such a “prolific writer” who believed that all human behavior was determined by the environment. I have always known that I really liked Skinner but finding out more similarities between him and me is always interesting to find out. I will remember that Skinner and I agreed in this aspect. We also agree that it is the environment that should be changed rather than humankind if we want societal goals to be maximized.
Lastly, I will remember that Skinner invented an “air bed” which provided a controlled environment and his own daughter, who is now a math teacher, was raised in it. She thought it was perfectly normal and did not think anything bad about it. I didn’t know this and found it very interesting to the point that I know I won’t forget it.

What was one thing that you really liked that was in the chapter? Why?

I honestly like everything about this section. From reading the most interesting things about Skinner to the more difficult things like distinguishing between Type S and Type R or his invention of the operant chamber and how it was used in operant conditioning. I really like reading about the different inventions as well. I did not know about the air bed invention and finding out about that was something that I really liked.

What was one thing that you disliked that was in the chapter? Why?

I definitely disliked when the chapter talked in FR 25 or VR 10 because it confused me. I think it just started getting fuzzy because of all the abbreviations. I had to reread the section and even then I still didn’t get it. Sometimes the chapter has too many boxes, too and that can get frustrating at times. It would be nice to just the information get absorbed.

What were some ideas that came to mind when you were reading the section?

The only thing that I could think of was more facts about Skinner like who he was personally. I mean he invented so many things, wrote a couple of books, conducted many experiments, I mean was he a happy man. I guess the only ideas that came to mind were me wondering what other things about him that I didn’t know.

Next, compare and contrast the four historical figures you have read about (Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson and Skinner).

Comparing all four historical figures is fairly easy because all four we behaviorists and/or influenced behaviorism in one way or another. Skinner is my personal opinion the most influential and took it further than all of them. Comparing Watson and Skinner is even easier because it was Watson who popularized behaviorism but it was Skinner that really imprinted psychology and behavior modification using the concept of behaviorism. Watson believed he could create just about anything out of a person through behavioral modifications while it was Skinner that said he could do that through environmental situations and creating the perfect conditions that a person would naturally make the right choices, at least that is the way I simplify it.

In contract to all the others Pavlov was even a psychologist but rather a physiologist who accidently discovered what is now called classical conditioning. And Thorndike well, in my opinion just laid the foundation for Skinner as well. His “law of effect” was his most worthy accomplishment and is known to many as the most influential psychologist of all time.

Of the four historical figures you read about which do you like the best and why?

My favorite of the four figures would be B.F. Skinner because he is the most recent behaviorist and is considered the most modern for that matter. I find his work so interesting and because B.F. Skinner is famous for his research on operant conditioning and negative reinforcement. His development of the "cumulative recorder," which showed rates of responding as a sloped line and using this device, he found that behavior did not depend on the preceding stimulus as Watson and Pavlov maintained. Instead, Skinner found that behaviors were dependent upon what happens after the response. Skinner called this operant behavior and I believe that is the core of behavior modification.

Which do you think have made the most important contribution(s). Why?

Because Skinner was such a great author and through his publication of nearly 200 articles and more than 20 books, I think his contribution has been the most important. In the most recent survey I could find in 2002 of psychologists, he was identified as the most influential 20th-century psychologist. Even though behaviorism is no longer the most dominant school of thought Skinner’s work in operant conditioning remains vital even today. There are mental health professionals who often utilize operant techniques when working with clients and teachers frequently use reinforcement and punishment to shape behavior in the classroom. There are even animal trainers who rely heavily on these techniques to train dogs and other animals still to this day. Now isn’t that reason enough.

Which would you like to find out more information about? Why?

Finding more information about B.F. Skinner is always a plus. Being interested in psychology I always like to know what the person said or how they lived. What they were like on a personal level, I guess that is how I like to really get to know a person. Who were they before and after work or their experiments? What about their personal life; did they have any skeletons in their closet? Do they sometimes do things controversial or so unusual? Also, maybe find out more about what they really left behind like did any of their children become psychologists, too.

Terms: B.F. Skinner, psychology, behaviorism, experiments, behavior, environmental cues, air bed, controlled environment, Type S, Type R, operant chamber, Pavlov, Thorndike, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, behaviorists, behavior modification, Law of effect, negative reinforcement, cumulative recorder, stimulus, experiment, mental health professionals, psychologists, reinforcement, punishment, FR 25, VR 10, and conditioning.

Skinner and Watson go hand in hand when it comes to behaviorism. Watson popularized behaviorism while B.F skinner laid the foundation. Skinner did many things including inventing, writing and researching mainly to shape the concept that came to be known as social engineering. He believed that if you could create the right environment you could then predict and control the environment to better as well as benefit society; much like knowing the antecedents in the ABC’s of behavior to predict the behavior and then the consequence to that particular behavior. When reflecting back to Watson’s manifesto, behavior was the main focus of Watson’s work. Skinner agreed with this concept and took it a step further determining a difference between Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning. As such Skinner invented the Operant Chamber and the cumulative recorder. The Operant Chamber was a cage that Skinner rigged up with levers and disks in which rats would press the levers and the pigeons would peck the disks. Each action, pressing levers and pecking disks, would demonstrate reinforcement as well as punishment. Using techniques called shaping and successive approximation, Skinner learned that we could teach these non-human animals to press levers and peck disks to receive food. Successive approximation is rewarding a behavior that is similar in nature to the desired behavior. Eventually, when speaking about the rats, after reinforcing the rat several times when it gets close to the lever and the rat is progressively being shaped, the rat will only be reinforced when it actually pulls the lever. The process of shaping enables the rat to learn if it presses the lever it will be reinforced; continuous reinforcement. Using intermittent reinforcement after the rat has been continuously reinforced for touching lever, we can then teach the rat that it takes a certain amount of presses before it will be reinforced. The rat will experience extinction when it touches the lever a second time and is not reinforced. The rat will then go through an extinction burst, touch the lever again in an effort to be reinforced only to be rewarded after the fourth time. With some repetition to this process the rat will eventually learn that it will only be reinforced after four times of touching the lever. Leaning out the schedule of reinforcement each time after the rat has learned a certain type of responding, the rats can learn the lever hundreds of times before being reinforced. This process needs to be slow however because increasing the schedule to fast will result in a confusion called a ratio strain.
All of the historical figures we have been learning about are all associated with the process of learning somehow. Edward Thorndike’s Law of effect illustrating the behavioral effects of trial and error was interesting to me because it really made me think differently about the process of learning and how we emit different behaviors to achieve desirable outcomes. Ivan Pavlov’s work with Classical Conditioning was interesting as well because it is so applicable to everyday life. We learned that through associations with the stimulus/response relationship, unconditioned stimuli and our unconditioned responses to them we can learn desired behaviors easily. Watson was unique in his experiments with conditioning and learning with his Little Albert study. He researched and discovered the process of learned generalization of fear in Little Albert making it his most famously known study. Skinner is a lot like Watson but Skinner laid a lot of the foundation to Watson’s research and emphasized the benefits of intermittent reinforcement and teaching rats a desired behavior. Out of all of these famous psychologists I would have to say that Thorndike’s research was the most interesting to me. It really made me think about the application of trial and error as well as the fundamental aspects behind the process. I learn by doing so this really hit home for me.
Terms: Behaviorism, social engineering, antecedents, behavior, consequence, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, operant chamber, cumulative recorder, social engineering, successive approximation, shaping, punishment, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, extinction, extinction bursts, schedules of reinforcement, leaning out the schedule of reinforcement, ratio strain.

Section 3.5

Things to Remember
1. One thing that I will remember from this section is the use of successive approximation. This is a technique used when shaping a desired behavior. When first attempting to condition a behavior the subject have to first be able to identify the desirable behavior and connect that behavior with the reinforcer. When using succesive approximation the reinforcer is first given when the subject emits a behavior that is simply similar to the desired behavior. This then progresses to reinforcing only the desired behavior but on a continuous schedule and then gradually making it so that the target behavior is reinforced intermittently. This allows for desired reinforcement schedules to be met.
2. Another thing to take from this section is that discrimination training can be used to allow for differential reinforcement. Training a subject to discriminate between two different stimuli allow for the person controling the reinforcer to condition the subject to either pair that stimulus with the reinforcer or with extinction. This is yet another method in which is able to be used in modifying behavior. Knowing multiple methods will allow for the best one to be chosen for each individual situation.
3. The last thing that I will take from this chapter is the philosophy that Skinner held in which he believed that the environment controls all behaviors. He believed in social engineering in which he believed that sociatal problems can be taken care of if behaviors were guided and directed by behavior modification. This brings up the issue of what is ehtical in using these things that we are learning and should remind us of boundaries that may not be clear but will lead to trouble or upset if crossed.

One thing that I liked about this section was the discription given of Skinner's operant chamber. Having all of the aspects explained and diagramed allowed for the terms that have been thrown at us to have a visual and real image. It helped to understand how each aspect of behavior conditioning can be used in order to elicit the target behavior. It also shows how multiple different factors can be used to elicit the same result which is shown with with the electic bars, the light, and the speaker; which all can be used in a way to elicit the target behavior of pressing the bar.
I didn't have anything that I really disliked about this section. I would have liked to have more information given about Skinner's air bed. If this has been shown to be a safer way for children to sleep comfortablt than with blankets, then why hasn't anything been developed to make this a common thing in people's homes. I can understand not wanting to let the baby sleep in a metal machine, but why cant that technology be put into more homely cribs in which this method can be used to make the sleeping experience of the child more comfortable and safe?

When reading this section it brought up questions and thoughts about how we can use these methods of behavior modification to bring about desired behvaior in societies without overstepping that boundary of taking away free will. These methods should be considered more with use of prevention in so that they will not have to be used later as a consequence. It also makes you think about the enviornment that you yourself is in and how that environment is acting as an antecedent for particular behaviors. Knowing these things will allow us to better understand what guides our actions and behaviors.

Part Two

Thorndike, Pavlov, Skinner, and Watson all made major steps in behaviorism and have some similarities as well as their distinguishing differences. All of these psychologists made contributions to our understanind of learning. Thorndike was focused on animal intelligence and brought about the idea of the law of effect which showed that behavior changes as a result of its conseques. Pavlov did not intend to find his behavioral advnaces. He brought about the basic building blocks of classical conditioning. Watson also worked along the lines of classical conditioning and made it a main point that there are no difference in the way animal and human ways of developing behavior which focuses on reflexes. Skinner worked with the ideas of Watson but went into far greater detail. He believed that enviornment was everything and that it could be used to shape any personal into emitting any target behavior.

I personally like studying and learning about skinner and his ideas the best. I find it extremely interesting to learn about how he believes that we can get rid of all societal problems by controlling the enviornments to bring about desired behaviors. I think that all of these people have made extremely important contributions because they have led others to build of those findings and develop the advanecs and understandings of behaviorism that we now have today. If I had to choose one that has made great contributions I would probably point to Pavlov because he laid the basic structure to classical conditioning in which is so widely used today and gave so many other people a base to work off of and gain greater depth into this subject. He did not simply set up the understanding of the US, UR, CS, CR system that is ground into the brains of students the minute they step into a psychology class. He came about with the foundation of discriminative training, reinforcement schedules, and many other factors that allow for behavior modification procedures to be more successful.

Terms Used: successive approximation, shaping, reinforcer,emit, continuous schedule, reinforcement schedules, discrimination training, differential reinforcement, extinction, social engineering, elicit, antecedent, target behavior

3.5
From this section, I will remember Skinner’s various inventions including the air bed and operant chamber. I thought they were really interesting and they, at least the operant chamber, were important to the study of reinforcement and punishment. I will also remember that continuous reinforcement should be replaced with intermittent reinforcement to get the desired schedule, either variable or ratio. If intermittent reinforcement is not utilized, in this case the animal, will not know what it is supposed to do and will not be successful in performing the desired schedule. Finally, I will remember that stimulus control occurs in situations when the rat learns to emit the proper behavior, under the proper circumstances.
From this section, I liked learning about Skinner’s various inventions, such as the air bed. I personally do not see anything wrong with it and think it’s pretty clever. Sleeping at night is completely miserable if you are too hot, or too cold, so it makes sense to use an air bed for a child. I also liked reading and learning about his invention of the operant chamber. Something as simple as an operant chamber could have so many different components to assist in reinforcing and punishing animals, such as lights, levers, and electric currents.
There is nothing I didn’t like from the section. The only part I found slightly confusing was CER training, but that’s only because I am still trying to get it straight in my mind how that works. I also still get confused about distinguishing between the conditioned stimulus, conditioned response, unconditioned stimulus, and unconditioned response. It takes a few minutes to really stop and think about what is what during conditioning.
As I was reading the section, I found myself comparing and contrasting the work and ideas behind the 4 people we have talked about this far. It occurred to me that these were some of the first people to experiment with conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment, and how far we have come in behavior modification. It is really interesting to think about.
Of the 4 historical figures I think I liked Thorndike the best. I just really liked his idea of puzzle boxes. I was surprised to find I had never heard about them before, and they are the first thing that pops into my head when I think about the contributions made from any of the 4 historical figures.
Although I like Thorndike the best, I think Pavlov made the most important contribution, as he really was the first to discover conditioning using his dogs.
I think I would like to find out more information about BF Skinner, however. His whole take on social engineering and his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity sounds really interesting, because he has a different outlook than most on the ideas of society.
Terms: social engineering, continuous reinforcement, intermittent reinforcement, emit, variable schedule, ratio schedule, stimulus control, operant chamber, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response

I think that Skinner was a brilliant man. I like how he distinguished between classical and operant as two different types of conditioning, which Watson never did. I also think that his operant chamber was a great invention. It was much more advanced than the Puzzle Box, but they kind of served the same function. They both elicited a certain behavior in the test subject, however the Skinner Box also allowed for the researcher to punish behaviors and manipulate the types of reinforcement/punishment and the schedules.

The concept of successive approximation is great because it is a way of communicating that the subject is emitting behaviors that are close to the target behavior. I also never used to appreciate the value of extinction bursts, however they are the mechanism that allows behaviorists to use successive approximation.
Ratio Strain is kind of obvious because it is not likely to go straight from continuous reinforcement all the way to FR25, because the behavior would most likely become extinct long before reaching 25 manipulations on the manipulanda.

I would like to learn more about Skinner's pigeon-guided missile project, because it seems crazy...like a fox.

I kind of agree with Skinner's philosophies on free will standing in the way of a better society. However, the illusion that we have complete free will is what keeps us under such strict control of the people who are manipulating our behaviors. If we were to accept that we don't have free will, these manipulators would not have nearly as much power over us.

In the very beginning of the chapter, I think that the book does a good job of showing the differences between Watson and Skinner. They were both major players in behaviorism, and both brought a lot to the table. However, Watson comes off as more reckless and arrogant with his applications of behavior modification techniques, claiming that he could raise any child to be anything. However Watson does not claim anything about that child's happiness. Perhaps you have a child who deep down wants to be an artist. If Watson were to raise that child to become a banker, would that child really be a banker? Or would that child be an artist at heart who is expressing counterdispositional behavior by being a banker?
I think that Skinner's rationale is much more down to earth. He did not make claims that contradict the possibility of genes having some influence on psychology. He was not looking to make something artificial. Instead he looked at taking the situation that we currently have and trying to enhance it.

I don't think it is possible to say that one researcher's contributions are more important than others'. They are all important because psychology is based on learning what others have done before you and building on top of that. However, I have to say that I find Skinner to be the more desirable of the four psychologists in this chapter. That is because his research helped us find a way that we can enhance society as a whole, and the government and other powers use those methods in facilitating every day life. Skinner contributed not only the practice of operant conditioning, but the idea that if you can control the environment you can manipulate the behaviors of people. This grandiose concept would not be possible with Watson's idea that we're basically all blank slates who can be easily changed into whatever the manipulator wants.

Terms:

Skinner, Classical, Operant, Conditioning, Watson, Puzzle Box, Elicit, Behavior, Skinner Box, Punish, Manipulate, Reinforcement, Punishment, Schedules, Successive Approximation, Emitting, Target, Extinction Burst, Continuous Reinforcement, FR25, Manipulanda, Extinct, Free Will, Watson, Behaviorism, Counterdispositional, Genes.

After reading section 3.5, please respond to the following questions.
Three things I learned from this section was that Skinner created a specified box that he used during experimenting called the operant chamber as known as a Skinner box. The second thing I will remember is the ability to used a fixed ratio in getting the experimental animal to do the desired behavior, for example when it explained where the rat would get reinforced by after it has pressed the lever 25 times so the 25 lever pushes is the fixed ratio. The third thing I will remember is the idea of successive approximation because this is stating that if the animal were to do a behavior that was similar to the desired behavior they would still get reinforced. This is a difficult task to do with humans, because it makes me think of if you were to give stickers to kid who got A’s and B’s because then once the C student receives a B they won’t feel as much pressure to receive an A because they already got their sticker.
One thing I really liked about this section was who throughout the section they seem to compare Skinner’s work to the work of the other Psychologist. This was helpful to make comparisons but it was nice to see if maybe some of them had overlapping ideas.
One thing I disliked about this section was the discrimination training because it was confusing so understand with the explanation of extinction and reinforcement.

Some ideas that came to my mind when reading this was if I were able to see this experiment happen in real life, because I am a visual learner so it would be extremely interesting to see all of the fixed ratio, the conditioned emotional response, and the reward of food. These would be easier for me to understand and also it would be cool to see the rat and be able to see their behavior in real life.

Next, compare and contrast the four historical figures you have read about (Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson and Skinner).
I think I like Pavlov. I really like Pavlov because I feel that his classical conditioning is extremely relevant to humans. I sometimes feel like I have unintentionally or purposely conditioned myself to stimulus. For example whenever I hear tires screech my heart pounds, because when I was little I watched my brother get hit by a car and the only thing I remember is the tire screeching.

I feel that Watson made important contributions because he did the controversial experiment with baby Albert. This shed a lot of light on the psychology world in showing their need for consent and providing all the accurate information to the participant. Also I think his ability to make a desirable stimulus aversive to a baby is pretty powerful and show that we can be heavily influenced throughout our life.
I would like to know more about Thorndike, because honestly he is the one person I can’t remember things about off the top of my head. So maybe I should do more research about Thorndike.

terms: behavior, Skinner, Watson, Pavlov, desirable, aversive, reinforcement, reinforced, experiment, stimulus, conditioned emotional response, classical conditioning, operant chamber, discrimination, extinction, fixed ratio.

1) Social engineering was a term and idea coined by Skinner where he thought he could socially conform a society through creating a positive environment in which to live and function. He believed the environment was more important to emitting a certain target behavior than the actual behavior modification process.

2) The Skinner Box or operant chamber is a secure laboratory piece of equipment used to study various types of punishment and reinforcement techniques on animals. He invented in to be used in his experiments. That is why it is referred to as the Skinner Box. He also invented the cumulative recorder which is the device that records how many times the animal would press the level, which was the part of the shaping process in which a certain behavior that is similar to the target behavior is reinforced in a step by step process till the target goal is reached. This is known as successive approximation.

3) While Skinner’s ideas of social engineering have some good principles as to how we can control behavior, the idea has it’s specific place in society. His ideas on a utopian society are unrealistic and take out the ability for humans to act on the free will they possess. While his contributions to the behavior modification idea are useful, we need to remember that even good ideas have their place in life.

The one thing I liked from this section was how much detail was given concerning the Skinner Box. In previous Psych classes, we have just had an overview of the operant conditioning techniques used by Skinner. Sure we heard about the operant chamber but we never took a detailed look at how exactly it can shape behavior.

The one thing I didn’t like about this chapter was how many terms involved in the shaping process were thrown at us all at once. I feel like too much information was covered in one chapter. It seems to me like this could have been a two-part series on the whole conditioning process. It would have made it a little easier to follow the ideas that were being presented in the text.

The main idea that came to mind while reading this chapter had to do with the environment in which we live and how we as humans develop certain patterns in life based on factors outside of our control. We like to think we have 100% free-will to make the decisions we make, whether positive or negative. However, after reading this chapter it is clear to me that we don’t exactly have as much say over the daily activities we participate in as I originally thought.

Thorndike invented the Law of Effect which deals with trial and error within behavior modification. Pavlov discovered the idea of classical conditioning through his research with dogs. Watson lead the way in the behavior modification ideas that you could shape anyone into any type of person you wanted them to be. Skinner’s biggest contribution was the operant chamber which showed his major idea that you can influence the behavior of an individual through the environment.
I like Pavlov’s contributions the best 1) because he wasn’t even trying to discover classical conditioning from a Psych prospective, yet his contribution was huge. 2) He’s ideas have paved the way for the learning that we receive even today within the study of behavior modification.

Terms: Punishment, reinforcement, operant conditioning, operant chamber, Skinner Box, social engineering, shaping, successive approximation, Law of Effect, behavior modification, positive, negative, emit, classical conditioning, target behavior.