Unit 2 studies

• Pavlov's dogs

  Experiment conducted by Pavlov in 1902
• Pavlov's method

  1. Noticed salivation prior to being given food

  2. Paired the food with other signals e.g. a noise

  3. Repeated this several times

  4. Made just the noise & the dog salivated
• Pavlov's contribution

  • Discovery of classical conditioning
  • His work laid the foundation for behaviorism, influenced therapeutic techniques, and informed our understanding of learning and memory processes
• Pavlov Ethics

  • Pavlov followed reduction - only used the amount of animals necessary, 1 dog in this case
  • Tubes surgically implanted caused physical health issues
• Strengths of Pavlov's experiment

  • Empirical research
  • Applicable in other studies (little albert)
• Limitations of pavlovs experiment

  • This experiment doesn't apply to humans
  • Use of animals
• Pavlov aim

   to study and demonstrate the concept of classical conditioning 
• pavlov findings

  Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food 
• Little Albert experiment

  Watson and Rayner, 1920
• Little albert Method

  1. Placed Albert on a mattress in a room where a white lab rat (CS) was within reaching distance

  2. Albert showed no initial fear of it and played with it

  3. Struck a hammer on a steel bar behind Albert (loud noise, UCS) and Albert began to cry

  4. For the next 17 days Watson and Rayner began a series of fear-conditioning experiments

  5. Conducted tests to find out if Albert's fear response could be generalised
• Little albert Ethics issues

  • They didn't remove the conditioned emotional response
  • Lacked informed consent
  • Deliberate psychological harm
• Little albert Strengths

  • High reliability as all variables were controlled
  • Human experiment
• Little albert Limitations

  • Results can't be generalised
  • Lack of ethics
• little albert findings

  classical conditioning is possible in humans, since the boy learned to associate a neutral stimulus (white rat) with a fearful stimulus (loud bang) to be scared of the white rat
• little albert contribution

  classical conditioning is applicable to humans 
• law of effect

  thorndike 1898
• thorndike aim

  understand how animals learn and how it can be applied to humans
• Thorndike method

  Putting hungry cats in cages with automatic doors that could be opened by pressing a button inside the cage
• Thorndike method

  1. Cats display unsystematic trial-and-error behaviors, trying to escape

  2. Thorndike puts food outside the cages to act as a stimulus and reward

  3. Cats experiment with different ways to escape the puzzle box and reach the food

  4. Cats stumble upon the lever which opens the cage

  5. Time taken is recorded

  6. After many repetitions (around 10-12 times), cats learn to press the button inside their cages to open the doors and reach the food
• thorndike findings

  behaviors followed by a reward or reinforcement are more likely in the future, whereas behaviors followed by a punishment are less likely in the future 
• thorndike contributions

  Thorndike’s Law of Effect – which states that behaviours are encouraged when they are followed by satisfying consequences and discouraged when they are followed by annoying consequences 
• thorndike ethics

  cruelty to animals - starving cats
• thorndike strengths

  multiple trials
• thorndike limitations

  • use of animals
  • Focus on skills rather than understanding and learning 
• skinner box

  skinner 1948
• skinner aim

  Skinner extended Thorndike’s “Law of Effect” to more complex behaviours using his “Skinner Box" 
• skinner method

  • a hungry rat was placed in the skinner box 
  • Every time he activated the lever, a food pellet fell into the food dispenser (positive reinforcement) 
  • The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. 
• skinner findings

  three types of responses – neutral, reinforcers, punishers 
• skinner contribution

  operant conditioning
• skinner ethics

  harm to animals - electrical floors
• skinner strengths

  • multiple trials
  • controlled environment
• skinner limitations

  • Use of animals 
  • Misleading about the animals level of understanding 
• bobo doll

  bandura, ross & ross 1961
• bobo doll aim

  find if social behaviours (i.e., aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation 
• Bobo Doll Group 1

  Watched a male or female model behave aggressively towards a "Bobo doll". 
• bobo doll group 2

  Exposed to a non-aggressive model
• bobo doll group 3

  Control group, not exposed to any model
• bobo doll method steps

  1. modeling stage
  2. aggression arousal stage
  3. test for delayed imitation stage
• bobo doll modelling stage

  1. Children were individually shown into a room with toys. 
  2. They played with potato prints and pictures for 10 minutes. 
  3. Divided into three groups
• bobo doll aggression arousal stage

  • All children, including the control group, were subjected to "mild aggression arousal". 
  • Taken to a room with attractive toys. 
  • Told that these toys were reserved for other children