The term "instinct" in psychology was first used in 1870s by Wilhelm Wundt.

By the close of the 19th century, most repeated behavior was considered instinctual. In a survey of the literature at that time, one researcher chronicled 4,000 human "instincts," having applied this label to any behavior that was repetitive.[citation needed] As research became more rigorous and terms better defined, instinct as an explanation for human behavior became less common. In a conference in 1960, chaired by Frank Beach, a pioneer in comparative psychology, and attended by luminaries in the field, the term was restricted in its application.[citation needed] During the 60's and 70's, textbooks still contained some discussion of instincts in reference to human behavior. By the year 2000, a survey of the 12 best selling textbooks in Introductory Psychology revealed only one reference to instincts, and that was in regard to Sigmund Freud's referral to the "id" instincts.[citation needed]. In this sense, instincts appeared to have become regarded as increasingly superfluous in trying to understand human psychological behavior. Some Freudian Psychoanalysts have retained the term instinct to refer to human motivational forces (such as sex and aggression), sometimes represented as Eros - life instinctand Thanatos - death instinct. This use of the term motivational forces has been replaced by the term drives to correct the original error in the translation of |Freud's work.[citation needed] Psychologist Abraham Maslow argued that humans no longer have instincts because we have the ability to override them in certain situations. He felt that what is called instinct is often imprecisely defined, and really amounts to strong drives. For Maslow, an instinct is something which cannot be overridden, and therefore while the term may applied to humans in the past, it no longer does.[6] The book Instinct (1961) established a number of criteria which distinguish instinctual from other kinds of behavior. To be considered instinctual, a behavior must: a) be automatic, b) be irresistible, c) occur at some point in development, d) be triggered by some event in the environment, e) occur in every member of the species, f) be unmodifiable, and g) govern behavior for which the organism needs no training (although the organism may profit from experience and to that degree the behavior is modifiable). [7] In a classic paper published in 1972[8], the psychologist Richard Herrnstein decries Fabre's opinions on instinct (see: In biology section). [edit] ++++++++++++++++++++ Development in infancy and childhood

In utero, the brain develops rapidly, and an infant is born

with essentially all of the nerve cells it will ever have; brain development is particularly rapid during the third trimester. However, after birth, neural connections must form in order for the newborn ultimately to walk, talk, and remember. Mark Rosenweig and David Krech conducted an experiment to

demonstrate the importance of enriched environments during development. They compared rats raised alone to those that were allowed to use a playground in the company of other rats. Those in the impoverished (solitary) environment developed a thinner cortex with fewer glial cells, cells that support and nourish the brain's neurons. Other studies have demonstrated that stimulation provided by touch or massage benefits both premature babies and infant rats, a fact that argues for providing an enriched environment for a developing organism.

Infants are born with a surprising number of unlearned

(innate) reflexes, that is, unlearned responses to stimuli.

The Moro reflex is an outstretching of the

arms and legs in response to a loud noise or sudden change in the environment. The infant's body tenses; arms are extended and then drawn inward as if embracing.

The Babinski reflex is an outward projection of

the big toe and fanning of the others when the sole of the foot is touched.

The sucking reflex occurs

when

an

object

touches the lips.

The rooting reflex is the turning of an infant's

head toward a stimulus such as a breast or hand.

The grasping reflex is the vigorous grasping of

an object that touches the palm.

The plantar reflex is the curling under of the

toes when the ball of the foot is touched. Physicians sometimes use these reflexes to assess the rate of development. Gradually, learned responses replace the reflex actions as an infant becomes more responsive to the environment.

Although the rate of motor development can vary, the

developmental sequence is the same. On average, an infant will learn to roll over at 2-1/2 months, sit without support at 6 months, and walk alone at 12 months. The growth and body development from infant to child occurs in a cephalocaudal direction; that is, the head and upper trunk develop before the lower trunk and feet. Sensory and perceptual development Newborn infants can and do respond to a wide range of environmental stimuli. All human senses function to some degree at birth; touch is the most highly developed and vision is the least

developed sense. At the age of 3 months, however, most infants can recognize a photograph of their mother. An infant's ability to perceive depth has been studied extensively with an apparatus called a visual cliff, a box with a glass platform that extends over a drop of several feet. An adult (mother or experimenter) stands on one side of the glass bridge and calls to the child, who is on the other. Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk, in a wellknown study, found that at about 6 months babies balk at crawling over the edge of the cliff. Such a response indicates that depth perception is present at this age. Cognitive development. The term cognitive development refers to the development of the ability to think and to mentally represent events and to manipulate symbols. Jean Piaget, a pioneer in the study of children's thinking, was concerned with the way a child organizes information from the environment and adapts to it. He believed that every behavioral act requires two dynamic processes of adaptation: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of

acquiring new information about the world and fitting it to already acquired information. A child who calls all grown males daddy, based on the child's perception that they and daddy are in some way similar, is practicing assimilation. Accommodation is the process of creating a new concept to handle new information; for example, children come to realize that all toys don't belong to them, that some belong to other children.

Piaget, who had a strong biological background, proposed four stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. According to Piaget,

During the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2) infants

develop their ability to coordinate motor actions with sensory activity. At the start of this stage, children's behavior is dominated by reflexes, but by the end of it, they can use mental images. Also during this stage, children acquire the concept

of object permanence, realizing that objects still exist even when the objects are not present.

During the preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7 years),

children improve in the use of mental images and symbolic thought. Most of the thinking of children of this age, however, is egocentric (self-centered).

During the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11

years), children begin to develop many concepts and to organize the concepts into classes and categories.

During the formal operational stage (ages 11 years and

beyond), children learn to use and to manipulate abstract symbolic concepts, develop and mentally test hypotheses, and work mental problems. That is, they can reason.

Although Piaget's theories are subject to some criticism, they are widely used and important in guiding research in childhood cognitive development.

Language development. Language acquisition is one of the most important aspects of a child's development. Moral development. Lawrence Kohlberg proposed that moral

developmentoccurs in three levels, with two stages at each level.

The preconventional level:

At stage are

1,

punishment by the

orientation, prospect of

judgments punishment.

guided

At stage 2, pleasure-seeking orientation,

activities are undertaken primarily to satisfy one's own needs; needs of others are important only as they relate to one's own needs.

The conventional level:

At stage 3, good girl/good boy orientation,

behavior is engaged in that brings approval or pleases others in a child's immediate group.

At stage 4, authority orientation, behavior is

influenced by respect for authority, performing one's duty, and doing what is right.

The postconventional level:

At stage 5, contract and legal orientation,

behavior is based on support of rules and regulations because society's right to exact such support is accepted.

At stage 6, ethical and moral principles

orientation, behavior is directed by self-chosen ethical and moral principles.

Kohlberg found that the first two stages are reached by most children, that stages 3 and 4 are reached by older children and most adults, but that the stage 6 is reached by only 20% of the population.

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Child Development
Developmental psychology. The study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities from conception to death. Neonate. [neo: new; nate; born] - Completely helpless at birth and will die if not cared for. Can't lift head. Can't turn over by itself. Can't feed itself. Can see, hear, smell, taste, and respond to pain and touch. Although their senses are less acute at birth, babies are immediately responsive to their surroundings. They will follow a moving object with their eyes and will turn in the direction of sounds. As early as 9 months of age, infants can also imitate other actions and they can repeat them the next day (Meltzoff, 1988) Such mimicry is obviously an aid to rapid learning in infancy. Robert Fantz found that 3-day old babies prefer complex patterns, such as checkerboards and bull's-eyes, to simpler colored rectangles. Others have found that infants are more excited by circles and curves and that they will look longer at red and blue than at other colors. Familiar faces preferred to unfamiliar faces. This preference for the familiar reverses at about age 2 --at this time unusual objects begin to hold greater interest for the child. A child is born with the following reflexes: Grasping - helps to prevent falling. Rooting - touch cheek & infant will turn as if looking for something. Helps infant find bottle or breast. Sucking - Helps infant obtain needed food. Moro reflex- responds in movement similar to an embrace/clinging Maturation. The emergence and development of personal characteristics in an orderly sequence as a result of underlining physical growth. Maturation refers to physical growth and development of the body - especially the nervous system. Maturation underlies the orderly sequence observed in the unfolding of many basic abilities, particularly motor abilities, such as crawling and walking. Orderly sequence. While the rate of maturation varies from child to child, the order is almost universal. In general, increased muscular control in infants proceeds from head to toe, and from the center of the body to the extremities. For example: the strength and coordination a child needs to sit without support appears before that needed for crawling --sit before crawl, crawl before stand, stand before walk, and so on --except --when rolling, creeping, or shuffling are substituted for crawling....

Readiness [principle of motor primacy]. Maturation often creates a condition of readiness for learning. Until the necessary physical structures are mature, no amount of practice will be sufficient to establish a skill. Impossible (and cause for needless frustration) to try to teach a child to walk or to toilet train a child before it is ready. Rapid learning is produced if ready, otherwise the learning is inefficient or unsuccessful. Temperament. Refers to the physical foundations of personality, such as prevailing mood, sensitivity, and energy levels. Newborn babies differ noticeably in activity, irritability, distractibility, and other aspects of temperament. Because of inborn differences in readiness to smile, cry, vocalize, reach out, or pay attention, babies rapidly become active participants in their own development --especially their social development. They alter parents behavior at the same time they are changed by it. Children can be separated into three major categories: l. Easy child - relaxed, agreeable, smiles a lot (ca. 40%) 2. Difficult - Intense, moody, easily angered, cries a lot (ca. 10%) 3. Slow to warm up - restrained and unexpressive, or shy (ca. 15%) Heredity and Environment: There is a fascinating interplay of forces shaping the child's development so that, by the third year of life the child stands, walks, talks, explores, and has a unique personality. Nature versus nurture. Heredity shapes development by providing a framework of personal potentials and limitations that are altered by learning, nutrition, disease, culture, and other environmental factors. Developmental Level. We might say that three factors combine to determine a person's developmental level at any stage of life. These are heredity, environment, and the individual's own behavior - each tightly interwoven with the others.

HEREDITY Hereditary instructions carried by the chromosomes influence development throughout life by affecting the sequence of growth, the timing of puberty, and the course of aging. It is estimated that the genetic information carried in each human cell would fill thousands of 1000-page books (in fine print). It effects eye color, skin color, and the susceptibility to some diseases. It underlies maturation and the orderly sequence of motor development. Exerts considerable influence over body size and shape, height, intelligence, athletic potential, personality traits, and a host of other details.

Nucleus of every cell of human body consists of 46 chromosomes - threadlike structures Chromosomes transmit coded instructions of hereditary behavior. We receive onehalf of our chromosomes (and genes) from each parent. [Child who inherits 2 x chromosomes (x + x) will be a female. Child who inherits an x chromosomes paired with a Y chromosome (x + y) will be male.] Genes are scattered on each chromosome-smaller areas on chromosomes. There are genes determining eye color, skin color, sex. Each gene carries instructions that affect a particular process of personal characteristic. There are at least 100,000 genes in every human cell, and perhaps more. In some cases, a single gene is responsible for a particular inherited feature, such as eye color. Most characteristics, however, are polygenetic, or determined by many genes working in combination. Genes are made up of DNA. DNA [deoxyriboneucleicacid] is a long, ladderlike chemical molecule that is made up of smaller molecules. The order of these smaller molecules, or organic bases, acts as a code for genetic information. Dominant genes - When a gene is dominant, the trait it controls will be present every time the gene is present. The brown gene is dominant. Recessive genes - When a gene is recessive, it must be paired with a second recessive gene before its effect will be expressed. The blue gene is recessive.

ENVIRONMENT Humans today are very similar to cave dwellers who lived 20,000 or 30,000 years ago, yet, a bright baby born today could become almost anything --a computer programmer, an engineer, or a biochemist who likes to paint in water colors, for instance. Environmental forces continue to modify inborn potentials with each passing year. Consistent differences in temperament can be detected for at least the first 2 years of life. Yet by age 10, children's personalities show little connection to irritability, activity, or attentiveness observed in infancy (Kagan, 1976). 3 ways the Environment can impact on Heredity: 1. Nutrition - has bearing on hereditary size 2. Timing - retarded language ability between 6 mos. and 3 years interferes with inherited tendency to be a good public speaker.

3. Disease Intrauterine environment. Prenatal environment of the womb is protected and stable, but a number of conditions can affect embryonic or fetal development before birth if mother's health or nutrition is poor, if she contracts certain diseases, such as German measles or syphilis, uses drugs, or is exposed to X-rays or atomic radiation, the fetus may be harmed. Resultant damage is referred to as a congenital problem (or "birth defects"). Genetic problems are inherited. Social development. Infants are social creatures from the day they are born. Examples of their sensitivity to others is their ability to imitate adults and their interest in the human face. Two major elements of early social development are infants' growing self-awareness and their increased awareness of others. Self-awareness. Like many other events in development, self-awareness depends on maturation of the nervous system. When coupled with an increased awareness of others, self-awareness begins to form the core of social development. Social Referencing. Glancing at the facial expressions of others to decide how to respond to them. By about 12 months of age, most babies reference (glance at) their mothers when placed in an unfamiliar situation. By the end of their first year, babies are aware of the facial expressions of others and seek guidance from them --roots of an important social skill. Real core of social development is found in the emotional attachments that babies form with their caregivers. Critical period. A time of increased sensitivity to environmental influences (both positive and negative). Often certain events must occur during a critical period for a person or an animal to develop normally. Existence of critical periods for acquiring particular behaviors is why experiences early in life often have lasting effects. Imprinting. Limited to birds and some other animals. Rapid and early learning of a permanent behavior pattern. If ducklings are not allowed to imprint on their mother or some other object within 230 hours after hatching, they never will. Attachment. Bonding to their primary care giver. Developing an emotional and physical relationship with primary person during first year of life. Infants securely attached to their parents or a parent later show: More curiosity More problem-solving ability

Moore social competence in preschool Moore resiliency (bounce back rather than overwhelmed Separation anxiety. Crying when separated from parent which occurs at about 8 to 12 months. Frequent and short separations a good cure to problem --breaks down anxiety, makes it a routine event. Affectional needs are as important as other forms of nourishment - no attention can cause child to loose trust in environment. Deprivation in development The loss or withholding of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort, love, and so on; a condition of lacking. Destructive effects of lack of stimulation in infancy. Enrichment in development Any attempt to make a child's environment more novel, complex, and perceptually or intellectually stimulating. Infants like to reach out and touch things, but normally it takes about 5 months after birth for this skill to develop. In an enriched environment, visually directed reaching occurred an average of 6 weeks early. And, children in early childhood education programs show real improvements in later school performance --this is especially true for the most needy children. Causes of deprivation: 1. Lack of attachment a major element. Improvements made without foster parenting or attachment failed to reverse their declining mental health. 2. Lack of perceptual stimulation. Nothing happening for these children: no change, no input, no cuddling, no attention, and most of all, no stimulation. Placed in bare rooms in cribs with white sheets hung on the sides. Infants could see only the blank ceiling... This was deprivation in the fullest sense of the word. Signs of deprivation: l. Depression - can lead to death over ignored for long period of time. 2. Mute - lack of speech due to lack of environmental stimulus 3. Deprivation dwarfism. Stunted growth associated with isolation, rejection, or general deprivation in the home environment.

Hospitalism. A pattern of deep depression marked by weeping and sadness and long periods of immobility or mechanical rocking. A lack of normal responsiveness to other humans is also typical of the problem. Babies in a foundling home-high rate of infant death, and development of the living babies was severely retarded. Contact comfort. One of the most important dimensions of early stimulation, supplied by touching, holding, and stroking an infant. Mother's warmth or coldness, relaxation or tension, and acceptance or rejection are more important than the choice of breast or bottle. Breast-feeding advantage is that colostrum, a fluid (rather than milk the first few days after birth) rich in proteins that carries antibodies from the mother to the newborn and helps prevent certain infectious diseases.
The role of nurture in human behavior involves the ways in which it is shaped by society and environment. It centers around John B. Watson's theory of behaviorism, which is the theory that human behavior is learned, rather than being instinctive. Humans learn behavior through observation and imitation of those around them, as well as through language. It is through this social interaction that people develop their distinct personalities and behavioral patterns. Without social interaction, personality hardly, if at all, develops, and distinct behavior is very minimal. Social interactions and experiences add up over time and lead people to think, feel, and act out in specific ways. For example, research shows that kids who have parents that smoke are much more likely to smoke as well. These such kids observed and imitated the act of smoking from their parents, and possibly with input from peers, etc. They came to understand that such behavior is okay, or is right for them. The role of nature in human behavior involves the genetic or in-born traits that cause people to act the way they do. For years, people believed that human behavior was genetic; that a criminal was born a criminal, or that a violent person was born violent. The idea that behavior is genetic is becoming less and less popular. Nature does not seem to determine human behavior directly. However, it is not to say that genetics have no effect on human behavior. Nature determines the maximum IQ a person can have, the maximum height they can achieve, their hair color, etc. When it comes to say, height, it is nurture that will determine a when a person stops growing, but it is nature that provides the maximum; the right nurture may determine where they fall in the range, but no matter what, nature will not let that person grow beyond that maximum. So, say a person's maximum height by adulthood is only 4' 7"; the chances of such a person pursuing professional basketball is very low. Conversely, a person who, by nature, is allowed to grow to a maximum height of 7 feet may be more likely to consider such a profession. So, nature certainly serves as a guide for human behavior. One important element of nature, however, is that it does play a role in determining personality. People are born with certain personality traits, such as the way they deal with frustration, their openness, etc. These personality traits help determine the paths people take in their environment (nurture), which in turn, effects their specific behaviors. Personally, I would not say that either nurture nor nature is more important than the other, however, they both effect human behavior differently. I would agree that nurture is stronger in determining

specific behaviors, such as whether to smoke, go to college, etc. However, nature seems to provide the framework for behavior; it provides limits for physical growth as well as personality traits, which effect the environments a person may choose, and then nurture takes over from there to determine their ultimate behaviors. Throughout most of life, I would say that it is nurture which determines most human behavior. Regarding social problems, such as poverty and crime, the notion that nurture is a stronger determinant of human behavior would suggest that crime is a learned behavior through environment and social interaction, and that poverty also occurs due to environment. Perhaps a criminal who was born to criminal parents did not view crime as wrong until he or she had already habitualized criminal activities, and it was either too late or the environment they live in keeps them in the realm of crime. Those born into poverty learn actions and behaviors which lead them to be destitute as adults; they are brought up in an environment which leads to continuous poverty. Perhaps children born into poverty had to quit school to get jobs just to help the family make ends meet, and with the lack of education, they are unable to get better jobs as adults. This would all suggest that changing a person's environment would change their behavior. If a child brought up by criminal parents were to be adopted by non-criminal parents, their behavior would gradually change, and conform to that of the new parents. If a child brought up in poverty were to be adopted by a family that was better off financially, they would have more room for success in the future. However, environment is not simply in the home. A person can have law abiding parents and yet, still become a criminal due to peer influences, television, idols, etc. In order to radically change a person's behavior, their environment must be radically changed. Public policy would have to be based on the idea that changing a person's surroundings will change their behavior. Our system is at least somewhat set up based on this notion. Convicted criminals often go to jail, where they are separated from society and their outside lifestyle. However, this is currently not an effective way of changing behavior. While jail, juvenile hall, etc., may surround criminals with different walls, they are surrounded by other criminals and end up learning new ways to commit crimes and are more than reinforced when they are released. A better example would be Alcoholics Anonymous, which has a high success rate of helping alcoholics rid of their addictions by surrounding them with supportive people, in a clean, supportive environment not associated with the consumption of alcohol. Public policy would probably be changed to have those in need surrounded by people who can influence better behavior, in addition to changing their remaining environment.

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Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

Summary: Classical conditioning is a reflexive or automatic type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. Originators and Key Contributors: First described by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist, in 1903, and studied in infants by John B. Watson (1878-1958). Keywords: stimulus-response, psychic reflexes, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, respondent conditioning Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov) Several types of learning exist. The most basic form is associative learning, i.e., making a new association between events in the environment. There are two forms of associative learning: classical conditioning (made famous by Ivan Pavlovs experiments with dogs) and operant conditioning. Pavlovs Dogs In the early twentieth century, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov did Nobel prize-winning work on digestion. While studying the role of saliva in dogs digestive processes, he stumbled upon a phenomenon he labeled psychic reflexes. While an accidental discovery, he had the foresight to see the importance of it. Pavlovs dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber, were presented with meat powder and they had their saliva collected via a surgically implanted tube in their saliva glands. Over time, he noticed that his dogs who begin salivation before the meat powder was even presented, whether it was by the presence of the handler or merely by a clicking noise produced by the device that distributed the meat powder. Fascinated by this finding, Pavlov paired the meat powder with various stimuli such as the ringing of a bell. After the meat powder and bell (auditory stimulus) were presented together several times, the bell was used alone. Pavlovs dogs, as predicted, responded by salivating to the sound of the bell (without the food). The bell began as a neutral stimulus (i.e. the bell itself did not produce the dogs salivation). However, by pairing the bell with the stimulus that did produce the salivation response, the bell was able to acquire the ability to trigger the salivation response. Pavlov therefore demonstrated how stimulus-response bonds (which some consider as the basic building blocks of learning) are formed. He dedicated much of the rest of his career further exploring this finding. In technical terms, the meat powder is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the dogs salivation is the unconditioned response (UCR). The bell is a neutral stimulus until the dog learns to associate the bell with food. Then the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces the conditioned response (CR) of salivation after repeated pairings between the bell and food.

John B. Watson: Early Classical Conditioning with Humans John B. Watson further extended Pavlovs work and applied it to human beings. In 1921, Watson studied Albert, an 11 month old infant child. The goal of the study was to condition Albert to become afraid of a white rat by pairing the white rat with a very loud, jarring noise (UCS). At first, Albert showed no sign of fear when he was presented with rats, but once the rat was repeatedly paired with the loud noise (UCS), Albert developed a fear of rats. It could be said that the loud noise (UCS) induced fear (UCR). The

implications of Watsons experiment suggested that classical conditioning could cause some phobias in humans.

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B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning

by Saul McLeod published 2007 By the 1920s John B. Watson had left academic psychology and otherbehaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning. Perhaps the most important of these wasBurrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious reasons he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner. Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson. Skinner believedthat we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events. Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning. Skinner's theory of operant conditioning was based on the work of Thorndike(1905). Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a puzzle box to propose the theory known as the 'Law of Effect'.

BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning

introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement.

Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on Thorndikes law of effect. Skinner

behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened). Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a Skinner Box which was similar to Thorndikes puzzle box.

B.F. Skinner (1938)coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior. Skinner coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior. Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.

 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. Punishers: Response from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior. We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been affected by reinforcers and punishers. As a child you probably tried out a number of behaviors and learnt from their consequences. For example, if when you were younger you tried smoking at school, and the chief consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively reinforced (i.e. rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the behavior. If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught, caned, suspended from school and your parents became involved you would most certainly have been punished, and you would consequently be much less likely to smoke now.

Reinforcement

(strengthens behavior)

Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box. The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again. Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. For example, if your

teacher gives you 5 each time you complete your homework (i.e. a reward) you are more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework. The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behavior. This is known as Negative Reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is rewarding to the animal. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it stops or removes an unpleasant experience. For example, if you do not complete your homework you give your teacher 5. You will complete your homework to avoid paying 5, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework. Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current being switched on. These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment

(weakens behavior)

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someones pocket money to punish undesirable behavior. Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

Operant Conditioning Summary

Looking at Skinner's classic studies on pigeons behavior we can identify some of the major assumptions of behaviorists approach. Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner. Skinner's study of behavior in rats was conducted under carefully controlled laboratory conditions. behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learnt to press a lever because they wanted food. He instead concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior that the rats acquired. The major influence on human behavior is learning from our environment. In the Skinner study, because food followed a particular behavior the rats learned to repeat that behavior, e.g. classical and operant conditioning.

 There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. Therefore research (e.g. classical conditioning) can be carried out on animals (Pavlovs dogs) as well as on humans (Little Albert). Skinner proposed that the way humans learn behavior is much the same as the way the rats learned to press a lever. So, if your layperson's idea of psychology has always been of people in laboratories wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their dinner, then you are probably thinking of behavioral psychology. Behaviorism and its offshoots tend to be among the most scientific of the psychological perspectives. The emphasis of behavioral psychology is on how we learn to behave in certain ways. We are all constantly learning new behaviors and how to modify our existing behavior. Behavioral psychology is the psychological approach that focuses on how this learning takes place.

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Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory proponents believe that much of our learning occurs through watching, often in social situations, what happens to other people. Observational learning. Observational learning, sometimes called modeling or in some instances vicarious learning, is a type of social learning. In Albert Bandura's famous experiment, one group of nursery school children observed an adult punch a Bobo clown doll, and one group did not. Later, those children who had observed the punching behavior were more likely to punch the Bobo doll (model the adult's punching behavior) when they were frustrated than were those who had not observed it. Observational learning occurs also through exposure to events and people in the media. One may decide, for example, to copy the clothes or behaviors of television personalities.

This tendency is one reason that many object to excessive violence in television programs both for children and for adults.

+++++++++++ Affiliation - The need to form attachments to other people for support, guidance, and protection.
The need to form attachments with others is termed affiliation. Attachment is one of 20 psychological needs measured by the Thematic Apperception Test, a projective personalitytest developed at Harvard University in 1935 by Henry Murray. Subjects look at a series of up to 20 pictures of people in a variety of recognizable settings and construct a story about what is happening in each one.

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Social Norms
By GILLIAN FOURNIER

The implicit (not spoken ofyou learn about them through violation of the rule) or explicit (openly talked about) rules of a group concerning the appropriateness or inappropriateness of certain values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. It should be noted that these rules are not legal laws, instead they are more like social obligations. Most people follow the norms because the group may choose to punish the transgressor. Punishments could include: guilt/shame, talking behind their back/gossiping about the person, physical harm or even being made to leave the group permenantly. Example: Although handshakes between men and women are common in most Western countries, in certain parts of the world such a gesture would be considered inappropriate contact between the sexes.

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Carol Gilligan examined certain differences between the moral development of males and that of females. In younger children, she found that girls are more concerned with a morality based on caring and boys with a morality based on justice. Gilligan proposed that this gender difference is in part due to children's relationship with their mother. Social development. Social development begins at birth as a child forms anattachment (a strong emotional bond) with the primary caregiver(s), usually the mother. Harry Harlow studied attachment deprivation with baby monkeys raised in isolation. Although their physical needs were met and they were given surrogate mothers made of cloth, these monkeys suffered severe behavior pathologies. They recovered if the isolation was limited to three months, but longer periods produced abnormal adults. Ethically, this type of study could not be conducted with humans, but parallels have been found with children reared in cold, isolated, emotionally deprived environments. Emotional attachments to caregivers are thought to be essential for social development.

Konrad Lorenz studied imprinting, a rapid and relatively permanent type of learning that occurs for a limited time (called a critical period) early in life, particularly in birds. Baby ducks learn to follow their mother if they see her moving during the first 30-hour period after their birth. If, however, they don't see their mother, they can imprint on and follow a human or even a moving object instead. Imprinting demonstrates that attachments by the young to a parent can occur early and can have lifelong consequences. The term gender stereotyping refers to patterns of behavior expected of people according to their gender. The development of gender-related differences is complex. Gender stereotyping occurs not only because of parental differences in rearing children of each gender but also because of socialization experiences. Eleanor Maccoby has observed that children with widely different personalities play together simply because they are of the same gender. Personality development. Developmental psychologists also study

personality development in children.