Discovering Psychology Series Principles of Learning and Behavior 2nd edition Lee W. Daffin Jr., Ph.D. Washington State University Version 2.00 June 2021 Contact Information about this OER: 1. Dr. Lee Daffin, Associate Professor of Psychology – [email protected] Table of Contents Preface Record of Changes Part I. Setting the Stage • Module 1: Towards a Theory of Learning 1-1 • Module 2: Research Methods in Learning and Behavior 2-1 • Module 3: Elicited Behaviors and More 3-1 Part II: Associative Learning: Respondent Conditioning • Module 4: Respondent Conditioning 4-1 • Module 5: Applications of Respondent Conditioning 5-1 Part III: Associative Learning: Operant Conditioning • Module 6: Operant Conditioning 6-1 • Module 7: Applications of Operant Conditioning 7-1 Part IV: Observational Learning • Module 8: Observational Learning 8-1 Part V: Take A Pause • Module 9: Complementary, Not Competing 9-1 Part VI: Complementary Cognitive Processes • Module 10: Complementary Cognitive Processes – Sensation (and 10-1 Perception) • Module 11: Complementary Cognitive Processes – Memory 11-1 • Module 12: Complementary Cognitive Processes – Language 12-1 • Module 13: Complementary Cognitive Processes – Learning Concepts 13-1 Glossary References Index Record of Changes Edition As of Date Changes Made 1.0 May 2019 Initial writing; feedback pending 2.0 June 2021 Copyediting changes; some revisions to add clarity; added a Tokens of Appreciation page. Tokens of Appreciation June 8, 2021 I want to offer a special thank you to Ms. Michelle Cosley, undergraduate within the online Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology program, for her edits of the 1st edition during the spring 2020. Her changes, and my own, are integrated into the 2nd edition of the book and are a dramatic improvement over the 1st edition. Thank you, Michelle. And now to my reader. I hope you enjoy the book and please, if you see any issues whether typographical, factual, or just want to suggest some type of addition to the material or another way to describe a concept, general formatting suggestion, etc. please let me know. The beauty of Open Education Resources (OER) is that I can literally make a minor change immediately and without the need for expensive printings of a new edition. And it’s available for everyone right away. If you have suggestions, please email them to me using the email on the title page. Enjoy the 2nd edition of Principles of Learning and Behavior. Lee Daffin 2nd edition Part I. Setting the Stage 2nd edition Part I. Setting the Stage Module 1: Towards a Theory of Learning 1-1 2nd edition Module 1: Towards a Theory of Learning Module Overview Welcome to our study of learning and behavior. As you will see, this book and class focus on the experimental analysis of behavior which reflects a pure/basic science approach. This is different from the applied analysis of behavior which reflects an applied science approach. To understand how we arrived at this distinction I will outline the historical development of psychology which led up to a science of behavior, and then its decline as a school of thought. I will also define key terms such as psychology, learning, memory, and behavior. I will conclude by showcasing a few professional societies and journals pertinent to the study of behavior, in its applied and pure science forms. Module Outline • 1.1. Historical Background • 1.2. What is Learning? • 1.3. Societies and Journals Module Learning Outcomes • Describe the development of behaviorism within the field of psychology. • Define and describe the characteristics of behavior. • Identify pertinent professional societies and peer-reviewed journals in the experimental analysis of behavior. 1-2 2nd edition 1.1. Historical Background Section Learning Objectives • Define history and clarify its importance. • Define and describe philosophy. • Outline the contributions of the Greeks to the science of behavior. • Clarify the importance of Descartes’ contributions to science. • Define mechanism. • Define reductionism, determinism, and materialism. • Outline the contributions of the empiricists to the science of behavior. • Clarify how physiology contributed to the development of psychology as a field. • Clarify how biology contributed to the development of psychology as a field. • Identify when, where, and how psychology was established as a field. • Describe Wundt’s contributions to psychology. • Describe Ebbinghaus’ contributions to psychology. • Describe how structuralism contributed to the new science of behavior and learning. • Describe how functionalism contributed to the new science of behavior and learning. • Describe how Gestalt psychology contributed to the new science of behavior and learning. • Describe the rise of behaviorism in the field of psychology. • Clarify how psychology returned to a study of mental processes, in addition to behavior. 1-3 2nd edition 1.1.1. Why History? This class, and the book for which it is written, is an investigation of learning and behavior. So why is our starting point a history lesson? First, history is the study of the past — the people, places, and events that make it up. We study the past so that in the future, we can repeat anything that worked or not make the same mistakes again. In other words, we want to learn from the events that occurred at an earlier time. By looking at the past we can see how we arrived at where we are today as a society, or as a person. Whether we want to admit it or not, our past makes us who we are today, and affects our future behavior. So why is the past important to a psychologist? Consider a clinical psychologist. If a client is suffering from depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder, there has to be a reason why. Maybe the client has had a series of deaths in the family and lost his job, leading to a major depressive disorder. Maybe an adult client was humiliated by their 5th grade teacher when giving a presentation and now has a bona fide fear of speaking in public and interacting with others, making any type of social interaction anxiety-producing. Or maybe we find out that the client is a veteran of the Gulf War or the War on Terrorism and was deployed numerous times to Iraq or Afghanistan. The frequent combat situations she was placed in, has led to PTSD. As such, an understanding of the past and how it affects the client is very important. It may even change the treatment approach the clinician takes or could help prevent any additional trauma from similar situations. Now, what about for a behaviorist who studies learning and behavior? The past is essential to understanding why a dog salivates at the mere sound of a bell, and not necessarily the sight/smell/taste of food. Maybe we discover that the dog has come to realize that every time in the past when the bell was rung food came in shortly thereafter. Now at a future time, the bell rings again and the dog salivates because it believes, like in times past, food will be coming and 1-4 2nd edition sure enough, it does!!!! The past might also be important to a child who is about to talk back to a parent but quickly remembers that when he did that last Tuesday, his mother scolded him. Not wanting to repeat that aversive event, he engages in a different type of aversive event and bites his tongue…but not literally. The past is important. Simple as that. And to understand the place behaviorism holds in the field of psychology, we have to understand events that led up to its creation, how it developed, and what happened as it slipped into the mainstream…of psychology that is. So we will discuss history. 1.1.2. Psychology’s Origins — Philosophy Would it surprise you to learn that when Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig, Germany in the late 1870s, it arose out of the disciplines of philosophy and physiology? It likely does. Who would have thought our field came from such different disciplines? 1.1.2.1. What is philosophy? Philosophy is the love and pursuit of knowledge. Psychologists are all about gaining knowledge, so the connection between the two disciplines is made. Right? Not quite. Well yes, we gain knowledge, but the two fields are fundamentally distinct, so there have to be glaring differences between them. There should also be similarities since we arose from it. Philosophy had to leave some trace of its influence on the field of psychology. Let’s start by briefly considering the four major areas of study in the field of philosophy. Metaphysics is the study of the nature of reality, what exists in the world, how it is ordered, and what it is like. It asks questions such as whether or not there is a God, what truth is, whether we 1-5 2nd edition have free will or if everything is pre-determined, what it means to be a person, and how one event causes another. Think about psychology now. We study how the mind works, look for universal patterns so that we can make cause and effect statements, explore what it means to be a person through concepts such as identity and self-esteem, and consider whether all we are going to be in life is determined in childhood or can later events change us… and alter our developmental trajectory. Second is epistemology or the study of knowledge. Philosophers ask what knowledge is and how we know what we do. Psychologists, on the related hand, study thinking and its conscious and sub/unconscious forms. We also study knowledge as a cognitive process and discuss elements of cognition to include concepts, propositions, schemas, and mental images.