SOCI-1015EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Edward Thorndike, Cultural Determinism, Behaviorism
16 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
SOCI-1015
October 26th, 2017
November 2nd, 2017
Socialization
•Socialization is lifelong
•3 different ways
•primary socialization
•Childhood
•secondary socialization
•Later in life
•Resocialization
•unlearning the old to learn the new (behaviours, attitudes, norms and values)
•voluntary and involuntary//can co-occur
•Determinism
•degree behaviour, attitudes, personal characteristics are determined
•2 kinds
•Nature - biological determinism
•greater part of determined genes // 26000 genes in total
•Ex) are you pre-determined by genes to be good at sports? What about math?
•Nurture - social/cultural determinism
•Behaviourism
•School of thought
•in psychology
•cultural determinist position
•Belief that behaviour is taught and learned
•who we are/what we are/how we act is a consequence of how previous behaviour
was responded to
•How would one modify behaviour?
•negative/positive reinforcement
•shapes behaviours- rewards or punishments
•Edward Thorndike- LAW OF EFFECT
•Desired behaviours- rewarded//reinforced
•undesired behaviours- ignored//punished (hopefully subject abandons it)
•Balancing Biological (nature) and Socio-Cultural (nurture)
•Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) both biological and social shape human personality
•Mind- 3 interconnected parts:
•the id- unconscious/maybe coming from genes//instincts
•the super-ego- not so deterministic from your genes//unconscious consciousness//
•the ego- moderator//conscious
•Oversocialized View of Human Behaviour
•Dennis Wrong- Canadian Sociologist
•Behaviourists- too attached to notion of deterministic socialization- oversocialized
viewpoint
•Argues- not passive recipients- agency//people do resist, people do change their minds,
etc
•Be careful in the way you think//not everyone reacts the same way
•Significant Other and Generalized Other
•George Herbert Mead
•symbolic interactionism
•Socialization of children and by others- internalize norms and values
•two agents of socialization
1. significant others- closest people who influence us
2. Generalized others- abstract and social// attitudes and viewpoints of general
society (freud: superego)
•the influences are lifelong
•Sense of Self
•George Hebert Mead
•Socialization- children have 3 development stages:
•Preparatory stage- imitate
•Play stage- role-taking of significant others
•Game stage- takes on several roles
•Charles Cooley (1864-1929)
•Looking-glass set: theory about self and understanding self. Interaction between
perceived self image and how we think others view us
