BCS 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Little Albert Experiment, Belongingness, Operant Conditioning
Document Summary
Behavioral response changed when followed by reinforcement or punishment. Weaken, extinguish behavior: response followed with reinforcement increases response, punishment suppresses the same response. Believed in being able to train any individual into any specialist. Conditions (operant conditioning) little albert to respond with fear towards stimulus that is white and fluffy, ex. Used metal rods, and hammer to create startling, loud sound to create fear response; connected response to presence of fluffy, white animal. Watson never extinguished behavior in child; seen as unethical by many; ran out of time to desensitize child. Based upon observable behaviors; convenient to collect data and quantitatively describe organisms" behaviors. You could always see what was happening, and replicate your results; results are obvious. Good for training animals, children, even adults. Representing inner world (what the structuralists were doing) (blocking - kamin, contrast effect, belongingness) Learning can occur in absence of reinforcements and punishments.