PS390 Study Guide - Final Guide: Behavioral Neuroscience, Radical Behaviorism, Psychophysiology
Document Summary
Chief schools after wwii other than neobehaviourism: operant behaviourism, biological organization of behaviour, cognitivism, behavioural and cognitive neuroscience, and evolutionary psych. Cognitive + behavioural neuroscience (twin schools of thought), along w evolutionary psych dominate current psych landscape, yet represent return to the discipline"s conceptual roots in neurophysiology. Marked increase in specific issues guiding research as opposed to building grand theories of behaviour. Previous decades saw attempts to create universal laws of behaviour and develop broad concepts. Current psych specializes in developing micro, field-specific theories but claims to generalizability persist + there is also more interest in multidisciplinary cooperation. It is an inductive, functional analysis of environmental contingencies (ivs) of behaviour (dvs) Reported effects of different schedules of reinforcement, after studying lever-pressing in rats. Excluded psychophysiological and internal psychological phenomena to concentrate solely on their behaviourial manifestations. Skinner claimed humans even acquire language through reinforcing interactions w caregivers and private mental events can be observed in behaviour.
