Law of Effect and Operant Conditioning

Edward Thorndike:

1. Explain Thorndike's puzzle-box experiment.

Thorndike had to put a cat in a cage were it required it to step on a switch in order to go out. At the beginning, the cat was put into the cage. The cat explored the cage, but did not have the knowledge to escape from it. After some time the cat eventually stepped on the foot switch, and escaped as the door got open. The cat was put several times in the box afterwards. Several trials occurred, and the cat succeeded on escaping the box much faster than the time before since it already had experience and knowledge of the situation.

2. Explain Thorndike's "Law of Effect".

It is when the responses to a certain circumstance are reinforced and become usual to that certain circumstance after being followed by something rewarding.

3. Explain Thorndike's "Law of Exercise".

With practice associations and actions are reinforced, and without proper practice, they are weakened and forgotten.

B.F. Skinner:

1. Explain Skinner's concept of Operant Conditioning

This concept is a learning process based on rewards and punishments.  Through this, there is also a connection made between a behavior and a result caused by a particular behavior. Skinner’s theory gets to explain how the behaviors people show every single day are acquired.

2. What does reinforcement always do? It is supposed to strengthen or increase a behavior that follows a certain event or situation.

 
3. What does a punishment always do?

Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. It causes a person to decrease or stop a behavior that follows a certain event or situation, since it is an adverse of that event or outcome..

4. Explain the difference between "positive" and "negative" as they are used in operant conditioning.

“Positive” is usually something given in order to stop or increase a certain behavior. It can either be praise, a direct reward, or punishment by application. On the other hand, “negative” is something taken away, that also has the intention of increasing or stopping a behavior. It can be either the removal of something favorable or unpleasant.

WORKS CITED:

“Cherry, Kendra. “Operant Conditioning.” http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.html . November 2  2010.

“Connectionism.” http://tip.psychology.org/thorn.html . November 2  2010.

 “The Search for laws of Learning.” http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch08_animals/thorndikes_puzzle_box.html . November 2  2010.

Classical Conditioning Questions

Ivan Pavlov:
1. What was Pavlov actually studying when he developed his theory of classical conditioning?

Pavlov was originally studying and researching about the physiology of digestion. This research then led him to develop a science in which reflexes are conditioned.

2. Explain (in detail) how Pavlov's experiment was conducted.

Pavlov in his experiment studied the salivation of dogs. Dogs would usually salivate when food is presented. What really interested Pavlov was the fact that when dogs saw the people that usually fed them, they started to salivate. To prove this he had to condition the dogs.

Before the conditioning

1-     The dog was presented with food, and as a response it salivated.

2-     The bell was rung, but there was no response from the dog.

During conditioning:

3-     The bell was rung, and the food was then presented to the dog. As a response the dog began to salivate.

After conditioning:

4-     The bell was rung, no food was presented, but as a response the dog still salivated.

5-     After a few times of ringing the bell and no food been presented, the dog stopped salivating.

3. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Pavlov's experiment.

UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (UCS) - the food

UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UCR) - the salivation to the food

CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS) - the bell

CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR) - the salivation to the bell

4. Explain what extinction means in relation to classical conditioning.

Extinction is when the conditioned response disappears after presenting the conditioned stimulus frequently without the unconditioned stimulus. The dog learned to correlate the sound of the bell with food. Then, the bell was rung frequently but no food was presented. Soon after a few times, the salivation of the dog stopped at the sound of the bell.

5. Explain what stimulus generalization means in relation to classical conditioning.

It is when the conditioned response is extended from the original stimulus to similar stimuli.

6. Explain what stimulus discrimination means in relation to classical conditioning.

It is when a person or an animal is taught to discriminate and differ between various presented stimuli.

7. Explain at least two limitations of this experiment.

Some limitations are that what is learned is partial since most responses should involve a reflex.

Another thing is that the experiment is not easy to reconstruct since it is pretty complicated.

8. Explain what Pavlov theorized about how we learn.With Classical Conditioning, Pavlov theorized that there is learning by association. Most behaviors consist on learned responses to certain signals or events happening in the environment according to this. In the same way, in order to fit in their environment and be able to survive, organisms have to adapt to varying conditions presented to them.

John B. Watson:
1. Explain (in detail) how Watson's "Little Albert" study was conducted.

Little Albert was a baby who underwent a series of experiments around the age of nine months. This child was exposed to a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks, fur coats, and burning newspapers. These things were all a series of stimuli. As these things were presented to him, Watson observed the child’s reaction to them. Initially, little Albert did not show any kind of fear towards the objects he was shown.

Later on, the next time little Albert was exposed to these objects; Watson made loud noises by hitting a metal pipe with a hammer. Obviously, the little boy started to cry after listening to these hard noises. After pairing the objects with the frequent noise, the baby began to cry simply after seeing the objects he was exposed to.

2. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned response from Watson's study

UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (UCS) – Loud noise

CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS) - white rat, a rabbit, a monkey, masks, fur coats, and burning newspapers

CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR) - fear

3. Explain at least two limitations of this study.

The limitations are that both the experimental design and process were not carefully constructed, and by ethical concerns the experiment cannot be replicated because it means using a baby.

4. Explain Watson's law of frequency.

In this law he expressed the importance of repetition. The more frequent a stimulus and its response occur, the stronger the tendency will become.

5. Explain Watson's law of recency.

It states that the response to be the mostly associated with a certain stimulus is the response that occurred after that particular stimulus.

6. Explain the basic assumptions of behaviorism according to Watson.

According to Watson, behavior is the product of a stimulus and it can be determined by our surroundings. Events like thinking and feeling are observable behaviors that are a main fret of behaviorism.

Works Cited:

“Ivan Pavlov.” http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html. November 23 2010.

“Learning Theories.” http://www.northern.ac.uk/NCMaterials/psychology/lifespan%20folder/Learningtheories.htm . November 23 2010.

“Little Albert Experiment.” http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/little-albert-experiment.html . November 23 2010.

“John B. Watson.” http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~Lynda_abbot/Behaviorism.html .  Noveber 26 2010.

“Behaviorism.” http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/behaviourism.html . November 26 2010.

ARTICLE SUMMARIES:

High School Students with a Delayed School Start Time Sleep Longer, Report less Daytime Sleepiness

    Zaw W. Htwe, MD, of Norwalk Hospital's Sleep Disorders Center in Norwalk, Conn., conducted a study on 259 high school students. Before starting the experiment, the students had to complete a questionnaire about their sleep. Throughout the questionnaire, they realized that high school teens just got 7 hours of sleep during weekdays since their bed-time was around 10:52 p.m., and their wake-up time around 6:12 a.m. After delaying school start time for forty minutes, there were drastic changes. Students got to sleep more. During school hours, there were fewer complaints from the students about feeling sleepy. Mary B. O'Malley, MD, PhD also stated that through this study it was evident that teens preferred to sleep more than to extend their activities on school nights. To be honest, I think that delaying school start time can benefit teens around the world. They would be able to sleep more and be more efficient during school hours. After all, the hardest part of a day for a teen is waking up, especially early.

Starting High School One Hour Later May Reduce Teen Traffic Accidents

        Barbara Phillips, MD, director of the UK Healthcare Good Samaritan Sleep Center in Lexington, Ky., and others say that early school starts impair the students’ way of learning, attendance, and safety driving. That is why there was a study conducted in the entire county-wide school district in Kansas in the month of April on the years of 1998 and 1999. Students from 6^th to 12^th grade were involved. On year one (1998) students were asked to complete a questionnaire about their sleep habits. The school start time was not changed; it was kept the same, at 7:30am for high schools, and 8:00 am for middle schools. On year two (1999) students were also asked to complete questionnaires, but this time they had to complete one before and another one after the change in school start time. Schools started one hour later, 8:30 am for high schools and 9 am for middle schools. It was realized that the county crash rates were higher when the school start time was kept the same. On the other hand, when the school start time was delayed, the rate of automobile accidents amongst teens decreased. In my opinion, many accidents not only in cars occur because of the lack of sleep. This happens especially on teenagers who are still developing and need to sleep in order to function well. Delaying school start time would not only benefit teenagers on the road but drivers in general, especially in the mornings.

Delayed School Start Time Associated With Improvements in Adolescent Behaviors

              There was a study accomplished on 201 students from grades 9 – 12 from different high schools in Rhode Island by Judith A. Owens, M.D., M.P.H., of the Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence, and some of her colleagues. The school start time was delayed by 30 minutes. After this delay, students had to complete a survey about their sleep habits. Evidently, depressed moods, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, unhappiness, irritations and annoyances decreased. In contrast, motivation, class attendance, and satisfaction amongst the students increased. There were drastic changes on the students´ behaviors, and the Health Center clearly saw this. Certainly, I think that making teens sleep more will make their behaviors change in positive ways. There would be less grumpiness and more happiness. Schools around the world should consider delaying their school starting times, seriously.

WORKS CITED:

"Delayed Scool start."http://topnews.ae/images/Delayed-School-Timings.jpg . Nov. 3, 2010.

"Teens with good behavior." http://helpingpsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iStock_000009049430XSmall.jpg . Nov. 3, 2010

"Teen car accidents." http://www.inewscatcher.com/timages/2962a20bb740020d2cbab013710dc9e3.jpg  . Nov. 3, 2010.

The Teenage Brain

Teenagers think that adults do not understand their actions and thoughts. Parents do not comprehend that teenagers are going through a series of changes that makes their personality change or differ form that they had when being children. Once you are a teenager some parents forget that you are still developing. This is why there is a constant battle between parents and adolescents.

The transition to puberty is analogous to the transition to childhood. The teenage brain changes and thickens through adolescence still. The Frontal Lobe keeps developing, as well. That is why cells and connections used in the brain will flourish, while that those that are not used die. Unchallenged brain parts do not develop, making an individual loose those certain undeveloped abilities. The Prefrontal Cortex is in charge of planning behavior, solving problems, and controlling emotions. In teenagers this part of the brain is not fully developed. The skills in the frontal lobe are still developing. Furthermore, the cerebellum also continues to develop itself during the teen years. It is involved in both the intellectual and thinking processes of teens.

Unluckily, the most important decisions in life are taken during the teenage years. Adolescents are still not equipped to make these big decisions. Teenagers always engage themselves in risky behaviors (drugs and alcohol), not taking the responsible decisions they should.

Another thing is that the academic abilities are also developed throughout the teenage years. This is why teenagers should have proper sleeping hours. They should get from 9 hours of sleep. If they do not get enough sleep, then their abilities to learn, react and function diminish.

To conclude, I think that parents should be more comprehensive with their teens. Instead of fighting them, parents should be closer to their sons and daughters. They should be always there for them with no exception. Teenage years are filled with change and random emotions. Sometimes teens want someone to lean on that supports them in all of their actions and decisions. Another thing is that schools and teachers should understand that sleeping hours for developing teens are extremely vital. If teens do not get enough sleep because of homework excess, then there would be crucial effects on their brain development.

 

How Our Brains Work

The human brain has cerebral hemispheres. Those cerebral hemispheres are divided exactly through the middle of the brain into the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere.

The right and left sides of the brain are in charge of different functions. The right side is like an image processor, responsible for spatial skills, face identification, visual descriptions and music. It also deals with emotions, creativity, intuition, and trust. The right side deals with subconscious thought too. On the other hand, the left side is more logical since it deals with numbers and words. It makes human beings be more analytic and rational.

The corpus callosum is a thick band of fibers located between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere of the brain. It connects them and allows both sides to share information.

Paul Broca was a French neurologist, surgeon and anthropologist who discovered “Broca’s Area”. He observed and studied the brain of aphasic patients, which are people who cannot talk at all. It all started at the Bicetre Hospital with a patient named “Tan”. Broca performed surgeries on Tan´s brain in order to examine it well. Through these examinations Broca realized that Tan had a lesion in the left frontal lobe, or left inferior frontal gyrus. This part of the brain was soon considered the center of speech of the brain, and now a days “Broca´s Area”.  

Roger Sperry was a famous neuropsychologist and neurobiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine with his “split-brain” studies back in 1981.  Sperry studied patients who had a split brain with the corpus callosum cut off. He would put them in front of a screen. There were some objects behind the screen. The patient would look in the middle of the screen. Then a word would appear on the screen, in the left side of the patient´s visual field. The information had to be received by the non-verbal right hemisphere of the brain, making the patient not capable of telling what they saw. The patient was later asked to pick out an object from behind the screen with his left hand that corresponded with the word formerly flashed on the screen.  Since the right hemisphere controls all of the movements of the left side of the body, the patient´s left hand was able to pick up the corresponding object, even if the patient was oblivious that he or she saw the word on the screen. This study made Sperry comprehend that the left side of the brain controls reading and speech, when the right side can´t process verbal stimuli.

Carl Wernicke was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist that came up with “Wernicke´s Area”. He studied a patient that suffered a stroke. The man could speak, but had trouble with hearing since he hardly understood what was told to him. He was not able understand written words neither.  After the patient died, Carl examined his brain and noticed there was injury on the parietal region of the left hemisphere of the brain. Wernicke concluded that this part of the brain was involved in speech comprehension. He named this syndrome “Sensory Aphasia”, which nowadays is known as “Wernicke´s Aphasia”. The part of the brain affected in this syndrome is known as “Wernicke´s Area”.

The occipital lobe is responsible for vision.

The Temporal Lobe is responsible for hearing and language.

The Frontal Lobe is responsible for performing math calculations. It´s also responsible for judgment reasoning, and impulse control.

WORKS CITED:

Alic, Margaret. “Carl Wernicke.” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0006/ai_2699000652/ .  September 25, 2010.

“Corpus Callosum.” http://biology.about.com/library/organs/brain/blcorpus.htm . September 25, 2010.

Nick K. “How to grow a better brain.” http://library.thinkquest.org/J002391/functions.html . September 25, 2010.

 “One Brain... or Two.” http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html . September 25, 2010.

“Roger Sperry and Split Brain.” http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/roger-sperry-and-split-brain/ . September 25, 2010.

Teter, Theresa. “Pierre-Paul Broca.” http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/broca.htm . September 25, 2010.

 “The Difference Between Left And Right Thinking And Why It Matters.” http://www.virtual.co.nz/index.php/StrategicSnippets/TheDifferenceBetweenLeftAndRightBrainThinkingAndWhyItMatters  . September 25, 2010.

Phineas Gage and the Brain

Phineas Gage was a foreman who used to work on the railroad in Cavendish, Vermont. His job was very dangerous since it involved digging holes and putting dynamite inside of them. On September 13 of 1848, when only being twenty-five years old, Phineas suffered a terrible accident. When filling explosive powder into a hole with a tamping iron, the powder exploded. The tamping iron that had a length of 43 inches, a diameter of 1.25 inches, and a weight of 13 pounds  flew into the air at a high speed into Gage’s direction. It went through his left cheek, penetrating and ripping through his brain, and exiting through the top of his skull. This left a big hole inside of his skull. The front part of his brain (the frontal lobe) was gone. Even though Phineas lost brain and a lot of blood, he survived and kept his consciousness. 

Unluckily, Phineas was never the same back again. He did not become retarded, but he had a complete change of personality. Gage showed rude and aggressive traits. He became an antisocial person, without a good stable job. Still, Phineas got to live a kind of normal and healthy life for eleven years under this condition. At thirty-six he died after a series of seizures, probably caused by his brain damage.

Doctor John Martyn Harlow was the doctor who treated Gage over the years. He wrote and studied about Gage’s weird case. Through his writings, neurologists and scientists over the years have come up with theories about the brain. It has been discovered that the frontal lobe (front part of the brain) is important to control behavior and emotions. Damaging it alters personality and self control.

All of these new ideas lead to the study of “Brain Localization”. This concept of brain localization states that the different parts of the human brain perform different functions. Every spot of the brain is responsible for who you are as a person, your movements, vision, speech, auditory, and other tasks.

There was also another concept developed called “Brain Lateralization”. The brain is composed of two halves. Brain lateralization states that the two halves of the human brain are not similar in any ways. Each half has a specific functional specialization. The left part of the brain is in charge of language comprehension amongst other functions such as logic, analytic thought, science and math, etc. The right part of the brain is in charge of creativity and other vital functions like holistic thought, intuition, art and music, etc. At the end, Phineas Gage´s case lead to many neurological discoveries.

WORKS CITED:

Twomey, Steve. “Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous patient.”  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html  . September 21, 2010.

“The Incredible Case of Phineas Gage.” http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/04/the-incredible-case-of-phineas-gage/ . September 21, 2010.

“What does Handedness Have to do with Brain Lateralization?” http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/brain.html . September 21, 2010.

"Neurons, Hormons, and the Brain." http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/brain/loclat.htm . September 21, 2010.

The Real Cause of Criminal Behavior

              Is criminal behavior a product of nature or nurture? Psychologists have always been wondering about this. Criminal behavior involves all of those actions that infringe both religious and moral standards and beliefs. This kind of behavior brings its consequences. It is supposed to be punishable by law. The penalties are a life in prison or even worse, death. To be frank, I think that criminal behavior is an effect from the surrounding environment. People are not born with it. They gain it throughout their lives, especially during their childhood years. There are many that undergo a lot of pain, abuse, and sorrow when being kids. Not everyone has the strength or might to stand these things physically or mentally. This is why small innocent children who experience these kinds of tragedies end up committing severe crimes.

              Certainly, there is proof that people are sometimes born as criminals in some cases. Many psychological problems such as personality traits and disorders can be inherited from one generation to another. This includes criminal behavior. Many researchers throughout the early twentieth century believed that genes were the ones to blame for the existence of criminals in society. Twin, family, and adoption studies have come to this conclusion, too. Supposedly, criminality can be heritable for up to a 54%. Many identical twins have proven to share the same levels of criminality in their genes. Having biological criminal parents increases the chances of being a criminal, as well. For sure, criminal behavior can come within the genes of a person.

              On the other hand, others become criminals throughout their lives because of their surroundings. According to many researchers, family and peers are some environmental causes for criminal behavior. The Family environment is what shapes the conduct of people. There are many who are not fortunate of having a normal caring family. There is a 50% possibility that children can become criminals if they are abused. Criminality can also be the result of weak relationships and communication within a family. Poverty and education are some other factors that influence the development of children throughout the years. If a child sees aggressive or violent behavior between parents or siblings, he or she will demonstrate this kind of behavior when growing up. Peers can also influence the way a child acts. If a child demonstrates aggressive behavior towards his or her peers, there is a great possibility that he or she will be left out of the group, as an outcast. This same antisocial criminal behavior will arise from the child as an adult. It is all about the environment an individual lives in.

            At the end, criminal behavior is caused by both the genes and the environment. An individual’s personality and its surroundings can get to influence how an individual acts. Some people are born with criminal genes within themselves. Others live in an instable environment full of negative factors such as violence and poverty. Still, there can be the chance of avoiding this. People can be treated or given a better life. In conclusion, criminal behavior is a challenge to live with in society nowadays.

WORKS CITED:


Jones, Caitlin M. “Genetic and Environmental Influences on Criminal Behavior.” http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html . September 9, 2010.

“Forensic & Criminal Psychology.” http://www.psychologycampus.com/forensic-criminal/  . September 9, 2010.