Compares and Contrasts Skinner, Watson and Tolman

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Hi,

One approach to help you with a paper like this one is to look at the three theorists, which you can then use to make your comparisons. I also pointed out the obvious contrasts and similarities. I also attached one supporting article to consider for Skinner.

Response:

B.F. Skinner's name is associated with conditioning experiments on rats and pigeons in 'Skinner boxes', and J.B. Watson's name with the induction of phobias into an infant child known as 'Little Albert' (see: the Little Albert experiment at Wikipedia). The approach of modern psychology throws out any and all concept of consciousness, awareness, thought, will, etc., because to the behavioral psychologist none of these things can be observed by a second party. http://www.sntp.net/behaviorism.htm

I. John B. Watson (1878-1958)

John B. Watson was an important contributor to classical behaviorism, who paved the way for B. F. Skinner's radical or operant behaviorism, which has had a major impact on American educational systems. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2543/Watson-John-B-1878-1958.html

He also conducted the controversial "Little Albert" experiment. Later he went on from psychology to become a popular author on child rearing, and an acclaimed contributor to the advertising industry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson

In response to introspection, Watson and other early behaviorists believed that controlled laboratory studies were the most effective way to study learning. With this approach, manipulation of the learner's environment was the key to fostering development. This approach stands in contrast to techniques that placed the emphasis for learning in the mind of the learner.

To a behaviorist like Watson, manipulation of the environment is the critical mechanism for learning (e.g., the Little Albert study). To illustrate this point, Watson wrote in 1930, "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-doctor, lawyer, artist-regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors" (p. 104). This quote routinely appears in introductory texts in education and psychology and is used to illustrate the radical environmental views of behaviorists. http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2543/Watson-John-B-1878-1958.

Early behaviorists, including Watson, accented the role of environment. With his behaviorism, Watson put the emphasis on external behaviour of people and their reactions on given situations, rather than the internal, mental state of those people. This contrasts with Tolman, who focused on thoughts and cognation. In Watson's opinion, the analysis of behaviours and reactions was the only objective method to get insight in the human actions. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/John_B._Watson

In other words, Watson's four theoretical assumptions involved behavioral radicalism, including:

? Evolutionary Continuism assumed that laws of behavior applied to both humans and animals. Because of this we can study animals as simple models of complex human responses.
? Reductionism assumed that all behaviors can be linked to physiology. This means that we are biological organisms responding to outside influences.
? Determinism assumed that we don't act freely but rather we respond in a programmed way to outside stimuli.
? Empiricism assumes that psychology should involve the study of observable (overt)behavior and not introspection or self analysis (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/views.htm).
The clearly stated goal of the behaviorist is to control human behavior. http://www.sntp.net/behaviorism.htm

Watson's Theory: Classical Conditioning

Watson states that behaviorism is the scientific study of human behavior. It is simply the study of what people do. Behaviorism is intended to take psychology up to the same level as other sciences. The first task is to observe behavior and make predictions, then to take determine causal relationships.

According to Watson, behavior can be reduced to relationships between stimuli and responses, the S --- R Model. A stimulus can be shown to cause a response or a response can be traced back to a stimulus. All behavior can be reduced to this basic component. According to Watson, "life's most complicated acts are but combinations of these simple stimulus- response patterns of behavior." http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/watson.htm).

Conditioning is the process of learning to react to the environment. Many behaviors have been previously conditioned in the human species by the environment. To gain control of a subject of study the behaviorist must know difference between what behaviors have been preconditioned and what was inherited from past generations. Gardner ...