PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

1ST LECTURE – DEFINITION AND NATURE OF ORIGIN, NATURE, AND MEANING OF COGNITIVE
LEARNING: PSYCHOLOGY:

Apruebo (2009) defined learning as “relatively permanent • ‘Cognitive’ comes from the Latin verb ‘cognoscere’
change” in behavior as a result of practice;
which means ‘knowing’ and ‘information’
• Learning is a result of conditioning • Evolved from ‘Cognitivism’
• ‘Change’ is an important factor in behavior as it • Cognitive Psychology as modern approach considers
facilitates learning and development; “no one is mental processing such as:
permanent except change”  Memory
o Change may be relatively good or bad in the  Learning
individual;  Comprehension
o Behavior change may be due to maturation  Problem Solving
(natural growth process – characteristics &  Creativity
development of behavior) rather than • It has been evolved from developments of the ff:
practice or to temporary states of organism; (Hayes, 1978)
o However, other individuals have high  Philosophy – study of man
resistance to change  Psychology
o Behavior modification and/or conditioning  Language
therefore, an intervention necessary to  Computer Science
reshape from negative to positive of one’s  Information Technology
attitude and behavior; • Information processing psychology – derived in
• Conversely, Feldman explained that ‘relatively’ portion from earlier traditions of investigation of
word is critical in definition of learning as some thought/mental process and problem solving
behavior modification are NOT retained (failure to
qualify as example of learning)
Perhaps, behaviorists considered existence of thinking,
HOWEVER recognized it only as a behavior.
JOHN B. WATSON (1878-1958) – Behaviorism:
→ Behavior in terms of observable events (overt)
Cognitivists claimed that the way people think impacted
on their behavior are therefore CANNOT be a behavior in
• Learning affects behavior or is a change in
its context (Lilienfield, et al, 2010)
behavior
• Learning involves association between stimulus
and response and individuals’ response Meaning of Cognitive Psychology:
• Conditioning – involves forming associations;
learning that certain events go together • Branch of psychology that focuses on mental/internal
• Habituation – simplest kind of learning state (human mental processes) and their role in
o Stimulus is discarded that has become thinking, feeling, and behaving
familiar and has no serious consequences • Specifically concerns the ff areas:
 e.g., learning to ignore noise of motor  Consciousness
vehicle at night time  Perception
 Memory
NOTE: Research on learning has been greatly influenced  Thinking
by behaviorism.  Learning
 Intelligence
EMERGING BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY AND
 Acquisition of knowledge and expertise
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY:
 Comprehension and production of language
→ The emergence of Behavioral psychology evolved  Problem-solving
from Behaviorism.  Decision-making
 Reasoning
BEHAVIORAL COGNITIVE  Creativity
PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY
Deals with theories of Experimental method – highly employed and conducted
Deals with active mental (by cognitive psychologists) the investigation under
learning; all behaviors are
processing of laboratory conditions to arrive at conclusion about
acquired through
information behaviors and mental processes
conditioning

We synthesize, analyze,
Behavioral techniques are
interpret, and form
employed for counseling,
concepts/ideas resulting
therapy, education, etc.
learning

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 1
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

o Information Approach to Cognitive Psychology 1. Similarity of Things

(Kellogg, 2007) 2. Contiguity or Togetherness
→ Mathematical models and computer 3. Opposites or Contrast
simulations are included as human minds
are portrayed as the first processor of 2. PLATO (427-347 B.C.)
information; • Develop the concept of ‘Similarity and Contiguity’
→ By which mind calculates solutions to
problems similar to software of computers PLATO AND ARISTOTLE:
→ Introduced the concept of ‘Dualism’ = two
concepts: “Mind and Matter”
BEHAVIORISM/BEHAVIORAL COGNITIVISM/COGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY Plato: mind and matter (interconnected)
→ Cognitivists posited that • Mind brings ideas which revealed by reasons
while environment is
o mind constitutes the term reflection
important to learning,
there is MORE involved • Matter brings things which revealed by senses
→ Behaviorists viewed that o matter constitutes the five senses
than simply inputs and
organisms learns only as a
outputs
result of reaction (output) to For Plato, essences or truths that went beyond mere
→ Viewed that mind is
one’s environment (input) appearance of things:
also involved in
synthesizing and o Corresponded to forms that existed independently
analyzing information of nature and could only be arrived at by ignoring
and formulating ideas
sensory experience and turning one’s thoughts
→ Cognitivists were
inward (introspection)
→ Behaviorists impacted on accounted for human
observable behavior and mind and complex
response of humans to processes of the mind Aristotle: Theory of Hylemorphism
environmental stimuli (thinking, problem-
solving, memory) • Matter – thing (body) or a substance
• Form – analyzes substance into form (soul)

IMPORTANT POINTS: NOTE: substances are conceived of as forms inhering

• Behaviorism deals with all behaviors that are in matter
acquired through conditioning
For Aristotle, essences existed but could become
• Cognitivism emphasizes active mental or thought
known only by studying nature.
processing of information
• Individuals are actively involved in learning process
INFLUENCE OF PHILOSOPHY IN LEARNING:
→ Part of learning process involves organizing new
information
Rationalism and Empiricism – two major
• Learning occurs when individuals relate new separate viewpoints as basic ground rules of ‘ideas’
information to schemata (structures of information) and/or ‘theory of knowledge’
already stored in the brain

PRINCIPLES OF ASSOCIATION: EMPIRICISM

→ Knowledge by careful observation and
(Concept Evolution of Learning and Cognition) could come from sensory experience
→ The following empiricists are:
1. ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.)
 Thomas Hobbes
• Father of Associationism;
 John Locke
• It is a principle that the mind is organized, at least in
 George Berkely
element, from simple idea to complex ideas (principle
 David Hume
of association)
 David Hartley
• Thinking and reasoning is the highest human  Thomas Reid
function  Thomas Brown
• Aristotle arrived at three laws of remembering (now  James Mill & John Stuart Mill
called laws of association):  Alexander Bain
(Lundin, 1996) (see next column)

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 2
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

RATIONALISM Locke’s notion of reflection:

→ To explain higher mental processes (thinking and
→ Knowledge via logic and careful reasoning reasoning) including:
→ The following rationalists are:  Perception
 Francis Bacon  Thinking
 Galileo Galilei  Doubting
 Johannes Kepler  Believing
 Isaac Newton  Reasoning
 Baruch Spinoza  Willing
 Rene Descartes  Knowing

EMPIRICISM RATIONALISM → These experiences came together via association

to form complex ideas
Rational knowledge and/or
Empirical → The mind’s ability to reflect on itself or
psychology denote the
knowledge/psychology is data introspection (thinking)
interpretation of the data of
of mind that resulted in → The source of all ideas is sensation and could be
empirical psychology through use
observation
of reason and logic acted on and rearranged by operations of the
‘Empiricists’ share the view that In philosophy, ‘Rationalists’ share mind (giving rise to new ideas)
there’s NO such things as view that there is innate knowledge.
innate knowledge.
 Plato is rationalist as he
→ Instead, knowledge is thinks that man has innate John Locke formulated the ‘Theory of Knowledge’
derived from experience knowledge of the forms (How human mind comes to know the world);
(either sensed via the five Forms:
senses or reasoned via - Mathematical objects and - Reflection is cognition (knowing and reasoning –
the brain or mind) concepts (triangles, higher mental processes) which EMERGED
equality, largeness) TODAY AS COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
→ Locke, Berkeley, and - Moral concepts
Hume are empiricists (goodness, beauty, virtue,
(though they have piety) SUMMARY:
different views about • Harnish (2002)
metaphysics)  Descartes thinks that idea
of God, perfection and
 John Locke’s concept of infinity, and knowledge of Sensation +
tabula rasa ‘blank state’ one – thinks that logical = SIMPLE IDEAS
Reflection
principles are innate.
 George Berkeley
proposed that only  Noam Chomsky thinks Mental operations
perceptions exists “to be own existence is innate (recognizing similarities &
is to be perceived” distances or abstracting)
 Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-
 David Hume argued that 1716) thinks that ability to
causality arise not from use language (e.g., COMPLEX IDEAS
reason, but from habit language rules) is innate
and custom (Sternberg, 2006) • Locke emphasized that our understanding of the
world is rooted in sensory experience, laying
the groundwork for later empirical thought.
o Sensation is primary source of all
JOHN LOCKE – first empiricists and associationist
knowledge
• Introduce the notion of association of ideas
o Mind could reflect upon itself through
• There are NO innate ideas reflection or introspection (thinking)
• Tabula Rasa/Blank State – mind is blank blanket • The Laws of Associations are considered the
• All knowledge came from experience utmost importance in contemporary learning,
• Believed that ‘mental content’ (ideas) are derived memory, and cognitive theories in psychology.
through external (sensation), or internal experiences
(reflection) – on the operation of the minds itself

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 3
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

PRINCIPLE OF ASSOCIATION: o Results in creating chains of thoughts or ideas

leading to complex ideas – association of
1. Law of Contiguity ideas
2. Law of Similarities
3. Law of Contrast 2. George Berkeley (1655-1753)

1.) LAW OF CONTIGUITY (continuous) → An Irish Bishop, applied associationist principles to

→ Things and events that occur close to each visual depth perception;
other in space and time tend to get linked o Capacity to see things in three dimensions
together in the mind is the result of learning (not innate
ability)
→ e.g., table and chair
→ Esse est percepi = “Being is perceiving”
2.) LAW OF SIMILARITY → What man perceived were his experiences (only
→ When a person thinks of something, he tends him knows it), but the matter is where those
to think of things similar experiences came from?
o Person thought that they had to come
→ e.g., orange and orange color
from somewhere, and GOD seemed to be
3.) LAW OF CONTRAST the answer
→ Opposite things, persons, events… 3. David Hume (1711-1776)
→ e.g., summer & rainy season, light & dark, day
& night, cold & hot → All experiences have NO substantial reality
behind them
ASSOCIATIONISM: → He developed three (3) natural laws:
1. Law of resemblance (i.e. similarity)
(Singh, 1999)
2. Law of contiguity (closeness; contiguity in
time)
ANTECEDENT OLD MODERN
3. Law of cause and effect (causality)
INFLUENCES ASSOCIATIONISM ASSOCIATIONISM
Herman 4. David Hartley (1705-1757)
Artistotle David Hartley
Ebbinghaus
(384-322 B.C.) (1705-1757)
(1850-1909) → British physician, also dealt with biological
Thomas
Thomas Brown Ivan P. Pavlov implications of Associationism;
Hobbes
(1778-1836) (1849-1936) → Developed ‘neurophysiological theory’ about
(1588-1679)
Vladimir M. transmission of ideas and also had described
John Locke James Mill physical activity in terms of association (a concept
Bekhterev
(1632-1704) (1773-1836) that anticipated principles of conditioning)
(1857-1927)
George Edward L. → Developed ‘comprehensive theory’ of
John S. Mill
Berkeley Thorndike Associationism encompassing memory,
(1806-1873)
(1685-1753) (1874-1949) imagination, dreams, and morality
David Hume Alexander Bain Edwin R. Guthrie
(1711-1776) (1818-1903) (1886-1959) 5. James Mill (1773-1836)
Herbert Spencer William K. Estes → Idea = simple minded Associationism
(1820-1903) (1919) = image
Primary State of Consciousness:
→ Mind = made up of sensation and ideas
OLD ASSOCIATIONISM / CLASSICAL OR PIONEERS OF
o Ideas were derived from sensations
ASSOCIATION:
→ Perception = process whereby number of
1. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) sensory bits were put together
→ Thoughts and emotions are caused by motion → For Mill, there was only ONE law of association
due to external stimuli – contiguity; which worked in two (2) ways that
→ Proclaimed that motion in the brain creates associations could occur successively and
thoughts; simultaneously
o These thoughts get accumulated and
get connected;

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 4
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

6. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) 9. William James (1842-1910)

→ Proposed ‘mechanistic theory’ linking ideas → Forerunner of ‘Functionalism’

together in compounds, especially through principle → View of an associationist is that each experience that
of contiguity one has leads to another = chain of events
→ His defining metaphor for association of ideas → Does NOT tie together two (2) ideas, but rather
(mental chemistry – new entity was not equivalent to physical objects
the sum of its parts) differed from his father in → Thoughts are formed by complex ideas (from
claiming that mind played an active rather than small physical changes that occur in the brains)
passive role in forming associations working together = new experiences
o Agreed with his father on contiguity, but → Referred to Associationism as “psychology
added similarity and intensity without a soul”
→ Suggested that a whole idea may amount to more o There is nothing from within creating
than the sum of its parts (Gestalt school) ideas; they just arise by associating
objects with one another (Harnish, 2002)
7. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
→ For the purposes of cognitive psychology, James’
→ Proposed ‘Evolutionary Associationism’ conception of mental life or thinking enumerated
o Associations made repeatedly are central features as followed:
passed along through heredity (repeated 1. It is conscious
experience affect genetic material) 2. It is introspectable
→ Antedated (forecast) Charles Darwin having started 3. It is private
writing about evolution in 1850 4. It ‘flows like a stream’
→ Spencer’s theory states that everything in the 5. It is about something ‘intentional’
beginning of the universe was related to 6. It is evolutionary
everything else in an expanding totality
→ Any kind of development (whether it referred to living James’ Taxonomy of the Succession of Thought
or nonliving matter) involved ‘process of
differentiation’ (Martinez, 2010):
o Emergence of recognizable and distinct
parts SPONTANEOUS
VOLUNTARY THOUGHT
THOUGHT
o As man evolved, his nervous system
became more complex – possibility of
1. Total (impartial) 1. Recalling a thing
being able to comprehend more complex
association forgotten
experiences on mental side
o Principle of association – complex types 2. Partial (mixed)
of experiences could be integrated association:
- Habit
8. Alexander Bain (1818-1903) 2. Means-end
- Recency
reasoning
→ Major proponent and advocate of the British school - Vividness
of empiricism - Emotional
→ Knowledge is based on sensory experience and Congruity
NOT on introspection
→ Proposed that all knowledge and mental 3. Generalization to
3. Similar Association
processes had to be based not only on all Problem Solving
spontaneous (occurring in natural way) thought and
ideas, but on ACTUAL physical sensations
→ Sensation = Perception
→ Like Hartley, Bain explained solution to the mind
body problem was a ‘parallelism’
o Link between mind and body, focusing on
physiological correlations between
mental and behavioral phenomena
o Added ‘organic sense’ (human senses)
involved in hunger, thirst, or other internal
conditions

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 5
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

MODERN ASSOCIATION: 4. Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949)

→ Worked on animal learning
The end of Old Associationism or Classical Associationism
→ Develop the most organized theories of learning
(due to some factors) raised many explanations in figure
o Highly systematic theory of Associationism
below:
→ His famous work ‘connectionism’ is a learning
theory
o Bonds between stimulus and response
There was a set of related factors
takes the form of neural connections
that led eventually to behaviorism
→ Formulated four (4) laws of learning:
and stimulus-response psychology
1. Readiness
2. Exercise
3. Repetition or trial and error
FACTORS
4. Effect

There was There were Hartley and 5. John Broadus Watson (1878-1958)
bankruptcy of the James’ systematic appeals to → ‘Father of Behaviorism’
introspective neural level of explanation for o First American psychologist to apply
methodology itself psychological phenomena Pavlov’s ideas on reflex conditioning
→ Work was similar with Pavlov and Thorndike
o Watson was originally involved in animal
research; specifically to behavior of birds
1. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) and rats in his laboratory and learning
→ After the establishment of Wundt’s (1st experiments
psychological) laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, o Studied man’s learning behavior in terms of
psychology was becoming a science stimulus and response (S-R) pattern,
→ He mainly studied sensations and feelings using habit formation, and habit integration
experimental methods
→ Focused also on learning, memory, thinking and 6. Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev (1857-1927)
perception – lead to the development of the → Work on ‘associated reflex’ and ‘human
principles and theories on animal/human reflexology’ = conditioned reflex to men and
learning and cognitive psychology today animals
2. Herman Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) → Aside from studying salivations and digestive
→ Work on the association of stimulus and response secretions, he focused on motor responses
in learning nonsense syllables; → Maintained notion of psychology based on
o Nonsense syllables: flashcards with physiology, but rejected subjective approach
three (3) letter consonants with seven (7) to psychology (by Wundt and other structuralists);
vowels (remembering) o His idea became forerunner of behaviorism
o One of the first laboratory applications as he rejected subjective or mentalistic
of associationist principles; explanations
o One of the first steps in creation of o He believed that thinking, learning, and
experimental psychology (investigating) motivation could be reduced to mechanistic
related to learning, memory, and thought functions
3. Ivan P. Pavlov (1849-1936) → A contemporary but a rival of Pavlov
→ Work on neural and glandular bases of o Physiological and psychological process
digestion in dog’s experiment, which won the involves same neural energy and;
Nobel Prize in 1904 o The observable reflexes (inherited or
→ Like Ebbinghaus, Pavlov used Associationism in acquired) are governed by lawful relations
his laboratory experiment on conditioned with internal and external stimulation
reflex;
o Associative Conditioning (Learning): 7. Edwin Ray Guthrie (1886-1959)
he developed a device that he implanted → Work on simple law of learning (associative
in the cheek of his dog subject, which contiguity), now known as ‘Guthrie Contiguity
collected saliva as a measure of digestive Theory’
processes under investigation → Viewed behavior in terms of movement rather
than a response; (see next page)

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 6
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

o Movements that are components of larger response GLOSSARY:

units, or behavioral acts
o Stimulus produced movements, and those in turn 1. Habit – most frequent in past experience where
produced other stimuli – in turn produced other frequency certainly affect determinants of revival
movement that filled in gaps (Lundin, 1996) e.g.,
 if by habit an ornithologist (experts on
birds), will think of a bird
Guthrie stated that when a combination of stimulus element is  if by habit a veterinarian, will think of
accompanied by movement, the movement sequence will different animals
occur (response/behavior will be repeated once experienced it 2. Recency – thoughts then awaken the most recent
again) as the most habitual associates
e.g.,
 upon hearing of the word suicide, now
8. William K. Estes remind it as death
→ Work on ‘Stimulus Sampling Theory’ 3. Vividness – original experience carries due to
→ Learning is viewed as a statistical process clarity of things related to it;
involving selection of stimulus elements – wildest o these original experiences may also have
application of PROBABILITY FUNCTIONS to predict same effect as habit or recency in bringing
behavior that has been proposed likelihood of revival
→ In defining learning problem = strategy of empirically
based assumptions which probability of responses e.g.,
forms basis of predictive learning
if one sees a word of tooth, he will
→ Basically, we learn through samples (e.g., research)
awaken any image – it will be an
operation of dentistry where he has
SUMMARY: been suffered
4. Emotional congruity – tracing event is congruity
Aristotle – association of ideas are caused due to similarity, in emotional tone between reproduced idea and
contiguity, and contrast mood
e.g.,
Thomas Hobbes – knowledge can be acquired by
 same objects do not recall same
observation through the sense organs; rejecting introspection
associates when one is cheerful as
and agreed with Aristotle's empiricism as source of acquiring
when one is sad
knowledge

George Berkeley – perception of depth and distance or third

dimension by means of association

Habit Formation by John B. Watson - hypothesized that our

behaviors become habits through repeated association of
stimulus and response pairs, reinforced by a reward

One Trial Learning (Guthrie time) - when a particular

stimulus-response (SR) connection occurred, it will remain in
organism's (storage) unless some succeeding event occurred
to destroy or replace it

Learning (Guthrie time) – a pattern or chain of discrete

movements elicited by both environmental and internal
stimulus cues (Brennan, 1998)

William James – surveys four (4) principles of ‘interest’ for

determining revival of thought: habit, recency, vividness,
emotional congruity

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 7
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

2ND LECTURE – STIMULUS-RESPONSE THEORY 4. Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – stimulus that will elicit
a predictable response as of its previous pairing with
STIMULUS-RESPONSE THEORY: previously occurring reflex
• A psychological concept that explains behavior as a 5. Conditioned Response (CR) – predictable response
direct reaction to stimuli to stimulus that has an influence as of its previous
• Emphasizes connection between environmental pairing with previously occurring reflex
stimuli and behavioral responses Elements of Classical Conditioning:
Stimulus – any event, situation, or object that triggers a 1. Higher-Order Conditioning
response
1ST PHASE – neutral stimulus becomes conditioned
Response – behavior or action that follows the stimulus stimulus that elicits the response originally evoked by
the unconditioned stimulus
e.g., sunlight & blinking

STIMULUS-RESPONSE PROCESS: 2ND PHASE – another neutral stimulus is paired with

previously established conditioned stimulus, so that it
→ Behavior is seen as a predictable response to specific also acquires capacity to elicit response originally
stimuli evoked by the unconditioned stimulus
→ Repeated exposure to certain stimuli can lead to
consistent responses
 e.g., traffic light and pedestrian behavior

THEORIES:

 Ivan Pavlov – Classical Conditioning

 John Broadus Watson – Behaviorism
 Edward Lee Thorndike – Connectionism

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:

• Learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a

tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food)
that naturally produces a behavior;
• After the association is learned… previously neutral
stimulus is sufficient to produce the behaviour
2. Second-Order Conditioning
IVAN PAVLOV • Process in which a conditioned stimulus acts like an
unconditioned stimulus, creating conditioned
• Focused on theology stimuli out of events associated with it
• Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of the Species’
• Physiology and natural sciences 3. Acquisition
• Initial stage of learning, when a response is first
Beginning of Classical Conditioning Theory:
established and gradually strengthened
• Pavlov helped found the Department of Physiology at • During acquisition phase of classical conditioning,
Institute of Experimental Medicine a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an
• Classical Conditioning was created by accident – unconditioned stimulus
Pavlov was researching dogs’ digestion when he
noticed that the dogs’ physical reactions to food 4. Internal Inhibition
subtly changed over time • Conditioned response will NOT be elicited if the
conditioned stimulus is NOT simultaneously
Variables of Classical Conditioning: occurring with the presentation of food during
1. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) – stimulus without conditioning process
conditioning will elicit a predictable response
2. Unconditioned Response (UCR) – response without 5. External Inhibition
conditioning will result predictably from the • The observed decrease of response of a
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) conditioned reaction when an external (distracting)
3. Neutral Stimulus (NS); also called ‘Orienting stimulus that was NOT part of original conditioned
Stimulus’ – stimulus that does not elicit the UCR response set is introduced

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 8
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

6. Stimulus Generalization 2. Radical Behaviorism

• Giving conditioned response to stimuli similar to • Rooted in theory that behavior can be understood
conditioned stimulus by looking at one’s past and present environment
 white rat (fear) & all white objects and the reinforcements within it, thereby
(generalizing to these) influencing behavior either positively or negatively
• Approach created by psychologist B.F. Skinner
7. Extinction
• Gradual disappearance of the conditioned response Little Albert Experiment:
(CR) when conditioned stimulus is repeatedly → When Little Albert was 9 months old, Watson and
presented without being paired with unconditioned Rayner exposed him to series of stimuli, including
stimulus (UCS) white rat, rabbit, monkey, masks, and burning
newspapers, and observed the boy’s reactions.
8. Spontaneous Recovery → After conditioning, Albert feared not just the white
• Reappearance after a period of time of a conditioned rat, but a wide variety of similar white objects as
response that has been subjected to extinction well;
o His fear included other furry objects,
9. Discrimination (opposite of Stimulus Generalization) including Raynor’s fur coat and Watson
• Response to conditioned stimulus but NOT to stimuli wearing a Santa Claus beard
that are similar to the CS
 dog will respond only to whistle (of owner)
and not to other tones – dog was taught by
trainer to discriminate between different
sounds

BEHAVIORISM:

• A psychological approach that focuses on studying

observable behavior rather than internal mental
processes
• Founded by John B. Watson in 1913
• Emphasizes importance of understanding the
influence of environment on individuals’ actions

WATSON

• Born January 9, 1876 on a farm near Greenville,

South Carolina
• Died on September 25, 1958 at New York, New York
• Began studying psychology at University of Chicago,
earning his Ph.D. in psychology in 1903
• 1908 – became professor of psychology at Johns
Hopkins University, where he stayed until 1920 CONNECTIONISM:
• 1913 – gave a seminal lecture at Columbia University
titled “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” • Theory of learning that emphasizes associations
• 1915 – elected president of American Psychological between stimuli and responses
Association (APA) • Thorndike believed that a neural bond would be
• According to Watson, Psychology should be the established between stimulus and response when the
science of observable behavior (overt) response is positive

Types of Behaviorism: THORNDIKE

1. Methodological Behaviorism • Born on August 31, 1874, in Williamsburg,

• States that observable behavior should be studied Massachusetts, U.S.
scientifically and that mental states and cognitive • Died on August 09, 1949, Montrose, New York
processes DO NOT add to the understanding of • Second son of Edward Robert Thorndike and Abigail
behavior Brewster Ladd
• Aligns with Watson’s ideologies and approach

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 9
 PSYCH314 – COGNITIVE PSYCH (T|F 10:30a-12:00p)

• Graduated from Wesleyan University in 1895

• Studied animal behavior with William James at Harvard
University
• Also studied with James McKeen Cattell at Columbia
University, where he received his Ph.D
• 1898 – awarded for his doctorate thesis “Animal
Intelligence: An Experimental Study of Association
Processes in Animals”

Comparative Psychology:

• The scientific study of the behavior and mental

processes of non-human animals
• Researchers in this field examine how behavior relates
to phylogenetic history, adaptive significance and
development
• Thorndike conducted research, studying animal
behavior and learning processes
• Laid foundation for “Theory of Connectionism” which
contributed to development of OPERANT
CONDITIONING within behaviorism

Thorndike Experiment: The Puzzle Box

• Thorndike used a specially designed box, known as

“puzzle box,” to study how animals learn
• He placed a hungry cat inside the box, which could
only be opened by performing a specific action;
o Pulling string or pressing a lever
o Outside the box, he placed food as a reward

Law of Connectionism:

1st Law of Connectionism – LAW OF READINESS

• An accessory principle that characterizes the condition

under which is satisfaction or annoyance
(Frustration)
o Satisfaction = more response (there’s learning)
o Frustration = less response (no learning)
• Put together what should go together and keep apart
what should not go together
• Reward desirable connections and make undesirable
connections produce discomfort

2nd Law of Connectionism – LAW OF EXERCISE

• The more stimulus-response bond is practiced, the

stronger it will occur

3rd Law of Connectionism – LAW OF REPETITION or “Trial

and Error”

4th Law of Connectionism – LAW OF EFFECT or

“Motivation and Reward”

• A connection between stimulus and response

o Positively rewarded = strengthened (stamping in)
o Negatively rewarded = weakened (stamping out)

1st-2nd Lecture (Reviewer by Carlos) (Reference: Book, PPT, Website, & Discussion Notes) 10