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Theoretical behaviorism

Theoretical behaviorism is a framework for psychology proposed by J. E. R. Staddon as an extension of experimental psychologist B. F. Skinner's radical behaviorism.[1][2] It originated at Harvard in the early 1960s.[3]

In the late 1980s, R. H. Ettinger and Staddon critiqued functional analysis.[4][5]

Application of selection and variation to behaviorism

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In the early 1950s, B. F. Skinner and others began to point out the similarities between the learning process and evolution through variation and selection.[6][7][8] More recently, models explicitly analogous to gene mutation and selection by reinforcement have been applied to operant conditioning phenomena.[9][10] Skinner’s idea of "emitted behavior" is an example of a parallel between evolution and behaviorism: once a behavior varies, a variant that results in reward is strengthened and therefore increases in frequency.[11] When a reward is taken away or when selection is relaxed, there is an increase in variability in both natural selection and selection by reinforcement schedule.[12]

Skinner said little about the causes and types of behavior variation, believing it to be random.[13] On the other hand, Zener, Liddell and others[14][15] argue that the variation in behaviors that psychological reinforcement acts on is not random. For example, it is different for food than for sex or a social reward. The ethologist Lorenz first identified the dog’s behavior as a particular instinctive pattern, similar to a repertoire.[16]

Repertoire of possible behaviors

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A "repertoire" of behaviors involves potential behaviors that may occur under certain conditions, such as if the currently active behavior is unrewarded. The observed repertoire in a particular animal depends on the reward size and nature of the stimulus: anticipation of food will lead to a different repertoire than anticipation of electric shock.[17]

In addition to the active behavior, a repertoire includes latent possible activities. This idea of a latent response was first suggested by B.F. Skinner:

"Our basic datum…is the probability that a response will be emitted…We recognize …that … every response may be conceived of as having at any moment an assignable probability of emission... A latent response with a certain probability of emission is not directly observed. It is a scientific construct. But it can be given a respectable status, and it enormously increases our analytical power…. It is assumed that the strength of a response must reach a certain value before the response will be emitted. This value is called the threshold."[18]

Within theoretical behaviorism, the "threshold" is instead competition from other possible responses.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ Staddon, J. E. R. (1975). Learning as adaptation. In W. K. Estes (Ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes (Vol. 2, pp. 37-98). New York: Erlbaum.
  2. ^ Staddon, John (2014) The New Behaviorism (2nd edition) Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
  3. ^ Staddon, J. The Englishman: memoirs of a psychobiologist University of Buckingham Press, 2016.
  4. ^ Ettinger, R. H., Reid. A. K., & Staddon, J. E. R. (1987) Sensitivity to molar feedback functions: A test of molar optimality theory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 13, 366-375.
  5. ^ Staddon, J. E. R. (2007) Is animal learning optimal? In A. Bejan & G. W. Merkx (Eds.) Constructal theory of social dynamics. Springer Verlag, pp. 161-167.
  6. ^ Pringle, J. W. S. (1951). On the parallel between learning and evolution. Behaviour, 3, 174-215.
  7. ^ Russell, W. M. S. (1961) Evolutionary concepts in behavioral science: III. The evolution of behavior in the individual animal, and the principle of combinatorial selection. General Systems, 6, 51-92.
  8. ^ Skinner, B. F. The phylogeny and ontogeny of behavior. Science, 1966, 153, 1205-1213
  9. ^ McDowell, J. J. (2013). A quantitative evolutionary theory of adaptive behavior dynamics. Psychological Review, Vol. 120, No. 4, 731–750.
  10. ^ Edelman, G. Neural Darwinism https://www.webofstories.com/play/gerald.edelman/37;jsessionid=4B59A75EAF082B9FF369CB6D98C19671
  11. ^ Simen, Patrick; Cohen, Jonathan D. (24 November 2009). "Explicit melioration by a neural diffusion model". Brain Research. 1299: 95–117. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2009.07.017. ISSN 0006-8993. PMC 2763966. PMID 19646968.
  12. ^ Staddon & Simmelhag (1971). pp. 23 et seq.
  13. ^ Foundation, B. F. Skinner (22 March 2016). "Science and Human Behavior, Chapter 6: Shaping and Maintaining Operant Behavior, Quote 1". B. F. Skinner Foundation. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  14. ^ Staddon, J. E. R., & Simmelhag, V. L. The “superstition” experiment: a reexamination of its implications for the principles of adaptive behavior. Psychological Review,1971, 78, 3-43.
  15. ^ , W. & Lucas, G. A. (1985) The basis of superstitions behavior: chance contingency, stimulus substitution, or appetitive behavior? Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 44, 276-299
  16. ^ Stade, George (1973). "K. Lorenz, and the Dog beneath the Skin". The Hudson Review. 26 (1): 60–86. doi:10.2307/3856915. ISSN 0018-702X. JSTOR 3856915.
  17. ^ Estes, W. K., & Skinner, B. F. Some quantitative properties of anxiety. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1941, 29, 390-400.
  18. ^ Zilio, Diego; Carrara, Kester, eds. (2021). Contemporary Behaviorisms in Debate. Springer. p. 91. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-77395-3. ISBN 978-3-030-77394-6. S2CID 243563565.
  19. ^ Staddon, John (2017). "Theoretical behaviorism". Behavior and Philosophy. 45: 26–44. ISSN 1053-8348. JSTOR 90018262.
  20. ^ "Behaviorism and Mental Life". Ebrary. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
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