Introduction

Behaviourism entails the observation of behaviour whereby the internal events in animals are explained in behavioural terms. Behavioural psychology is geared towards explaining concepts whereby the mental, cognitive and physical activities of an organism are determined and influenced by external stimuli. Behavioural psychology has been made successful through the various experiments and observations by personalities such as Ivan Pavlov, Watson and Skinner. The experiments conducted by each of the three personalities have proved successful in efforts to explain their contributions in the field of psychology. The contribution of behaviourism to psychology has been paramount. To explore this claim, the concepts of observation, classical conditioning and operant conditioning will be explored. Through nt data that will help to develop the theoretical explanation of the scenario. The various observations that are made will contribute greatly to the concept of behavioural psychology. Classical conditioning refers to a situation whereby in the presence of an external or internal stimulus, another Classical conditioning is evident in Pavlov’s experiments with dogs.Operant conditioning refers to a situation whereby the behaviour of an organism is determined by its interactions with the immediate environment. Operant conditioning initiates the development of new behaviours by the animal in question. Psychologists evaluate these behavioural concepts and then devise ways and techniques of controlling them. The various experiments that were conducted by Skinner have proved to be very significant to psychologists in their attempts to develop some techniques for behavioural control.

The paper will lay special emphases on the theoretical and methodological concepts under which behaviour comes about with reference to Ivan Pavlov and Skinner. The essay will explore the contributions of Ivan Pavlov and Skinner in the field of psychology with special emphases on the concept of behavioural psychology. The various experiments carried out by Pavlov to demonstrate the aspects of classical conditioning and its influence and contributions to behavioural psychology will be examined at length. Additionally, the experiments carried out by Skinner in an attempt to explain the concept of operant conditioning in organisms will be explored too. Further on, the limitations of Ivan Pavlov’s experiments and observations with regard to psychological behaviour will be examined. The various concepts of stimulus and responses with relation to Pavlov’s experiments will be explained in the essay. The contributions of behavioural experiments by Pavlov and Skinner to the development of psychology and its related theories will be lengthily discussed in this paper. The concepts of positive and negative reinforcement with relation to Skinner’s experiments will be explored at length.

Behaviourism by Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian psychologist whose contributions to psychology are enormous. Pavlov’s involvement in various behavioural experiments has proved great significance not only in the field of psychology but also physiology. The use of a bell and meat powder as a conditional stimulus and unconditional stimulus respectively by Pavlov is one of the prime benchmarks of classical conditioning (Woodruff-Pak & Steinmetz 2002). Through his experiments, the concept of behaviour change in relation to a stimulus is explored. The results of such experiments have enabled behaviourists to come up with various explanations of the behavioural concepts. Additionally, the results will be of paramount significance to physicians in their attempts to explain the concepts of various responses as a result of an internal or external stimulus. Through the works of Ivan Pavlov, the concepts of conditioned response, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are lengthily explored. Further on, the contributions of these behavioural experiments on the field of psychology will be evaluated. Such contributions have made Pavlov a significant fellow in the fields of psychology and biology. In this context, the contributions of the various experiments by Pavlov in the development of psychology will be emphasized. In his experiments, Ivan Pavlov explored the concept and principles of classical conditioning which became the basis of various psychological explanations. Classical conditioning entails behavioural modification whereby a natural response to a biological stimulus is expressed with regard to a neutral stimulus due to repeated pairings of the latter. The experiments with dogs by Pavlov have proved substantive in the explanation of the concept. According to Pavlov, the pairing of the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus would bring about classical conditioning. In his experiments, he used the conditioned stimulus as the sound of a fork and the unconditioned stimulus as the taste of food. He further used salivation as the unconditional response. In classical conditioning, there was no relationship between conditional stimulus and unconditional response. The continued pairing of both the conditional and unconditional stimulus initiated some learning to take place hence organisms would exhibit a conditional response to the conditional stimulus. Learning, in this case, would only take place if the new stimulus brought about a response. In his experiments, the bell acted as a neutral stimulus in that it could not bring forth any salivation from the dogs. Later on he would ring a bell then put some meat powder on the dog’s tongue (Coon et al 2010). The result of this sequence of events was salivation due to continued conditioning. Pavlov noticed that his dogs were salivating before the food reached their mouths and later they would salivate whenever they saw him enter the room. In this context, the various elements of classical conditioning were highlighted. The unconditional stimulus that caused some response to the dogs is evident. In Pavlov’s case, thee meat powder was represented the unconditioned stimulus since the dogs would salivate whenever it was placed in their tongues even without any prior experience. The second element of the classical conditioning was the unconditioned response that was represented by salivation. The unconditioned response was triggered by the unconditional stimulus. The neutral stimulus that did not trigger the unconditional response is the third element. The fourth element comprised of the conditional stimulus that triggered a response after repetitive pairing. In Pavlov’s experiments, the bell after conditioning represented the conditioned stimulus. This is because of the continued learning by the dogs that whenever a bell rang, food would be provided hence triggering salivation. The fifth element of classical conditioning comprised of the conditional response that is a learned response that is triggered by the conditional stimulus. In this context, salivation of the dogs due to the conditional stimulus represents the conditional response. The principles of classical conditioning include training, stimulus generalization, spontaneous recovery and expectancies among others (“Classical Conditioning | Simply Psychology,” n.d.). In training or acquisition, the conditioned response (CR) is strengthened. The reinforcement of classical conditioning is initiated by unconditioned stimulus hence respondent reinforcement. There are claims that higher order conditioning can be initiated by increased reinforcement in learning. These principles have profound effects on the field of psychology. For instance, stimulus generalization makes one respond in a similar manner to evaluate the reasons for behavioural changes due to similar stimulus. Discrimination as a principle has enabled psychologists to devise techniques that can help people to distinguish different stimulus and hence the ability to respond differently. Other principles include spontaneous recovery and extinction. Extinction refers to a scenario whereby the conditioned response disappears. This aspect is triggered by the lack of pairing between the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response. Spontaneous recovery entails the re-appearance of the conditional response after a rest period. The contributions of Pavlov’s behavioural experiments are enormous. The principles of classical conditioning have contributed significantly to various aspects in psychology. There are various human and animal behaviours that are dependent on these principles. They include the development of good habits, training of animals, deconditioning of emotional fears and elimination of conditioned fear (Chauhan 2009). The implementation of these practices depicts the major contributions of Pavlov in psychology. Additionally, the principles are used by psychologists to explain the various behavioural issues in schools such as bullying and phobia (Brain 2002). In this context bullying and fear represents the unconditioned stimulus and response respectively. The act of being in school will represent the conditioned stimulus. In such a case, educationists and psychologists will be able to devise better ways of averting such antics in order to allow for smooth learning. On the contrary, there exist some limitations on Pavlov’s behavioural attributes. For instance, his works and experimentations could not account on how new behaviours are learnt.

Behaviourism by Skinner

B.F Skinner’s experiments have proved to be quite significant in psychology. Skinner was able to explore the aspect of behavioural psychology with a completely different approach from that of Ivan Pavlov. Contrary to Pavlov’s aims, Skinner’s experiments were geared towards explaining the relationship between the behaviour of organisms and the environment in which it is found. In this context, Skinner used the term Operant conditioning to distinguish his experimental works from those of Ivan Pavlov. The ability of organisms to acquire new behaviours is attributed to the prevailing environmental conditions (Bernstein 2014) Skinner used a Skinner’s box to restrict animals and evaluate how they changed or acquired new behaviours. In his experiments, he used the box with the lever to depict the controlled environment of the pigeon. After some time, the pigeon learnt that pressing the lever would bring forth some food. Hence, it would press the lever more often when it required food. The behaviour of the pigeon, in this case, was determined by the presence of the box and the lever. The behaviour of the pigeon to press the lever whenever it needed food depicts positive reinforcement (Nevid 2012). The term positive reinforcement was used to show how a response is strengthened by the introduction of a stimulus. In the experiment, food that dropped after the pigeon had pressed the level became the positive reinforce or reward. Skinner observed that three types of operant from his experiment (“B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning | Simply Psychology,” n.d.). Neutral operants have no effects on behaviour if they repeatedly occur. Reinforcers could either be positive or negative depending on their overall effects. Positive reinforcers increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated while negative reinforcers reduce the probability of a behaviour being repeated. Punishers are the third group of operants that are harmful to behaviour hence no repetition. According to Skinner, several operations were engaged in the operant conditioning process. The notable operations were shaping, extinction, spontaneous recovery and reinforcement (Chauhan 2009). Shaping, in this case, referred to the use of a selective reinforcement geared towards the realization of certain desirable behaviour. Shaping helps in the reinforcement of successive approximations (Glassman 1995). Shaping is associated with various principles such as generalization, habit competition and stimulus competition. Extinction involves the act of withdrawing the reinforcer when the anticipated response takes place. In this case, the previous relationship is terminated. The third operation that is involved in operant conditioning is spontaneous recovery. Spontaneous recovery is similar to the Pavlov’s theory whereby the situation of an organism is withdrawn and then returned. The time factor plays a significant role in this scenario. The behaviour of the organism will be affected by the time and the availability of training. Reinforcement is forth operation whereby the reinforcer or the stimulus plays a significant role in altering the behaviour of the organism. According to Skinner, reinforcers helped in strengthening behaviours, altering behaviours and intensifying various aspects of behaviour. The contributions of the Skinner’s experiments and the concept of operant conditioning to the development of behavioural psychology are enormous. Psychologists refer to the principles of positive and negative reinforcements to evaluate the behaviours of their clients. Through such revelations of behaviour, appropriate measures will be undertaken to avert the issue. Negative reinforcement may be identified through crying or loud shouting. The reinforcer becomes the conditions behind the said behaviour. The removal of an unpleasant stimulus increases a particular behaviour. Therefore, psychologistsl to its causal agent and hence strive to get rid of it. In this case, the removal of the unpleasant stimulus ensures that the victim will continue with his former behaviours. The evaluation of such behaviours in both education and medical fields has been paramount in formulating better principles and policies to avert the negative influences of diseases and unfavourable environment among other factors. In schools, good grades act as positive reinforcers for students to perform better (Nevid 2012).

Conclusion

Works Cited

Bernstein, D. A. (2014). Essentials of psychology.

Nevid, J. S. (2012). Essentials of psychology: concepts and applications. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Glassman, W. E. (1995). Approaches to Psychology. Buckingham, Open University Press.

B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning | Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

Nevid, J. (2012). Psychology: Concepts and applications. Cengage Learning.

Classical Conditioning | Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html

Brain, C. (2002). . Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes.

Chauhan, S. S. (2009). Advanced Educational Psychology, 7E. Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd.

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Woodruff-Pak, D. S., & Steinmetz, J. E. (2002). Eyeblink classical conditioning Vol. 1, Vol. 1. New York, Kluwer Academic.

Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., Talbot, S., & Vanchella, C. M. (2010). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Belmont, Calif, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

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