Psychology Perspective Paper
Perspective Paper
Reshona Greenwood
April 9, 2011
Donna Allgood
Perspective Paper
Behaviorism, that approach focuses on measuring also describing that is observable, it was the most significant movement in psychology from the nineteen hundred to about nineteen seventy five, (Lefton & Brannon, 2006). Malone, Jr. & Cruchon state that, “The psychology of the late 20th Century took two forms: one was radical behaviorism, distinctly the minority position. The majority position was the “rest of psychology” (2001, p. 31). In this paper I will compare and contrast the perspectives of John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner with that of Edward C. Tolman. I will also describe how each perspective relates to the field of modern-day psychology.
John B. Watson
John B. Watson, sometimes he overlooked for the next to work of the B.F. skinner. Which is on when coined the term of behaviorism, he is one of the responsible for “its infiltration into mainstream American psychology” (Kretchmar, 2008). He also was aliment that in that nature versus nurture argument, that nurture was all important and a person’s experiences in his or her environment contributed to his or her behavior (Lefton & Brannon, 2006).
“Watson showed that fear could be classically conditioned by presenting a white rat to
Litlte Albert alone with a loud, frightening noise, thereby condition the child to fear the white rat” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2006, p. 262). In his effort to invoke fear into Little Albert, the most critical element of his experiment was the combination of pairing a conditioned stimulus
(the rat) and an unconditioned response (Little Albert’s crying at the strike of the steel bar) with only a brief interval between the two (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2007). He concluded from the demonstration of classically conditioning fear in Little Albert that fears which are conditioned, can persist and modify the behaviors of a person throughout his or her life (Wood, Wood, &
Boyd,
Reshona Greenwood
April 9, 2011
Donna Allgood
Perspective Paper
Behaviorism, that approach focuses on measuring also describing that is observable, it was the most significant movement in psychology from the nineteen hundred to about nineteen seventy five, (Lefton & Brannon, 2006). Malone, Jr. & Cruchon state that, “The psychology of the late 20th Century took two forms: one was radical behaviorism, distinctly the minority position. The majority position was the “rest of psychology” (2001, p. 31). In this paper I will compare and contrast the perspectives of John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner with that of Edward C. Tolman. I will also describe how each perspective relates to the field of modern-day psychology.
John B. Watson
John B. Watson, sometimes he overlooked for the next to work of the B.F. skinner. Which is on when coined the term of behaviorism, he is one of the responsible for “its infiltration into mainstream American psychology” (Kretchmar, 2008). He also was aliment that in that nature versus nurture argument, that nurture was all important and a person’s experiences in his or her environment contributed to his or her behavior (Lefton & Brannon, 2006).
“Watson showed that fear could be classically conditioned by presenting a white rat to
Litlte Albert alone with a loud, frightening noise, thereby condition the child to fear the white rat” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2006, p. 262). In his effort to invoke fear into Little Albert, the most critical element of his experiment was the combination of pairing a conditioned stimulus
(the rat) and an unconditioned response (Little Albert’s crying at the strike of the steel bar) with only a brief interval between the two (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2007). He concluded from the demonstration of classically conditioning fear in Little Albert that fears which are conditioned, can persist and modify the behaviors of a person throughout his or her life (Wood, Wood, &
Boyd,
References: Elsevier 's Dictionary of Psychological Theories. (2006). Behaviorist, behavioristic, and behaviorism theory Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science. (2010). Tolman, Edward C.. Retrieved from http://www.credoreferenc.com/entry/wileycs/tolman_edward_c Koffka, K. (1933). Review of "Purposive behavior in animals and men". Psychological Bulletin, 30(6), 440-451 Tolman, E. C. (1932). Purposive behavior in animals and men. New York And London: The Century Psychology Series, The Century Co Kretchmar, J. (2008). Behaviorism. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=e0h&AN-27577949&site=ehost-live Leary, D. E. (2004). On the conceptual and linguistic activity of psychologists: The study of behavior from the 1890s to the 1990s and beyond. Behavior and Philosophy, 32(-), 13- 35.