Freud (Cont’d), The Psychology Of Learning (Pt.1)
P S YC H 1101 P ROF. DAVID P IZ AR RO DAY 9
No Class On Friday
Defense Mechanisms • Unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce the anxiety caused by the Id! • A set of “filters” preventing the Id’s desires to come out in their true form! • Hydraulic model—pressure coming from what lies beneath…
Defense Mechanisms Sublimation ! •
converting energy to activities that are valued by society!
Displacement! •
re-direction to other targets (kick the dog because boss was mean)!
Projection ! •
reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable impulses to someone else
Defense Mechanisms Rationalization! •
reasoning away anxiety-producing thoughts!
Regression! •
retreating to a mode of behavior characteristic of an earlier stage of development!
Reaction formation! •
Replacing threatening wishes and fantasies with their opposites
Reaction Formation: Modern Evidence? • 2 groups of heterosexual men:!
Heterosexual video
• High vs. low homophobics!
• Watched videotapes of:!
• Assessed sexual arousal:!
• Penile circumference while watching videotapes! • Greater circumference, more blood, greater
22.5 mm change
• • Lesbian activity! • Gay activity!
Heterosexual activity!
30.0
15.0 low homophobics high homophobics
7.5 0.0 1
2
3
4
5
6
Time Blocks
arousal
Adapted from Adams et al. (1996). Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 440-445.
Reaction Formation: Modern Evidence?
• 2 groups of heterosexual men:!
Lesbian video
• High vs. low homophobics!
• Watched videotapes of:!
• Assessed sexual arousal:!
• Penile circumference while watching videotapes! • Greater circumference, more blood, greater
18.75 mm change
• • Lesbian activity! • Gay activity!
Heterosexual activity!
25.00
12.50 low homophobics high homophobics
6.25 0.00 1
2
3
4
5
6
Time Blocks
arousal
Adapted from Adams et al. (1996). Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 440-445.
Reaction Formation: Modern Evidence?
• 2 groups of heterosexual men:!
Gay video
• High vs. low homophobics!
•
Watched videotapes of:!
• • Lesbian activity! • Gay activity!
25.00
Heterosexual activity!
• Assessed sexual arousal:!
• • Greater circumference, more blood, greater
Penile circumference while watching videotapes!
low homophobics high homophobics
mm change
18.75
*
12.50
6.25
0.00 1
2
3
4
5
6
Time Blocks
arousal
Adapted from Adams et al. (1996). Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 440-445.
For Freud, The Unconscious Still Rears Its Head • • •
Parapraxes (slips of the tongue)! Humor! Dreams
Deep Problem • •
A theory that can account for nearly every possible observation! So...not a theory at all
Data’s Session With Dr. Freud
Deep Problem • • •
A theory that can account for nearly every possible observation!
•
Between Freudian psychology and “introspectionist” psychology, psychologists rejected “mentalism” as unscientific. !
•
Solution? Stick to things that you can measure directly: behavior.
...not a theory at all! Unfalsifiability came partly from a reliance on unobservable constructs (“ids” and “egos”)!
The Psychology Of Learning (Pt. 1)
Behaviorism: The Science Of Learning
What Is Behaviorism? •
A collection of theories that emphasize learning!
•
•
(“learning” is often defined as a change in the organism’s response as a result of experience)!
Rejection of “mentalism” as unscientific!
• •
•
unscientific = desires, wishes, goals, beliefs, emotions, etc. ! scientific = observables: stimulus, response, environment, etc. !
Same learning mechanisms operate across species!
•
understanding how rats, pigeons, and dogs learn can give us insight into how humans learn
Nature Vs. Nurture Round 1 •
This is one of the first examples of the many heated debates in the field about how much of our psychological experience is innate (instinctual or otherwise unlearned), and how much is due to the environment. !
•
•
Nativism vs. Empiricism!
This debate will rear its head repeatedly
The Optimism Of Behaviorism
J OH N B. WAT SON 1878-1958
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, wellformed, 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, merchantchief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.�
How Can Behaviorism Explain The Scope Of Psychology? •
Three basic learning mechanisms proposed to explain everything!
1. Habituation! 2. Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning! 3. Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning
1. Habituation • •
• •
The decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that are familiar due to repeated exposure! e.g., clock ticking, traffic noise, trains!
An adaptive mechanism to keep us focusing on new objects and events! This mechanism is non-associative
2. Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning •
The learning of an association based on repeated presentation of paired stimuli!
•
An Unconditioned Stimulus (US or UCS) such as food or shock that causes a reflexive response!
•
Paired with a neutral stimulus that does not normally cause a reflexive response, the Conditioned Stimulus (CS)!
•
After enough pairings, the Conditioned Stimulus causes the response without need for the Unconditioned Stimulus
Pavlov’s Experiment