Behavioral Perspective Report: University Psychology

This report provides an analysis of the behavioral perspective in psychology. It explores classical conditioning, as studied by Pavlov, which involves learning by association, and operant conditioning, examined by Skinner, which focuses on learning from the consequences of behavior. The report explains the concepts of reinforcement and punishment within the context of operant conditioning, along with their positive and negative applications. Furthermore, it delves into drive and incentive motivation theories, examining how both internal drives and external incentives influence behavior. The report references key research and experiments, including the Skinner box, to illustrate the principles of behavioral psychology. Finally, the report discusses the importance of these concepts in understanding human and animal behavior.

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Behavioural Perspective
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30 October 2017

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Behavioural psychology is concerned with the way in which stimuli (environmental
factors) affect response/ (observable behavior). Behaviourist perspective proposes two
primary processes by which people learn from their stimuli; these include operant and
classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is attributed to Ivan Pavlov; a Russian
psychologist and it involves learning by association, whereas operant conditioning was
examined by B.F. Skinner and it is associated with learning from the behavior consequences.1
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov studied classical conditioning by examining his dogs and every time he
gave them food they drooled. Also, he realized that each time he made a particular sound
while feeding them; the dogs started salivating at the hearing of the tone, even in the absence
of food after that. He then noticed that his dogs had come to associate the sound (a neutral
stimulus) with food (non-neutral stimulus). Based on his dog experiment, Pavlov termed a
response that occurred naturally as a unconditioned response, such as salivation in the dog
experiment. Whereas, the stimulus that evoked salivation naturally as unconditioned stimuli,
such as food in the dog experiment. The tone or sound that the dogs learned to relate with
food was the conditioned stimulus and salivation was the conditioned response. He further
concluded that the unconditioned response and the conditioned response are similar.2
Operant conditioning
1 Skinner, B.F., 2011. About behaviorism. Vintage.
2 Lavond, D. and Steinmetz, J., 2012. Handbook of classical conditioning. Springer Science
& Business Media.

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Operant conditioning proposes that responses are controlled by their consequences,
and it’s an extension of the ideas of Edward Thorndike who invented the law of effect.
Skinner conducted his experiments using an animal box called Skinner box to investigate
operant conditioning. A Skinner box is a designed enclosure in which an animal can
automatically access food it makes a specific type of response. Also, the cage has a device
that measures the animal’s number of responses. Skinner observed the behavior of a rat and
came up with reinforcement and punishment terminologies.3
Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement is the supply of consequence that is to raise the possibility of the
occurrence of a response. Positive reinforcement is the delivery of a stimulus after a response
so that the reaction can take place more often. Negative reinforcement is the elimination of
the stimulus after a response so that the occurrence of the response can be more often.
Punishment is the supply of consequence that reduces the possibility of occurrence of a
response. Positive punishment is the provision of a stimulus after a response to reduce the
frequency of the occurrence of the response, whereas, negative punishment is the elimination
of a stimulus after a response to reduce the incidence of occurrence of the response.
Drive and incentive motivation theories
The behavioral perspective to learning encompasses drive and incentive motivation
theories. Drive theory in concerned with (primary) unlearned drives, learned (secondary)
drives and drove reduction. It is founded on the premise that all living organisms have
psychological needs that ought to be met for survival and if disrupted then a tension state is
3 Henton, W.W. and Iversen, I.H., 2012. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning: A
response pattern analysis. Springer Science & Business Media

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created termed as unlearned. The Learned drive is usually as a result of anxiety. Incentive
motivation proposes that behavior can be motivated by external behavior.4
4 Spielberger, C.D. ed., 2013. Anxiety and behavior. Academic Press.

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References
Henton, W.W. and Iversen, I.H., 2012. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning: A
response pattern analysis. Springer Science & Business Media.
Lavond, D. and Steinmetz, J., 2012. Handbook of classical conditioning. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Skinner, B.F., 2011. About behaviorism. Vintage.
Spielberger, C.D. ed., 2013. Anxiety and behavior. Academic Press.