2. Behaviorism

Second slideshow for a course called Mind and Machine.

Transcript

1. Behaviorism Philosophy of mind, part 2 George Matthews CC 2018
2. Question of the Day How can we study the mind scientifically?
3. A Science of Mind Psychology as a behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is . . . prediction and control. J. B. Watson, 1913
4. Prediction and Control, part 1
5. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes
6. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes ! Having a mind enables an organism to respond to a changing environment by changing its behavior.
7. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes ! Having a mind enables an organism to respond to a changing environment by changing its behavior. ! Whatever has a mind RESPONDS to STIMULI.
8. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes ! Having a mind enables an organism to respond to a changing environment by changing its behavior. ! Whatever has a mind RESPONDS to STIMULI. ! The task of psychology is describing these stimulus-response pairs.
9. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes ! Having a mind enables an organism to respond to a changing environment by changing its behavior. ! Whatever has a mind RESPONDS to STIMULI. ! The task of psychology is describing these stimulus-response pairs. ! When that is complete, we can predict and control behavior.
10. Prediction and Control, part 1 reflexes ! Having a mind enables an organism to respond to a changing environment by changing its behavior. ! Whatever has a mind RESPONDS to STIMULI. ! The task of psychology is describing these stimulus-response pairs. ! When that is complete, we can predict and control behavior. Case 1: The Sphex Digger Wasp.
11. Wikimedia
12. Prediction and Control, part 2
13. Prediction and Control, part 2 classical conditioning
14. Prediction and Control, part 2 classical conditioning ! Reflexes are dumb unconditioned responses, but having a mind means you can also learn new things.
15. Prediction and Control, part 2 classical conditioning ! Reflexes are dumb unconditioned responses, but having a mind means you can also learn new things. ! Learning is forming new stimulus-response pairs by ASSOCIATION.
16. Prediction and Control, part 2 classical conditioning ! Reflexes are dumb unconditioned responses, but having a mind means you can also learn new things. ! Learning is forming new stimulus-response pairs by ASSOCIATION. ! When we learn a new (conditioned) response can replace an old (unconditioned or natural) response to a stimulus.
17. Prediction and Control, part 2 classical conditioning ! Reflexes are dumb unconditioned responses, but having a mind means you can also learn new things. ! Learning is forming new stimulus-response pairs by ASSOCIATION. ! When we learn a new (conditioned) response can replace an old (unconditioned or natural) response to a stimulus. Case 2: Pavlov’s dog.
18. How Stuff Works
19. Prediction and Control, part 3
20. Prediction and Control, part 3 operant conditioning
21. Prediction and Control, part 3 operant conditioning ! Having a mind means being able to learn on your own.
22. Prediction and Control, part 3 operant conditioning ! Having a mind means being able to learn on your own. ! Operant conditioning uses rewards and punishments to shift an organisms spontaneous responses in one direction or another.
23. Prediction and Control, part 3 operant conditioning ! Having a mind means being able to learn on your own. ! Operant conditioning uses rewards and punishments to shift an organisms spontaneous responses in one direction or another. ! By using the right reward/punishment scheme an organism can learn to do many new things.
24. Prediction and Control, part 3 operant conditioning ! Having a mind means being able to learn on your own. ! Operant conditioning uses rewards and punishments to shift an organisms spontaneous responses in one direction or another. ! By using the right reward/punishment scheme an organism can learn to do many new things. Case 3: The Skinner Box.
25. Andreas1, wikimedia
26. Next Question What, then, IS a mind?
27. Methodological Behaviorism
28. Methodological Behaviorism
29. Methodological Behaviorism ! Any scientific study of minds has to limit itself to the study of things that can be observed by all and measured objectively.
30. Methodological Behaviorism ! Any scientific study of minds has to limit itself to the study of things that can be observed by all and measured objectively. ! First-person accounts of our own “inner experience” may make for good literature, but they are not science.
31. Methodological Behaviorism ! Any scientific study of minds has to limit itself to the study of things that can be observed by all and measured objectively. ! First-person accounts of our own “inner experience” may make for good literature, but they are not science. This approach is alive and well in the social sciences.
32. Analytic Behaviorism
33. Analytic Behaviorism
34. Analytic Behaviorism ! All talk about minds has to be translated into talk about observable behavior, otherwise it is meaningless.
35. Analytic Behaviorism ! All talk about minds has to be translated into talk about observable behavior, otherwise it is meaningless. ! Philosophical problems with understanding minds are a result of mistakes in our use of language.
36. Analytic Behaviorism ! All talk about minds has to be translated into talk about observable behavior, otherwise it is meaningless. ! Philosophical problems with understanding minds are a result of mistakes in our use of language. Can we really stop talking about feelings, beliefs, intentions, desires, thoughts, plans, etc. and still make sense of human behavior?
37. Radical Behaviorism
38. Radical Behaviorism
39. Radical Behaviorism ! Minds just do not exist as private inner worlds, we are nothing but what we do in the world.
40. Radical Behaviorism ! Minds just do not exist as private inner worlds, we are nothing but what we do in the world. ! All of our behavior is caused by forces outside of us – evolution programmed us, stimuli move us, conditioning teaches us to do new things.
41. Radical Behaviorism ! Minds just do not exist as private inner worlds, we are nothing but what we do in the world. ! All of our behavior is caused by forces outside of us – evolution programmed us, stimuli move us, conditioning teaches us to do new things. Should we really treat people like “blank slates” entirely determined in their actions by outside forces?