Theorists and Theory Response

B.F. Skinner had many theories about how social situations work. He believed that the use on certain consequences could be used to modify and shape behaviour. There were three types of consequences, which are reinforcement, where consequences occurs more frequently, punishment that occurs less frequently, and extinction that was the lack of any consequence. Then there were positive and negative reinforcement, which would also act as a consequence, which would either increase or decrease the frequency of the behaviour. Skinners theories helped social trends in many ways. It allowed for teachers to teach better, by using positive reinforcement. It also explained obstacles that could occur, and how they could be overcome.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and Skinner had a similar theory. Pavlov spent much of his time studying what would cause the secretion of the salvia, and how the conditioned reflexes would affect the brain. He did he experiments by testing dogs with food, and when the dog seen the food it would begin to salivate, and after being fed so many times by the researches in white lab clothes the dogs would begin to salivate. Pavlov then struck a bell whenever the dogs where about to eat and eventually they would begin to drool after the sound of the bell without food. Pavlov then came up with the conclusions that the dogs response was not due to physiological process that were automatic, but their reflexes became automatic.

Skinner tested his theory with a rat or a pigeon inside of a cage. There would then be a light that would go on and the animal would have to press a lever. This would then give water, food, a shock, or nothing at all. The animal then learned after some time to press the levers for food and water, and not get shocked. Skinner believed that this animal behaviour could be studied and compared with human behaviour. Both Skinner and Pavlov performed their theories on animals and linked them to human characteristics. Also both of these theorists believed that the consequences of behaviour are linked together and can be learned through repletion, which their experiments ended up showing.

Pavlov’s theory to behaviourism involved ‘Classical Conditioning’ which he developed as “learning by association.” He developed the terms of unconditioned and conditioned stimulus and response to make better understanding of his theory. The unconditioned stimulus was something that would naturally trigger a response where as the conditioned stimulus would be neutral and become triggered with responses from repetition. The unconditioned response was something that was unlearned and would occur automatically with the response of the unconditioned stimulus, while the conditioned response was the new learned response. He preformed and proved these theories with his ‘drooling dogs.’

Skinner and Pavlov both developed different theories on behaviourism, but to me they came up with the same principle that animal behaviour could be studied and compared with human behaviour. They both managed to prove these theories and it helps explain some social trends in our society today.