# Behaviorism

Psychology I · History of Psychology · https://tryals.app/learn/psychology-i/behaviorism

## The Rise of Behaviorism

**Behaviorism**, launched by **John B. Watson**'s 1913 manifesto, rejected introspection to study only **observable behavior**. Watson's 1920 **Little Albert** experiment conditioned infant fear to a white rat, showing emotions can be learned.

Classical conditioning was discovered by physiologist **Ivan Pavlov** while studying dog digestion. Dogs salivated to food (an **unconditioned stimulus** for an **unconditioned response**) and eventually to a bell paired with food, turning it into a **conditioned stimulus** for a **conditioned response**.

| Figure | Contribution |
| --- | --- |
| Watson | Founded behaviorism; Little Albert |
| Pavlov | Discovered classical conditioning |

> **Common pitfall:** Assuming Pavlov studied learning. He studied digestion; conditioning was an accidental discovery.

## Consequences Shape Action

**B.F. Skinner** extended behaviorism via **operant conditioning**, explaining actions through consequences rather than antecedents. Using the Skinner box, he proved that **reinforcement** increases a behavior's recurrence, while **punishment** decreases it.

Skinner's **radical behaviorism** treated internal mental states as entirely unnecessary for explaining actions. While classical conditioning pairs two stimuli, operant conditioning links a voluntary behavior to its environmental result.

| Type | Mechanism | Effect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reinforcement | Follows behavior | Increases recurrence |
| Punishment | Follows behavior | Decreases recurrence |

> **Distinction:** Classical conditioning links antecedent stimuli, whereas operant conditioning links behavior to its environmental consequences.

## Practice questions

7 of this lesson's 12 practice questions, with answers. The full set is in the app.

### 1. Watson conditioned an infant to fear a white rat, and the study would not be approved today. What did it actually establish, separately from whether it should have been run?

A. That an emotional response can be conditioned in a human
B. Nothing, the study was too poorly controlled to support any conclusion
C. That all fears are learned, ruling out any innate contribution
D. That children are more conditionable than adults

**Answer:** A. That an emotional response can be conditioned in a human

**Why:** It moved conditioning from salivation to emotion, and from dogs to a child, and the generalisation to a rabbit and a coat is the part that mattered, because it made phobia look learnable. The ethics are indefensible and the finding is real, and the two judgements are separate.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/watson-conditioned-an-infant-to-fear-a-white-rat-and-the-study-would

### 2. Watson rejected introspection in favour of observable behaviour. What problem was he trying to solve?

A. That introspective reports cannot be checked by anyone else
B. That people are systematically dishonest about their inner states
C. That consciousness had been shown not to exist
D. That introspection was too slow to generate results at scale

**Answer:** A. That introspective reports cannot be checked by anyone else

**Why:** Verifiability was the issue. Behaviourism bought a public, checkable subject matter at the cost of ruling out much of what psychology cares about, a trade later generations reopened.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/watson-rejected-introspection-in-favour-of-observable-behaviour-what

### 3. Watson claimed that given a dozen healthy infants he could train any one of them to become any specialist he might select - doctor, artist, or thief - regardless of talents or ancestry. He offered no evidence and admitted he was going beyond his facts. Why did such an unsupported claim prove so influential?

A. Because Watson's authority as the founder of behaviourism meant his claims were accepted without scrutiny.
B. Because it made a strong, testable claim where the rival was untestable.
C. Because the experiment was subsequently carried out and confirmed his prediction.
D. Because it was consistent with Freudian theory, which dominated psychology at the time.

**Answer:** B. Because it made a strong, testable claim where the rival was untestable.

**Why:** The claim is false as stated and Watson knew he was over-reaching. Its influence came from its shape: 'behaviour is built by conditioning' tells a researcher what to do next, where inherited instinct functioned as a full stop. The corrected picture — early temperament, prepared associations — came out of research the overstatement provoked.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/watson-claimed-that-given-a-dozen-healthy-infants-he-could-train-any

### 4. Pavlov set out to study conditioning and used digestion as a convenient model system.

**Answer:** False

**Why:** False. It was the other way round: Pavlov was studying digestive secretion and was troubled by dogs salivating before food arrived, the 'psychic secretions' he first treated as a nuisance. He won his Nobel for the digestion work, then spent decades on the accident.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/pavlov-set-out-to-study-conditioning-and-used-digestion-as-a

### 5. Order the steps by which Little Albert came to fear the white rat.

**Answer:**

1. The white rat is presented and Albert shows no fear (neutral stimulus).
2. The rat is repeatedly paired with a sudden loud noise.
3. The loud noise, an unconditioned stimulus, makes Albert cry in fear.
4. The rat alone now triggers fear (a conditioned response).

**Why:** The rat starts neutral, is paired with a frightening loud noise (the unconditioned stimulus), and eventually triggers fear on its own - a conditioned response. Pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned one is how the conditioned fear forms.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/order-the-steps-by-which-little-albert-came-to-fear-the-white-rat

### 6. Sort each example by the type of conditioning it illustrates.

**Answer:**

- Classical conditioning: A dog salivates to a bell that has been paired with food, A child fears the dentist's drill sound after a painful visit
- Operant conditioning: A rat presses a lever more often because it yields food, A student studies harder after being praised for good grades

**Why:** Salivating to a paired bell and fearing a drill sound are classical (a stimulus elicits an automatic response); pressing a lever for food and studying after praise are operant (behavior shaped by its consequences). Consequence-driven change is the operant tell.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/sort-each-example-by-the-type-of-conditioning-it-illustrates

### 7. In Pavlov's procedure the dog's salivation is elicited by the bell whether or not the dog does anything. In Skinner's box the rat's food depends entirely on whether the rat presses the lever. Why does this difference in what controls the outcome matter more than the difference in species or apparatus?

A. Because the bell is a signal and the lever is an object.
B. Because Pavlov studied reflexes and Skinner conscious choice.
C. Because one works on innate reflexes and the other on learning.
D. Because one is learning what predicts, the other what an action produces.

**Answer:** D. Because one is learning what predicts, the other what an action produces.

**Why:** One question separates them: does the animal's behaviour change what happens? Pavlov's dog could sit still and the food would still arrive; Skinner's rat determines its own outcome. It is about where the contingency lies rather than reflex versus voluntary, and the same organism does both kinds of learning constantly.

Page: https://tryals.app/practice/psychology-i/behaviorism/in-pavlovs-procedure-the-dogs-salivation-is-elicited-by-the-bell