http://www.learnpsychology.net/ Psychology from the inside-out! Slapes.com Mark Holah & Jamie Davies <www@slapes.com> http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=295 Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904 – 1990) became a major figure in psychology for his work on operant conditioning. Excellent resources and a bibliography can be found on this web site www.bfskinner.org It has long been known that behavior is affected by its consequences. We rewardand punish people, for example, so that they will behave in different ways. A morespecific effect of a consequence was first studied experimentally by Edward L.Thorndike in a well-known experiment. A cat enclosed in a box struggled toescape and eventually moved the latch which opened the door. When repeatedlyenclosed in a box, the cat gradually ceased to do those things which had provedineffective ("errors") and eventually made the successful response very quickly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In operant conditioning, behavior is also affected by its consequences, but the process is not trial-and-error learning. It can best be explained with an example. A hungry rat is placed in a semi-soundproof box. For several days bits of food are occasionally delivered into a tray by an automatic dispenser. The rat soon goes tothe tray immediately upon hearing the sound of the dispenser. A small horizontalsection of a lever protruding from the wall has been resting in its lowest position,but it is now raised slightly so that when the rat touches it, it moves downward. Indoing so it closes an electric circuit and operates the food dispenser. Immediatelyafter eating the delivered food the rat begins to press the lever fairly rapidly. Thebehavior has been strengthened or reinforced by a single consequence. The ratwas not "trying" to do anything when it first touched the lever and it did not learnfrom "errors." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To a hungry rat, food is a natural reinforcer, but the reinforcer in this example is the sound of the food dispenser, which was conditioned as a reinforcer when it was repeatedly followed by the delivery of food before the lever was pressed. In fact, the sound of that one operation of the dispenser would have had an observable effect even though no food was delivered on that occasion, but when food no longer follows pressing the lever, the rat eventually stops pressing. The behavior issaid to have been extinguished. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; An operant can come under the control of a stimulus. If pressing the lever is reinforced when a light is on but not when it is off, responses continue to be madein the light but seldom, if at all, in the dark. The rat has formed a discriminationbetween light and dark. When one turns on the light, a response occurs, but that isnot a reflex response.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The lever can be pressed with different amounts of force, and if only strongresponses are reinforced, the rat presses more and more forcefully. If only weakresponses are reinforced, it eventually responds only very weakly. The process iscalled differentiation.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A response must first occur for other reasons before it is reinforced and becomes an operant. It may seem as if a very complex response would never occur to bereinforced, but complex responses can be shaped by reinforcing their componentparts separately and putting them together in the final form of the operant.Operant reinforcement not only shapes the topography of behavior, it maintains itin strength long after an operant has been formed. Schedules of reinforcement areimportant in maintaining behavior. If a response has been reinforced for some timeonly once every five minutes, for example, the rat soon stops respondingimmediately after reinforcement but responds more and more rapidly as the timefor the next reinforcement approaches. (That is called a fixed-interval schedule ofreinforcement.) If a response has been reinforced n the average every five minutesbut unpredictably, the rat responds at a steady rate. (That is a variable-intervalschedule of reinforcement.) If the average interval is short, the rate is high; if it islong, the rate is low. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;If a response is reinforced when a given number of responses has been emited, the rat responds more and more rapidly as the required number is approached. (That isa fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement.) The number can be increased by easystages up to a very high value; the rat will continue to respond even though aresponse is only very rarely reinforced. "Piece-rate pay" in industry is an exampleof a fixed-ratio schedule, and employers are sometimes tempted to "stretch" it byincreasing the amount of work required for each unit of payment. Whenreinforcement occurs after an average number of responses but unpredictably, theschedule is called variable-ratio. It is familiar in gambling devices and systemswhich arrange occasional but unpredictable payoffs. The required number ofresponses can easily be stretched, and in a gambling enterprise such as a casino theaverage ratio must be such that the gambler loses in the long run if the casino is tomake a profit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Reinforcers may be positive or negative. A positive reinforcer reinforces when it ispresented; a negative reinforcer reinforces when it is withdrawn. Negativereinforcement is not punishment. Reinforcers always strengthen behavior; that iswhat "reinforced" means. Punishment is used to suppress behavior. It consists ofremoving a positive reinforcer or presenting a negative one. It often seems tooperate by conditioning negative reinforcers. The punished person henceforth actsin ways which reduce the threat of punishment and which are incompatible with,and hence take the place of, the behavior punished.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;This human species is distinguished by the fact that its vocal responses can beeasily conditioned as operants. There are many kinds of verbal operants becausethe behavior must be reinforced only through the mediation of other people, andthey do many different things. The reinforcing practices of a given culturecompose what is called a language. The practices are responsible for most of theextraordinary achievements of the human species. Other species acquire behaviorfrom each other through imitation and modelling (they show each other what todo), but they cannot tell each other what to do. We acquire most of our behaviorwith that kind of help. We take advice, heed warnings, observe rules, and obeylaws, and our behavior then comes under the control of consequences whichwould otherwise not be effective. Most of our behavior is too complex to haveoccurred for the first time without such verbal help. By taking advice andfollowing rules we acquire a much more extensive repertoire than would bepossible through a solitary contact with the environment.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Responding because behavior has had reinforcing consequences is very differentfrom responding by taking advice, following rules, or obeying laws. We do nottake advice because of the particular consequence that will follow; we take it onlywhen taking other advice from similar sources has already had reinforcingconsequences. In general, we are much more strongly inclined to do things if theyhave had immediate reinforcing consequences than if we have been merelyadvised to do them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The innate behavior studied by ethologists is shaped and maintained by itscontribution to the survival of the individual and species. Operant behavior isshaped and maintained by its consequences for the individual. Both processeshave controversial features. Neither one seems to have any place for a prior planor purposes. In both, selection replaces creation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Personal freedom also seems threatened. It is only the feeling of freedom,however, which is affected. Those who respond because their behavior has hadpositively reinforcing consequences usually feel free. They seem to be doing whatthey want to do. Those who respond because the reinforcement has been negativeand who are therefore avoiding or escaping from punishment are doing what theyhave to do and do not feel free. These distinctions do not involve the fact offreedom.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The experimental analysis of operant behavior has led to a technology often calledbehavior modification. It usually consists of changing the consequences ofbehavior, removing consequences which have caused trouble, or arranging newconsequences for behavior which has lacked strength. Historically, people have been controlled primarily through negative reinforcement that is, they have beenpunished when they have not done what is reinforcing to those who could punishthem. &nbsp; Positive reinforcement has been less often used, partly because its effect isslightly deferred, but it can be as effective as negative reinforcement and has manyfewer unwanted byproducts. For example, students who are punished when theydo not study may study, but they may also stay away from school (truancy),vandalize school property, attack teachers, or stubbornly do nothing. Redesigningschool systems so that what students do is more often positively reinforced canmake a great difference. &nbsp; &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=337 This refers to the misleading of participants when carrying out research.&nbsp; Deception means the participant has not given informed consent to participate in the research. See also Ethics &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=31 Grey thing which weighs about 1.4kg (3lbs) and contains about 100 billion nerve cells (neurones).&nbsp; There will be a good description of all of the important bits of the brain here soon.&nbsp; Check out this brain flash movie http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=543 Sigmund Freud. born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939), was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression. He is also renowned for his redefinition of sexual desire as the primary motivational energy of human life which is directed toward a wide variety of objects; as well as his therapeutic techniques, including his theory of transference in the therapeutic relationship and the presumed value of dreams as sources of insight into unconscious desires. Freud is commonly referred to as "the father of psychoanalysis" and his work has been highly influential — popularizing such notions as the unconscious, the Oedipus complex, defense mechanisms, Freudian slips and dream symbolism. In his later work, Freud proposed that the psyche could be divided into three parts: Ego, super-ego, and id. Freud discussed this structural model of the mind in the 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and fully elaborated it in The Ego and the Id (1923), where he developed it as an alternative to his previous topographic schema (conscious, unconscious, preconscious). &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=316 This refers to the beliefs of what we are capable of achieving.&nbsp; People with high self-efficacy beliefs for a specific task make more effort to achieve results whereas people with low self-efficacy beliefs for a particular task will show a tendency to give up quickly. &nbsp; Even though self-efficacy beliefs are closely related to a particular task there is some evidence that people do show a general tendency towards high or low self-efficacy beliefs in a wide range of contexts. &nbsp; Bandura (1989) argued that self-efficacy beliefs are important, because they determine what we will try to do. Self-efficacy beliefs express what we believe we are capable of achieving - they are all about the idea that we can act positively in a given situation.&nbsp; These beliefs, in turn, influence our perception, motivation and performance.&nbsp; Beliefs about our own abilities and about qualities such as intelligence have been shown to have a direct influence on how both children and adults interact with their worlds, and therefore how they go about learning from them. Bandura argued that the self-efficacy beliefs which people hold about their own capabilities directly affect how much effort they are prepared to put into achieving or completing tasks.&nbsp; If we believe that we are capable of achieving something, we will be likely to stick at it until we succeed.&nbsp; If, on the other hand, we doubt whether we are capable of doing it successfully, we are unlikely to try as hard and will give up more easily.&nbsp;&nbsp; The idea of self-efficacy has been applied to coping.&nbsp; For example people with higher self efficacy beliefs cope more effectively with stress. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=542 &nbsp; Albert Bandura (b. 4 December 1925 in Mundare, Alberta, Canada) is a psychologist specializing in social cognitive theory and self-efficacy. Bandura graduated from the University of British Columbia with the Bolocan Award in psychology, and then obtained his M.A. in 1951 and Ph.D. in 1952 from the University of Iowa. Bandura joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology at Stanford University in 1953, where he has remained to pursue his career. In 1974 the American Psychological Association elected him to its presidency. Bandura was initially influenced by Robert Sears' work on familial antecedents of social behavior and identificatory learning, Bandura directed his initial research to the role of social modeling in human motivation, thought, and action. In collaboration with Richard Walters, his first doctoral student, Bandura engaged in studies of social learning and aggression. Their joint efforts illustrated the critical role of modeling in human behavior and led to a program of research into the determinants and mechanisms of observational learning (part of which has become known in the history of psychology as the "Bobo Doll Experiment"). The program also led to Bandura's first book, Adolescent Aggression in 1959, and to a subsequent book, Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis in 1973. In 1963 Bandura published his second book, Social Learning and Personality Development. In 1974 Stanford University awarded him an endowed chair and he became David Starr Jordan Professor of Social Science in Psychology. In 1977, Bandura published the ambitious Social Learning Theory, a book that altered the direction psychology took in the 1980s.In the course of investigating the processes by which modeling alleviates phobic disorders in snake-phobics, Bandura found that self-efficacy beliefs (which the phobic individuals had in their own capabilities to alleviate their phobia) mediated changes in behavior and in fear-arousal. He then launched a major program of research examining the influential role of self-referent thought in psychological functioning. Although he continued to explore and write on theoretical problems relating to myriad topics, from the late 1970s he devoted much attention to exploring the role that self-efficacy beliefs play in human functioning. In 1986 Bandura published Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, a book in which he offered a social cognitive theory of human functioning that accords a central role to cognitive, vicarious, self-regulatory and self-reflective processes in human adaptation and change. This social cognitive theory has its roots in an agentic perspective that views people as self-organizing, proactive, self-reflecting and self-regulating, not just as reactive organisms shaped by environmental forces or driven by inner impulses. In his 1997 book, Self Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Bandura set forth the tenets of his theory of self-efficacy and its applications to fields as diverse as life-course development, education, health, psychopathology, athletics, business, and international affairs. Bandura has lectured and written on topics such as escaping homelessness, deceleration of population growth, transgressive behavior, mass communication, substance abuse, and terrorism. He has explored the manner in which people morally disengage when they perpetrate inhumanities, and he has traced the psychosocial tactics by which individuals and societies selectively disengage moral self-sanctions from inhumane conduct. He has called for a civilized life with humane standards buttressed "by safeguards built into social systems that uphold compassionate behavior and renounce cruelty". A 2002 survey published in the Review of General Psychology ranked Bandura as the fifth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, E.J. Eysenck, and B.F. Skinner. &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=541 A form of depression, which is said to be caused by separation from a caregiver. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=540 This is a hormone that is released by the pituitary gland and that stimulates the adrenal glands. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=539 A statement of what the researchers intend to find out. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=538 Individuals who are believed to experience little guilt or emotion, and are unable to form lasting normal relationships with others.&nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=537 This involves coding information in terms of the ways it sounds. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=536 Social influence is a term which is used generally in psychology to summarise the work of social psychology which attempts to explain how behaviour, thoughts and feelings are influenced by others.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=535 This is a form of social influence, whereby people reject the established norm of the majority of group members and move to the position of the minority. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=534 This is a form of social influence, whereby people adopt the behaviour, attitudes and values of the majority members of a reference group. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=533 In psychology experiments a confederate is an individual who is not a real participant and is instructed how to behave by the experimenter. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=532 Solomon E. Asch (September 14, 1907 - February 20, 1996) was an American Gestalt psychologist and pioneer in social psychology. He was born in Warsaw, then in the Russian Empire, and emigrated to the United States in 1920. He received his bachelor's degree from the College of the City of New York in 1928. At Columbia University, he received his master's degree in 1930 and Ph.D. in 1932. He was a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College for 19 years, working with psychologists including Wolfgang Köhler. He became famous in the 1950s, following experiments which showed that social pressure can make a person say something that is obviously incorrect.&nbsp; Asch was assisted in his work into conformity by a young Stanley Milgram, who himself was later to achieve worldwide fame with his studies into obedience to authority. http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=395 Stanley Milgram (1933 - 1984) was a social psychologists who became well known for his obedience experiments. Whilst at Yale he also conducted the small world experiment. This link goes to a good biography of Stanley Milgram. Dr. Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was a social psychologist at Yale University, Harvard University and the City University of New York. While at Harvard, he conducted the small-world experiment (the source of the six degrees of separation concept), and while at Yale, he conducted the Milgram experiment on obedience to authority. He also introduced the concept of familiar strangers. Although considered one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century, he never took a psychology course as an undergraduate at Queens College, New York, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in political science in 1954. He applied to a Ph.D. program in social psychology at Harvard University and was initially rejected due to lack of psychology background. He was accepted in 1954 after taking six courses in psychology, and graduated with the Ph.D. in 1960. Most likely because of his controversial Milgram Experiment, Milgram was denied tenure at Harvard after becoming an assistant professor there, but instead accepted an offer to become a tenured full professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (Blass, 2004). Milgram had a number of significant influences, including psychologists Solomon Asch and Gordon Allport (Milgram, 1977). Milgram himself influenced other psychologists such as Alan C. Elms, who was his first graduate assistant on the obedience experiment. In 1984, Milgram died of a heart attack at the age of 51 in the city of his birth, New York. He left behind a widow, Alexandra "Sasha" Milgram, and two children http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=528 There seems to be several possible reasons why home advantage occurs.&nbsp;&nbsp;Audience characteristics&nbsp;&nbsp;The main suggestion as to why the home advantage occurs is due to the effects of a supportive home audience; the greater the noise, the greater the impression of support. Therefore, generally the home team will have greater support boosting their performance and possibly putting off the away team. The number of people actually in the stadium will also have an effect.There is a positive correlation between crowd density (the number of home fans present related to the size of the stadium) and team performance.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, a hostile home crowd can have a negative effect on the visitingteam and therefore indirectly give the home team an advantage.&nbsp;&nbsp;Non-audience characteristics It is also possible that non-audience effects influence the home fieldadvantage. • The home team will generally engage in more assertive play and the away team more aggressive play.&nbsp; • The home team’s familiarity with the stadium should ensure that their performance is optimised.• The home team does not have to travel to the fixture, thus ensuring that the team members are not tired and therefore more able to perform to the best of their ability.&nbsp; It is important to appreciate that it is likely to be a combination of factors that lead to the home advantage and obviously it is very difficult to study them in isolation. Arguably, the greatest influence is the effect of the audience, although this would not be appropriate for all sports and is most relevant to sports that have reactive or interactive audiences.Bray (1999) aimed to examine the home versus away records of individual teams in order to more fully describe team performance outcomes in relation to game location. A total of 20 seasons (1974/5 to 1993/4) of National Hockey League (NHL) team results were compiled, providing more than 30 000 games for analysis.In previous research, home advantage has been calculated as home winning percentage (HWP), the average of the ratio of home games won to the number of home games played. This however, does not look at the individual team’s performance. This study used an alternative measure of home advantage, home winning percentage minus away winning percentage. Therefore, in each year a team could either have a home advantage, a home disadvantage or no effect. The sample was categorised into three groups; high quality (66 teams), average (273 teams) and low quality (70 teams)The major finding was that the majority of teams in the NHL won a greater percentage of their home games than their away games.&nbsp; The teams won an average of 17.3 per cent more games at home than away. There was no difference in the home advantage between the different classifications of team (high quality, average, low quality). The team with the greatest home advantage actually won 52.5 per cent more of their games at home than away.This study demonstrates the importance of the home environment for sports teams and indicates that it is strongly linked to winning. &nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=282 Some of our favourite web sites for studying AQA (A) psychology. Here is the link for AQA(A) specifications and here is the link for AQA(B) specifications. &nbsp;Psychade&nbsp; is Ade's psychology site for AQA students.&nbsp; Top site.S-Cool is a very pleasing site too.&nbsp; Another good site for AQA students is&nbsp;psyonlineThis superb web site is designed by a student and is called xenonic.A good site for summaries of the key studies and quizzes too is&nbsp;at qelizLoads of resources on this site and updated regularly - virtualpsychology.Saul Mcleod's excellent site is designed for AQA B but is crammed full of resources that should be useful for any student of psychology.This is also a very promising site&nbsp; for aqa B resourceswww.aqabpsychology.co.uk Here is another website designed for AQA (B).&nbsp; It contains tons of quizzes &nbsp;learn-psychology&nbsp; http://www.learnpsychology.net/g/?g=531 Attribution theory is concerned with the ways in which people explain (or attribute) the behavior of others, or themselves (self-attribution), with something else. It explores how individuals "attribute" causes to events and how this cognitive perception affects their motivation. The theory divides the way people attribute causes to events into two main types – internal and external. External or situational attribution assigns causality to an outside factor, such as the weather. Whereas internal or dispositional attribution assigns causality to factors within the person, such as their own level of intelligence, or other variables that make the individual responsible for the event.