The Perspectives of Watson, Skinner, and Tolman
It is well known that psychology has changed tremendously
since the early years of the discipline. Many theories that were accepted and
respected decades ago are no longer used. However, some ideas represent the
foundation and the roots of psychology, and the psychologists who introduced
these ideas are still highly respected and admired. This paper intends to
introduce and compare the theories of three of the greatest psychology thinkers
who ever lived: John Watson, Edward Tolman and B.F. Skinner.
The three psychologists were the main individuals to influence Behaviorism in
the United States. Behaviorism is one of the most important schools of thought
in psychology, and it derived from a philosophical point of view of psychology.
It believes that individuals have behaviors, and behaviorists try to understand
how and for what reason these behaviors are learned. The main premise of this
school of thought is that psychology should focus on observable behavior of
people and animals, not on unconscious events that are almost impossible to
observe (Cherry, 2012).
John
Watson
John Broadus Watson was born in January 9th of
1978. He grew up in North Carolina and although he did not
consider himself a good student, he went to college when he was 16 years old.
At the age of 21he graduated with a master’s degree. After that he started
studying psychology at the University of Chicago, under the guidance of John
Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational
reformer whose ideas were influential in education and social reform. He did
not necessarily agree with Dewey’s ideas and ended up being advised by
functionalist psychologist James Angell and physiologist Henry Donaldson, who
both influenced deeply what would become behaviorism. In 1903 he earned
his Ph.D. and in 1908 he started teaching psychology at John Hopkins
University. He introduced his behaviorist ideas in 1913, in a seminal lecture
at Columbia University. Watson believed that psychology should focus on
observable behavior, instead of aspects of the unconscious mind, which were
almost impossible to study accurately (Cooper, 2009).
Watson’s
most famous experiment was the one with “Little Albert.” Albert was a little
boy whose father worked in the laboratory, and whenever the boy would go to
work with his father, he would play with the laboratory rats to stay occupied.
According to Watson, Albert would stimulate the rat, which would make it play with
him. Watson then began to play a loud and scary sound every time the boy and
the rat would begin to play. After the noise was associated with the rat for
seven times, Albert started presenting a new response, fear and crying,
whenever he was introduced again to the rat. After that his response became
generalized toward all “furry” things, like stuffed animals, dogs, and even
bearded men (Hernandez, 2008).
B.F.
Skinner
Burrhus
Frederic Skinner was born on March 20th of 1904, in a small town in
Pennsylvania. As a child, B.F. Skinner was active and outgoing, and enjoyed
school. He received his BA degree in English from the Hamilton College in New
York, and he had the intention of becoming a writer. After some time of unsuccessful
writing, he came upon a book published by Bertrand Russell, a British
philosopher. The book was called “An Outline of Philosophy,” and after reading
it, Skinner decided to go study psychology at Harvard University. In 1931, he
attained his Ph.D. in psychology, and after that he created a new school of
thought called Radical Behaviorism (Hernandez, 2008).
B.F.
Skinner’s theory believes that the environment has a huge impact on behaviors.
He also believed that the more a behavior is rewarded, the chances of that
behavior happening again become higher, at the same time that the lack of
reward decreases the chances of the occurrence of the behavior. Skinner created
what became known as operant conditioning. In other words, Skinner believed
that the consequences that came from a behavior have a direct connection to the
possibility that behavior would happen again. One of Skinner’s most famous
experiments was the one called “Skinner Box.” A Skinner Box is a chamber
containing a bar that an animal can manipulate in order to make food, or any
other type of reinforcement, be dispensed. The box allowed Skinner, and other
scientists to repeat the experiment after him, to study and identify the
animal’s behavior and how rapidly they would open the box after realizing that
they would be rewarded for such accomplishment. The Skinner Box is a perfect
example of operant conditioning (Cherry, 2009).
Edward
Tolman
Edward
Chase Tolman was born in April 14th of 1886, in West Newton,
Massachusetts. He studied in the Newton Public Schools, and although his older
brother and him were expected to take over the family business, both of them
decided to seek academic careers. Both brothers enrolled in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, where Edward Tolman went after a bachelor’s degree in
electrochemistry. However, after reading the works of William James, the famous
philosopher and psychologist, he changed the course of his career and decided
to study philosophy. After taking summer courses in philosophy and psychology,
he concluded that he was not smart enough for philosophy and decided that he
likes psychology better. In 1915 he received a Ph.D. from Harvard (Hernandez,
2008).
Although
Tolman was also a behaviorist, he was not as radical as Skinner. He believed
that learning could happen without reinforcement and rewards, and defended the
idea that the behavior learned was not just an automatic response to a stimulus,
but that individuals also act based on beliefs, attitudes, and different
conditions and situations. One of Tolman’s most important contributions not
only to behaviorism, but also to psychology in general, was his cognitive theory
of learning. He believed that the process of learning involved both knowledge
and cognitions about the environment, and the way the subject interacted with
it. Some of his ideas contradicted those from Watson, and Tolman’s behaviorism
was known as “purposive behaviorism.” One of the main aspects of his theory was
focusing on concepts of knowledge, planning and purpose (Hernandez, 2008).
Tolman
conducted many experiments in order to study and understand the process of
learning. One of his most famous experiments is the one involving rats in a
maze, where he observed the importance and influence of reinforcement on the way
the rats learned how to get out of complex mazes. This experiment led him to
conclude his Latent Leaning Theory, which describes the process of learning
without rewards. He compared that process to the way individuals drive through
the same route every day, or learn where objects are. The learning only becomes
conscious when someone needs to find an object or needs to find a building, for
example. His studies and theories led him to create cognitive maps, which were
methods to store knowledge in a structured way, allowing the individual’s mind
to visualize information and make it easier to recognition (Hernandez, 2008).
Conclusion
John
B. Watson, B.F. Skinner and Edward Tolman were all behaviorists, even though
their arguments may have differed at some point. All three of them believed
that behavior was the reason behind people functioning and acting the way they
did. Watson’s theory defended the connection between the environment and a
response. His ideas are still commonly used by psychologists and therapists to
this day. Skinner, on the other hand, believed that the behavior was a result
of a consequence, or in other words, he believed that the consequence received
ta the time the behavior occurred was a crucial factor in determining the
reoccurrence of that behavior. Although Skinner’s theory is still used, it is
more common to see that kind of practice among animal training, for example
when owners give dogs some treats for behaving properly. Finally, according to
Tolmas’ theory, learning could occur even if rewards not being presented and it
could definitely occur without the knowledge if it being learned. One of Edward
Tolmas’ most important contributions to psychology was the cognition maps,
which are still used in modern psychology (Goodwin, 2008). Although psychology
has changed and some concepts are not applied anymore, the ideas presented by
Watson, Skinner, and Tolman are still current and applicable, even after many
decades since they were presented.
References
Cherry,
K. (2012). What is Behaviorism. Retrieved
from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm
Cooper,
S. (2009). Theories of Learning in
Educational Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/behaviorism/Watson.html
Goodwin,
C. J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd
ed.). : John Wiley & Sons Inc..
Hernandez,
C. (2012). Psychological Perspectives of
Watson, Skinner and Tolman. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/psychological-perspectives-watson-skinner-tolman-1657673.html?cat=72
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