BEHAVIORAL LEARNING THEORY

Response-Stimulus-Response model of learning (R-S-R)

Behavior produces an environmental effect which affects the likelihood of similar behavior in the future.

*Behaviors are shaped by the consequences they produce.

Positive Reinforcement – When stimulus events have the effect of increasing the probability that a response will occur again.

Negative Reinforcement – Removing a stimulus, usually an aversive one, when this removal makes a specified response more likelyto occur.

Punishment – Presentation of a stimulus thatmakes a specified response LESS likely.

The bottom line is: We repeat behaviors which have, in the past, produced reinforcement, and we shy away from behaviors which have produced punishment.

Other Important Terms:

Extinction – A decrease in strength of a conditioned response when it is no longer reinforced.

Shaping – Reinforcing successive approximations to some final response.

Social Learning Theory

A person learns through conditioning, but also by vicarious reinforcement (i.e., observers increase behavior for which they have seen others

reinforced). The heart of this approach says that we learn through observation/imitation. This is a processof: Acquisition

Retention Motor Reproduction Motivation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4NPc7HCnY

SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

Individuals are viewed as trying to maximize rewards and minimize costs.

Outcomes = Rewards – Costs

(Rewards include anything positive, desirable.

Costs include anything negative, undesirable.)

STRUCTURAL ROLE THEORY

One of the most reliable sociological findings is that people’s attitudes and behaviors vary according to the social position they occupy in the social structure.

Structural Role Theory would say that people are like actors following a script (role consensus is assumed).

Consider the term, role conflict. In essence, this can occur when a person experiences two of his/her

roles “colliding”.

The Fundamental Attribution ErrorThe tendency to discount the role of the situation in affecting a person’s behavior and to over-estimate the importance of personal or dispositional factors.

Why do we commit this error?

A key point of Lovaglia’s: The situation is much more powerful than we think!

How might a person use this information?

Affirmations Statements about what is good and

positive for you.

Techniques: making positive statements (in writing and/or verbally); visualizing

Can affirmations work?? If so, why? Social Psychology tells us…Affirmations

are behavior; we become what we do.

Self-Perception Theory

Just as we observe others’ behavior, we also observe our own behavior. We infer how we

feel by observing our own behavior.

Attitudes

Consider your attitude on an important topic. List the people and experiences that have contributed to

the development of this attitude.

What is an “attitude”?A relatively enduring organization of beliefs around an object or situation. (Each attitude is really a package of beliefs).

How do we acquire attitudes?Instrumental ConditioningModelingDirect ExperienceGenetic Factors

Cognitive Dissonance TheoryOverturns the common sense notion that:

Attitudes-------Behavior

“Dissonance” is a state of tension produced when elements are in conflict.

Think of it this way (Equilibrium Process Model):

equilibrium-----------dissonance-producing situation-------------------dissonance ----------attitude change---------equilibrium

How can we reduce dissonance? Selective attention Lower expectations Seek support CHANGE ATTITUDE

When is dissonance likely?

1. After making a big decision.2. When there is inadequate external justification for behavior.

(“external justification” is situationally-determined)e.g., Festinger & Carlsmith study, 1957)

The key idea: If we can’t find sufficient external justification for our behavior, then we attempt to justify internally, by changing our attitude in the direction of our behavior.

APPLICATIONS?

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISMGeorge Herbert Mead

Herbert Blumer coined the term, “symbolic interactionism”

Blumer’s Propositions:1. Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that

things have for them.2. These meanings arise out of social interaction.3. Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of

action.

Two Schools of Thought: the Chicago School and the Iowa School

Symbolic Interactionism

This perspective emphasizes the production of society as an ongoing process of negotiation among social actors.

Assumptions:1. Symbols transfer meaning in human interaction.2. The individual becomes humanized (socialized) through interaction with people.3. Reality is a process.4. Human beings have the ability to act upon

the environment.

What kind of image do we get of the human actor?active, creative, shapers of our own reality, goal-seeking

Symbolic Interactionism

Key Terms:

Meaning

Definition of the Situation – One’s cognitive idea

of his/her place in social time and space

that constrains behavior.

Taking the Role of the Other

Application: Labeling

Symbolic Interactionism

Distinction between signs and symbols:

A sign is directly connected to an object

or event and calls forth a fixed or

habitual response.

A symbol is something that people

create and use to stand for

something else. (e.g., object,

gesture, word)

Symbolic Communication & Language

Communication requires 2 things: Speaking & ListeningWhat do we mean when we say to our interaction

partner: “Are you listening to me?!”

Listening requires our responsive attention.

“pseudo-listening” – We really aren’t paying attention to what the other person is saying, although we act as if we are.

What are some listening situations that are difficult?

Symbolic Communication & Language

Two types of meaning:denotative meaning – The literal, explicit

properties associated with a word.(The dictionary meaning)

connotative meaning – Cognitive and emotionalresponses one has to a word.(These meanings are personal)

Importance of social context – Who are we with, and what is the situation?

Symbolic Communication & Language

Nonverbal Communication

paralanguage – All vocal aspects of speech other than words.

body language – The silent movement of

body parts.

interpersonal spacing – How we position ourselves at varying distances and angles from others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buufiBQvIPs

choice of personal effects – Choices of clothing, etc.

Fun with images

What do you see here?

Two Group Portraits

What's that in the middle?

Young Woman/Old Woman

Perception

The perceptual process involves a sequence of external events followed by internal events.

Visual agnosia is a neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize familiar objects.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/2020_mirror_01.html

PERSON PERCEPTION

Data-------------------------Theoryphysical behavior dispositional traitsverbal behavior (personalityappearance characteristics)

Biases:1. Primacy Effect – People rely more heavily on the

first information they get on a person and tend to discountlater information.

2. Implicit Personality Theory – Network of assumptions peoplemake about the relationship among traits and behaviors.

3. Stereotypes – Given a group membership, we assume traitsabout a person.

ATTRIBUTION

Attribution – The process of inferring the

cause of others’ behavior.

Attribution Theory is concerned with how

people assign causes to events.

2 types of explanations of behavior:

dispositional & situational attributions

Attribution

Biases:1. Fundamental Attribution Error2. Actor-Observer Differences – A difference

between two points of view (that of the actor and the observer).

3. Self-Serving Bias – The tendency we have toattribute positive outcomes to our owndispositions and negative outcomes to situational causes.

4. Self-Defeating Bias – Undesirable behavior isattributed to negative aspects of the self.

Harold Kelley’s Attribution Theory

We use 3 types of information in making decisions about the causation of action in a situation:

1. Distinctiveness – Observe actor in similar situations. (low distinctiveness implies personal cause; high distinctiveness implies situational cause).

2. Consensus – Compare actor’s behavior to others’.(low consensus implies personal cause;high consensus implies situational cause)

3. Consistency – Observe actor’s behavior over time.(low consistency implies situational cause; high consistency implies personal cause)

Attribution

Other factors that are relevant to attribution: Do we like the person whose behavior we are observing? Is there a reward or punishment attached to the behavior?

Attribution

Applications of Attribution Theory: Appraisals (e.g., self/peer/subordinate) Marketing (e.g., advertising – do consumers attribute claims

about a product to the company’s desire to sell the product, or to actual, positive attributes of the product?)

Socialization

Socialization is the process by which we acquirethose modes of thinking, acting, and feeling thatenable us to participate in the larger human community.

Agents of Socialization are persons or institutionswhich influence our thoughts and behaviors.

Examples?

Reciprocal Socialization – Recognizes that socializationis not a one-way process; e.g., kids influence adults.

Examples?

Socialization

Developmental psychologist Kenneth Kaye

“frames” – Tools that parents/adults use

to organize time and space for child.

Examples: nurturant, protective,

instrumental, feedback,

discourse

Socialization is like an apprenticeship (i.e., it is

a process; it is relational).

Socialization

Social Learning Theory

Socialization is accomplished through two processes:

1. Direct Learning – We are first

socialized via our parents’ rewards

and punishments (i.e., external

reinforcement). Over time, we control our

own behavior through self-reinforcement

(internalization makes this possible).

2. Observation/Modeling

Socialization

Piaget – Cognitive Developmental TheorySocialization is a process by which the individual develops from simple to complex. 4 stages:

1. Sensorimotor object permanence, cause-effect, recognitory

schemes2. Pre-Operational

knowledge of symbols3. Concrete Operational

concrete operations such as conservation and serialization

4. Formal Operationalabstract thought

Socialization

Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson8 Psychosocial Stages:

1. Trust vs. Mistrust2. Autonomy vs. Doubt3. Initiative vs. Guilt4. Industry vs. Inferiority5. Identity vs. Role Confusion6. Intimacy vs. Isolation7. Generativity vs. Self-Absorption8. Integrity vs. Despair

Socialization

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development1. The Pre-Moral Period2. Heteronomous Morality – Strong respect for

rules. Child is likely to judge thenaughtiness of an act by its objectiveconsequences rather than the actor’sintent.

3. Autonomous Morality – Rules are viewed asarbitrary agreements that can bechallenged.

Socialization

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development – 3 levels:1. Pre-conventional – Oriented to personal needs.2. Conventional – Oriented to social rules.3. Post-Conventional – Oriented toward making

autonomous decisions.

These developmental models feature stages that arestep-wise and sequential – i.e., people go through thestages one after another. But…might individualsregress in their morality? Also, might one’s actual behavior fail to correspond to his/her moral judgments?

GENDER ROLE SOCIALIZATION

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory – The key is theprocess of identification.

Social Learning Theory – Imitation, reinforcement.Cognitive Development Theory – Gender is an

organizing scheme for the developing child.Symbolic Interactionism – “doing gender” refers

to seeing gender as an activity accomplished through social interaction.

Resocialization – The process through which adults

learn new values, norms, and expectations when they

leave old roles and enter new ones.

Total Institutions – Place where individuals are cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period and where together they lead an enclosed, formally administered life.

Contact with outside world controlled; new recruits & inmates not allowed to see family, old friends, former associates. Examples: Army, prisons, mental hospitals, convents,

monasteries The “Stripping process”

Resocialization

SELF

Cooley’s Looking-Glass Self

The process through which we develop our sense

of self based upon the reactions of other people

to our actions.

G.H. Mead’s Stages to Becoming a Self:

1. The Play Stage

2. The Game Stage

3. The Generalized Other

Two aspects of the self: “I” and “Me”

SELF

self-concept: The sum total of beliefs you have

about yourself.

self-esteem: The evaluative component of the

self-concept.

situated self: The subset of self-concepts that

constitutes the self we know in a particular

situation.

self-monitoring: Extent to which people use information

about the environment as a basis for modifying

behavior.

SELF

mutable self: A self-concept that is highly adaptive to rapid social and cultural change.

DOES OUR FAST-PACED SOCIETY REQUIRE THATEACH OF US HAVE A MUTABLE SELF?

DOES HAVING A MUTABLE SELF THREATENTHE SENSE OF HAVING A CORE, STABLE SELF?

DO INDIVIDUALS EVER COMPLETELY CHANGE WHO THEY ARE?

SELF

Identity Salience

Our identities are organized hierarchically based

on salience. Implications?

1. The higher the salience of an identity,

the more often we will try to draw

on that identity.

2. If a given identity is defined as highly

important, we will be more inclined

to develop it.

3. Highly salient identities can carry over.

SELF

Aaron Beck’s concept of “personal domain” –

Inclusive notion of what a person’s self consists

of; everything that you care about and that is

important for you to maintain. For example:

self-concept

personal goals/motives

moral rules/principles

possessions

significant others

groups that have symbolic significance

Appearance and the Self Consider the tee shirt.

What gets communicated via tee shirts? (e.g., think about messages of style, politics, status, interests, beliefs, etc.)

Depression

Characterized by the “cognitive triad” (Aaron Beck, MD)

1. negative conception of self

2. negative interpretation of life experiences

3. fatalistic view of the future

The depressed person engages in “selective abstraction” – overinterpreting daily events in terms of loss.

Cognitive Therapy and Depression

What we consciously think is what mainly determines how we feel. 5 tactics:1. Learn to recognize automatic thoughts (ATs).2. Learn to dispute the ATs by marshaling contrary evidence.3. Learn to make different attributions (reattributions) and use them to dispute your ATs.4. Learn how to distract yourself from depressing thoughts.5. Learn to recognize and question assumptions that govern much of what you do.

For Discussion:

WHY DOES COGNITIVE THERAPY WORK?

CONSIDER THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION. IS DEPRESSION CONTAGIOUS?

Attributional style of depressed person: He/she attributes bad events to causes that are internal, stable, and global. Good results are believed to result from situational, unstable, and specific causes (e.g., luck).

Attributional style of ‘non-depressed” person: He/she takes a bright view of good events, attributing them to internal, stable, global causes, and also a bright view of bad events, attributing them to situational, unstable, specific causes.

Do those who are depressed take an unrealistically dark view? OR, do the non-depressed take an unrealistically bright view?Consider the studies by Alloy and Abramson in the 1970s -- People who are not depressed distort reality, while those who are depressed judge reality more accurately. Non-depressed subjects had an “illusion of control”.

Applications of this knowledge…Langer and Rodin’s study of residents in a nursing home – residents who were given increased control over their lives were more active, sociable, and vigorous than those who

were not given increased control.

Other applications?

Optimism and Illusion

Martin Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness says that when people see that how they respond has no effect on a problem, they learn not to

respond to problems in their lives.

Seligman distinguishes between a pessimistic and an optimistic attributional style:

Pessimistic: permanence, stability, self-blame (these factors lead to helplessness)

3 Crucial Dimensions to your attributional style:1. Permanence (permanent vs. temporary)2. Pervasiveness (universal vs. specific)3. Personalization (internal vs. external)

Good Outcome – the optimist attributes this internally and stable; the pessimist attributes this externally, unstable.

Bad Outcome – the optimist attributes this externally, unstable; the pessimist attributes this internally, stable.

InfluenceHow can we influence others?

* Smile at people

* Physical Attractiveness (this is a “central trait”)

* Apologize when you offend someone

* Self-Disclosure

* Impression Management

Impression Management

This approach comes from Erving Goffman. It is also

known as “self-presentation theory” or “dramaturgical

approach.”

Front Stage – Where we try to manage our impressions.

Back Stage - Where we plan.

Use of props – Just as in theater, we use objects in

our environment.

Impression Management

Self-Presentation Strategies:

* Intimidation

* Supplication

* Self-Promotion

* Ingratiation

What happens if we fail in our presentation of self?

We feel embarrassed.

We help one another save face.

Impression Management

Another motive for impression management:

self-construction (i.e., constructing a public image

that is congruent with one’s ideal self)

In our efforts to maintain a positive image, consider the importance of “definition of the situation”.

We attempt to align our definitions and actions with one another. We may use techniques, such as:

“disclaimers” and “accounts”

What we bring to a social gathering:

Clothes Speech Body Companion

How do these things affect our presentation of self?

Ethnomethodology – The study of the everyday, common-sense understandings that people have of the world around them. (Harold Garfinkel)

“breaching experiments” – Disrupt normal procedures.

Why do people get so upset when apparently minor conventions of talk are not followed?

Why study the common place?

Garfinkel’s “etcetera principle” – We use certain words or phrases in interaction to gloss over possible disruptions or misunderstandings – e.g., “you know,” “and so on”.

Other examples?

“Playing the Game” – Conversing with others about topics even though you do not have any expertise in the area.

When can this be dangerous?

What if we were to refrain from playing the game?

Persuasion

In what ways are people “victims” of persuasion

every day? (i.e., what are the sources of persuasion?)

Are you and I susceptible to persuasion?“the third person effect of communication” – When exposed to an advertisement or some other form of persuasive communication, we commonly think that it has a greater effect on others than on ourselves.

Persuasion

What are the factors that make a person persuasive?

* Credibility

* Attractiveness

* Content of message

* Maintaining a positive mood

* Leading questions

* High status

Persuasion

The Persuaders (PBS Frontline Program, 2004)

Consider the ubiquity of advertising – people trying to figure out how to persuade us what to buy, whom to trust, what to think. What impact is this having on us?

The Persuaders program explores the idea that Americans are seeking and finding a sort of identity in buying/joining a brand. What is this about?

Is advertising a business or an art form?

Structural Role Theory

Role is seen as the set of expectations that society

places on an individual.

Role consensus is assumed.

How does the interactionist perspective differ?

Role is seen as something that is constantly

negotiated between individuals.

Secord & Backman - Negotiated Role Theory

>> Roles emerge out of an interactional process.

>> Rather than following rules, people are assumed to

follow goals.

When is role negotiation an especially important

determinant of role behavior?

* Limits of role are broad

* Role expectations held by actors are not in agreement

* Actor’s characteristics preclude performing role in

usual way

* Situational demands interfere

* Other roles intrude upon performance

* Actor and role partner have relatively equal power

Role-Taking – An imaginative process in which we

evaluate ourselves and our actions from the

standpoint of others.

How do we acquire role-taking abilities?

1. Social experiences

2. Conventionality of identities and performances

3. Familiarity

Role-Making – Constructing a role performance that

fits with the definition of the situation while also

remaining attuned to personal goals and inclinations.

What is required in role-making?

>> self-consciousness (i.e., knowing who you are and

in what situation you are operating)

>> role-taking

A Challenge: Role Making in Role Exits

What happens when we find ourselves exiting from

certain roles? We must disengage from the

expectations and self-perceptions with the role.

EXAMPLES?

Emotional Aspects of Interaction

Arlie Hochschild

feeling rules – Prescriptions for how we ought to feel

in given situations.

emotion work – Attempts to change, in degree or

quality, an emotion or feeling (surface acting or

deep acting).

Emotions and Role Attachments

Role Embracement – Identifying strongly with a role

and allowing it to shape how we think, feel, act,

and interact with others.

Role Distance – Performing role in a detached way;

our sense of self is not invested in the role.