Prep 14 Memory and How to Improve Use

Today's topic is Behavioral Change and applied operant conditioning.

5 things you need remember from this class session:

Conflict
Dollard & Miller
Four Processes
Unconscious Behavior
Stupidity-Misery Syndrome

Class 14 Notes

Conflict

unresolved conflicts
resolved conflicts
internal conflict
external conflict
interpersonal conflict

Types of conflict

approach

not a conflict, want something, approach it
approach gradient
closer get to the cheese, the better it looks
closer you get, the more you want it
start 3 weeks before vacation: not today but soon

avoidance

not a conflict, you avoid it
avoidance gradient
closer you get, more you avoid it
punishment at the end of the maze (small electric shock)
paying taxes, put it off for as long as you can

approach-approach

first type of conflict
pretty mild, as conflicts go
choice between two things you like
pick whichever is closest or most convenient

avoidance-avoidance

second type of conflict
choice between two things you don’t like
take out the garage or get yelled at
straight-run maze with punishment at each end
stay in the middle, don’t approach either end
shuttle box = stay in the air as much as possible

approach-avoidance

third type of conflict
straight-run maze; both food and shock at the other end
run toward the food (approach)
closer it gets the slower it goes (avoidance)
good looking but bad breath
avoidance gradient is steeper than the approach gradient
getting paid (approach) for working with people you don’t like (avoidance)
getting closer to wedding; both gradients increase

double approach-avoidance

fourth type of conflict
straight-run maze, rat in put in the middle
each end there is both food and shock
rat runs to toward one end, slows down
turns around & runs toward other end
spends all of its time running back and forth
choice between two alternatives, each with positive and negative factors

Dollard-Miller’s Psychoanalytic Learning Theory

Dollard, John (anthropologist)
Miller, Neal (psychologist)
explain psychoanalytic principles in modern terms
combined Sigmund Freud and Clark Hull
Hull = behavior is reinforced by drive reduction
drives are strong stimuli that produce discomfort (hunger, thirst, etc.)
drive impels us to action
drives
strong stimuli that produce discomfort (hunger, thirst, etc.)
impel us to action
operationally define drive as length of deprivation
increase in drive increases:
height (starting point) of the approach gradient but not angle
height (starting point) of the avoidance gradient but not angle
running speed. Faster speed (hungrier) but same dynamics
triggered by a cue
hungry (drive) & hear your tummy growl (cue)
cue triggers a behavior to reduce the drive (get up and go to the kitchen)
primary reinforcers = events that reduce primary drives (physiological processes)
secondary reinforcers = events that reduce learned drives (acquired drives)
cookies reduce primary drive (hunger) but not secondary drive (feeling loved)

Four processes

drive = the engine
cue = when, where & how to respond
response = behavior
reinforcement = drive reduction
keep trying different responses until one of them satisfies the drive
don’t explain where the drives come from
frustration = blocked attempt to reduce drive
conflict = severe frustration; incompatible responses

Unconscious behavior

unconscious behavior a central theme of their model
behaviors are unconscious because we’re unaware of the cues or unaware of the drive itself
unconscious means unlabeled
labeling plays makes us less neurotic

Stupidity-misery syndrome

neurotic = experiencing a strong, unconscious (unlabeled) emotional conflict
can’t discriminate effectively and make bad decisions
unaware of our conflict (stupid)
make bad decisions that make us miserable
misery is a result of not labeling our conflicts
Rumpelstiltskin
avoiding the anxiety of a conflict prevents drive from being reduced
neurotic conflicts are taught by parents
defines Freud’s term identification as imitating the behavior of another

*14 Terms_