Dollard and Miller
Terms
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- Neal Miller\'s pioneer research involving the use of some mechanical device, such as an auditory signal or flashing light, to provide individuals with info about the functioning of one or more of their internal biological processes
- Biofeedback
- -was more specific about the nature of reinforcement -Drive Reduction theory of learning (for a stimulus to be a reinforcer, it must reduce a drive) -Reinforcer as a stimulus capable of reducing a drive
- Hull\'s theory of learning
- association between a stimulus and a response
- Habit *cornerstone of Hull\'s theory
- Dollard and Miller\'s theory of personality relies heavily upon 4 concepts they borrowed from Hull\'s theory of learning
- They are: 1-drive 2-cue 3-response 4-reinforcement
- any strong stimulus that impels an organism to action, and whose elimination or reduction is reinforcing
- 1- Drive *the energizer of personality and the motivational concept in D&M\'s theory *can be either internal:hunger/thirst external:intense heat/ cold
- a stimulus that indicates the appropriate direction an activity should take
- 2- Cue *cues guide behavior
- elicited by the drive and cues present and are aimed at reducing or eliminating the drive
- 3- Responses *learning -the rearrangement of response probabilities as new conditions emerge or as old conditions change
- drive reduction constitutes this..
- 4- Reinforcement
- any theory of learning that states that reinforcement must occur before learning can take place
- reinforcement theory
- group of responses elicited by a single stimulus that are arranged in accordance with their probability of occurrence
- habit family hierarchy
- a genetically determined set of responses that is triggered by certain drive conditions
- innate hierarchy of responses
- the response most likely to occur at any given time and is the one that has been the most successful in bringing about drive reduction
- dominant response
- the arrangement of responses elicited by a cue, prior to learning
- Initial hierarchy of responses
- the revised arrangement of responses after learning has occurred
- Resultant hierarchy of responses
- contention that for learning to occur, both innate and previously learned responses must be ineffective in solving a problem. Therefore, learning is said to depend on failure
- learning dilemma
- the observation that if a series of responses leads to reinforcement, the last response in the series will be strengthened the most, then the second to the last etc..
- gradient of reinforcement
- Miller\'s experiment that demonstrated that fear itself becomes a drive that can be reduced, resulting in reinforcement
- Miller\'s 1948 \'Fear as an Acquired Drive\' experiment
- learning to fear something that was not previously feared
- conditioned fear reaction
- the more similar stimuli are to the one actually used in the learning process, the greater the probability that they will elicit a similar learned response
- stimulus generalization
- ability to restrict responding only to the target stimulus...the opposite of generalization
- discrimination
- neurotics often lose their ability to discriminate and tend to over- generalize their anxieties: D&M came up with these 2 types of generalization:
- 1-Primary 2-Secondary
- generalization that is determined by the physical similarity among stimuli
- Primary generalization *is innate and is governed by a person\'s sensory apparatus
- generalization that is based on verbal labels (words)
- Secondary generalization *D&M also called it \'learned equivalence\', which is mediated by language
- situation in which 2 or more incompatible response tendencies exist simultaneously
- Conflict *Miller intensively studied it
- conflict between 2 positive goals that are equally attractive at the same time
- Approach-approach conflict Ex:woman trying to choose b/t 2 equally good guys... resolve by attaining the one goal first,and then the other
- a person must choose between 2 negative goals. usually characterized by behavior displaying: 1-vacillation or indecision 2-escape
- Avoidance-avoidance conflict Ex: eat spinach or get spanked
- conflict where the person is both attracted to and repelled by the same goal
- Approach-avoidance conflict Ex: A job that makes a lot of money, but is also boring and you hate it
- feature of Approach-avoidance conflict, tendency to approach a goal is stronger, the closer the subject is to it
- 1) gradient of approach
- feature of Approach-avoidance conflict, the tendency to avoid a feared stimulus is stronger the closer the subject is to it
- 2) gradient of avoidance
- feature of Approach-avoidance conflict, the gradient of avoidance is steeper than that of approach
- 3) avoidance steeper than approach
- feature of Approach-avoidance conflict, the strength of tendencies to approach or avoid varies with the strength of the drive upon which they are based
- 4) an increase in drive RAISES the height of the entire gradient
- act of substituting one goal for another when the primary goal is not available or is feared
- Displacement
- aggressing toward a substitute person or object when the actual object of aggression either is not available or is feared
- Displaced aggression * Miller\'s experiment (1948) where he out 2 rats in an apparatus and ahocked them until they fought with each other. When one rat was taken away and replaced by a doll, the other rat attacked the doll just like it would have the other rat
- 1)when its impossible to respond to a desired stimulus..look for stimulus most similar 2)If a response to the original stimulus is prevented by conflict...look to an intermediate stimulus 3)if there are strong avoidance tendencies to the original stimul
- Miller\'s conclusions about Displacement
- processes extremely important in determining behavior Consists of: 1- experiences that were never verbalized (infantile amnesia) 2- repressed experiences
- Unconscious Mind
- actively putting an anxiety-provoking thought out of one\'s mind (escape from anxiety)
- Suppression
- learned response of \"not thinking\" an anxiety-provoking thought (avoidance of anxiety)
- Repression
- condition that causes a person to function at less than maximal efficiency, which typically results from UNCONSCIOUS conflict that originated in early childhood
- Neurosis *taught by parents and learned by kids *approach-avoidance conflict *self-defeating/ perpetuating
- -neurotic symptoms are learned b/c they reduce anxiety -Mowrer\'s 2 factor theory *class. conditioning *neg. reinf\'t--> problem never gets addressed
- Symptom Formation
- situation where repressed conflicts can be unlearned. Extinction is the change agent
- Psychotherapy *allows person to get better and no longer need the neurotic symptom they have developed
- 1- Feeding 2- Cleanliness training 3- Early sex training 4- anger-anxiety conflicts
- The 4 critical training situations of childhood
- -neurotic symptoms are learned b/c they reduce anxiety -Mowrer\'s 2 factor theory *class. conditioning *neg. reinf\'t--> problem never gets addressed
- Symptom Formation