Psychology - Behaviorism

1. Provide examples that illustrate the four possible consequences for a behavior.
Which of these four consequences is the only non-coercive one?
The four possible consequences for a behavior are: Positive Reinforcement,
Negative Reinforcement, Punishment and Extinction. An example of positive
reinforcement is when parents take their kids out to eat their favourite dish after
they’ve performed well in an exam at school. In this case, they are rewarding the
individuals for their good behavior and encouraging them to keep with it. On the
other hand, removing restrictions from a child when he or she get good grades on a
test is a negative reinforcement. The kid will study for the exam because they know
that if they get a bad grade, they will be grounded with no tv or prohibited of going
out. Punishment is a consequence that people are usually trying to avoid, for
example, a student is caught using his telephone during the lesson and the teacher
suspends him. He is being punished for his bad behaviour with the aim of learning
and not doing it again. Lastly, there is extinction. Imagine a child is walking in the
shopping mall with their mother and sees a toy at display. He starts asking his
mother to buy it and cries when she refuses. If every time the child does this, the
mother gives them the attention they want and ends up buying the toy, the kid will
turn out spoiled. In extinction, the mother will not encourage this behaviour, until the
child stops doing it at all. The only non-coercive one is the positive reinforcement,
because all the other one appeal to force or threats. Negative Reinforcement
enhances the desired behavior by avoiding something unpleasant, Punishment
reduces the desired behavior by adding something unpleasant, while extinction
decreases the desired behavior by removing something pleasant.
2. We can say that the behaviorist model of causality is based on two basic
conjectures. What are these assumptions and what do they mean?
The two basic conjectures in which the behaviorist model of causality is based are
the Respondent (Reflex) and Operant Behaviors. Respondent behavior is usually
called “involuntary” behavior. It is directly related to a specific stimulus, predictably
happening if stimulated by it and are independent of a learning process. Operant
behavior, on the other hand, is a behavior shaped by consequences and it may be
developed by a change in the environment or a behavior taught to the individual
through reinforcement or punishment.
3. A television advertisement shows a young woman and a young man, both
attractive, happily chatting and consuming a brand of alcoholic beverage in a
bar located in a marina. In the next scene, the couple appears on a speedboat
on the high seas and the camera focuses on the bottle of drink they were both
previously consuming at the marina bar. In the three months following the
advertisement, sales of the product rose 18%, 12% and 4% respectively,
returning to previous levels of consumption from the fourth month onwards,
even with the advertisement still being broadcast on television. How do you
explain, using behaviorist concepts and terms (remember the A-B-C formula of
behaviorism), the initial rise in sales in the first month following the start of
advertising? What is your hypothesis for the slowdown in sales from the second
month onwards? How do you explain the return to consumption levels from the
fourth month onwards similar to the months before the advertisement was
broadcast?
According to the behaviorist concepts and terms, the initial rise in sales in the first
month following the start of advertising can be explained by the A-B-C formula of
behaviorism. As an antecedent, the individuals watched the advertisement in which
a couple is shown drinking a certain beverage in a marina and then later cruising
on a boat with the same drink. This, just like the Pavlov’s Dog is conditioned to
salivate when shown the food, made the individuals crave for that lifestyle and
encouraged the behavior of buying the beverage, more for the status then for the
drink itself. My hypothesis for the slowdown in sales from the second month
onwards and the return to consumption levels from the fourth month similar to the
months before the advertisement was broadcast is directly related with the
consequence of the A-B-C formula. The reinforcement was not strong enough and
after buying the beverage, the new consumers noticed that it didn’t have anything
special and they were caried away by the advertisement stimulus. That is, as a
consequence, people stopped buying the drink and sales decreased.

4. What is the purpose of the punishment scheme? What are the results of the
process of increasing the intensity of punishment on an individual? What are
the results when the intensity of punishment is extremely high? Why does the
behavior persist despite the punishment procedure?
The purpose of punishment is to reduce the likelihood of a certain behavior
occurring in the future by the production of an aversive stimulus. The results of the
process of increasing the intensity of punishment on an individual is the temporary
suppression of that behavior. When the intensity of the punishment is extremely
high, the suppression would not be temporary but rather definitive and the individual
would cease the behavior. The behavior persists after punishment when the
punished has to choose between a mild punishment and a positive reinforcement.
Most of the times, the desire towards the positive reinforcement is bigger than the
desire of escaping the punishment and the person ends up going back to their
former behavior and ignores the whole process, weakening the theory of
punishment.

5. Not long ago a room service waiter at one of our hotels delivered dinner to a
guest. When he knocked on the door, he found the woman crying. He learned
that his sister had just died of cancer. On his own initiative, this member went to
the hotel's gift shop, bought a card and had all members sign it. Then he
collected a dollar from each employee, bought her flowers, delivered them and
said, 'We just wanted to let you know that you are not among strangers here.'
This guest room may be our product, but our associate's caring attitude is our
value. We cannot measure it with statistics and we cannot manufacture it. We
can deliver this value only if we can attract, retain and inspire the best people
with what we call "the spirit of service". This story was related by J.W. Marriott,
chief executive of Marriott Hotels, in a speech entitled "Our Competitive
Strength: Human Capital." (Fineman, Stephen. Understanding Emotion at Work
(p. 41). SAGE Publications). How do you analyze this story - from its beginnings
to the speech of the Marriott Hotels chief executive - using the A-B-C formula of
behaviorism? What are the likely consequences of the Marriott Hotels chief
executive's speech for its customers? And for its employees? Justify your
answers based on behaviorist theory.
According to the A-B-C formula of behaviourism, the antecedent factor was the
guest crying in her room because of her sister’s death when the waiter came to do
the room service. The behavior to be analysed was the one had by the waiter, who
bought a card and asked for all his colleagues to sign it and later delivered it with
flowers and a very kind message to the guest’s room. The likely consequence of
that behavior for the Marriott Hotels customers after the story was publicly
disclosed is that the hotel chain will improve its image. The costumers will be
softened by the staff’s behavior and will judge it as a competent but still
sympathetic one, relating this action with the Marriott’s principles. For its
employees, the main consequence should be a reward for well performing their
jobs and welcoming the guests according to good values, as a positive
reinforcement to keep up with this excellent behavior.