INTRODUCTION TO BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

NATIA BADRIDZE, MD
 What is Behavioral Science?

Behavioral science is a systematic, controlled,

empirical and critical investigation of behavior of
the organism through controlled and naturalistic
experimental observations and rigorous
formulations. It encompasses the activities of and
interactions among organisms in the natural world.
 What is Behavioral Science? cont’

1. Behavioral scientists attempt to study the behavior on

the basis of systematic, rational, demonstrable-cause-
effect relationship.

2. They involve scientific methods of inquiry.

3. The findings can be repeated and the data collection is

objective.

4. The aim of behavioral scientists is to understand and

predict the behavior.
 The core disciplines of Behavioral
Science
1.Psychology

2.Sociology

3.Anthropology
 The core disciplines of Behavioral
Science
Psychology
It is the study of behavior on the basis of rational,
demonstrable-cause-effect relationship.

Sociology
Sociology is the study of social systems which means an
operational social unit that is structured to serve a purpose.

Anthropology
The aim of anthropology is to acquire a better
understanding of the relationship between the human being
and the environment.
Behaviorism-Behavioral Psychology

Refers to a psychological
approach which emphasizes
scientific and objective methods
of investigation.

The approach is only concerned

with observable stimulus-
response behaviors, and states
all behaviors are learned
through interaction with the
environment.
 A Little bit of History…Ivan Pavlov

 Ivan Pavlov was Russian physiologist known

primarily for his work in classical
conditioning.

 Classical conditioning-a learning process

that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly
paired: a response which is at first elicited by
the second stimulus is eventually elicited by
the first stimulus alone.

 Pavlov won the Nobel Prize for Physiology

and Medicine in 1904
 A Little bit of History…John B. Watson

John B. Watson was an American

psychologist who established
the psychological school of behaviorism.

The behaviorist movement began in 1913

when John Watson wrote an article entitled
'Psychology as the behaviorist views it',
which set out a number of underlying
assumptions regarding methodology and
behavioral analysis.
 A Little bit of History…John B. Watson cont’

Basic Assumptions
All behavior is learned from the
environment.
Behaviorism emphasizes the role of
environmental factors in influencing behavior,
to the near exclusion of innate or inherited
factors. This amounts essentially to a focus on
learning.
We learn new behavior through classical or
operant conditioning (collectively known as
'learning theory').
Therefore, when born our mind is 'tabula
rasa' (a blank slate).
 A Little bit of History…B. F. Skinner

Frederic Skinner commonly known as

B. F. Skinner, was an American
psychologist, behaviorist, author,
inventor, and social philosopher.
 Learning Theory

•Learning is the acquisition of new behavior patterns.

•Methods of learning include simple forms, such as

habituation and sensitization, and more complex types,
including classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

•Learning methods are the basis of behavioral treatment

techniques, such as systematic desensitization, aversive
conditioning, flooding, biofeedback, token economy, and
cognitive therapy.
 HABITUATION AND SENSITIZATION

Habituation (also called desensitization), repeated

stimulation results in a decreased response (e.g.,
a child who receives weekly allergy injections cries
less and less with each injection).

In sensitization, repeated stimulation results in an

increased response (e.g., a child who is afraid of
spiders feels more anxiety each time he
encounters a spider).
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

1. Principles: In classical conditioning, a natural or

reflexive response (behavior) is elicited by a learned
stimulus (a cue from an internal or external event). This
type of learning is called associative learning.

2. The hippocampus is particularly important in associative

learning.

3. The cerebellum participates in classical conditioning,

specifically in associations involving motor skills.
 Elements of classical conditioning
1.An unconditioned stimulus is something that automatically,
without having to be learned, produces a response (e.g., the odor of
food).

2. An unconditioned response is a natural, reflexive behavior that

does not have to be learned (e.g., salivation in response to the odor
of food).

3. A conditioned stimulus is something that produces a response

following learning (e.g., the sound of the lunch bell).

4. A conditioned response is a behavior that is learned by an

association made between a conditioned stimulus and an
unconditioned response (e.g., salivation in response to the lunch
bell).
 Response acquisition, extinction,
and stimulus generalization

1.In acquisition, the conditioned response (e.g., salivation in

response to the lunch bell) is learned.

2.In extinction, the conditioned response decreases if the

conditioned stimulus (e.g., the sound of the lunch bell) is
never again paired with the unconditioned stimulus (e.g., the
odor of food).

3.In stimulus generalization, a new stimulus (e.g., a church

bell) that resembles a conditioned stimulus (e.g., the lunch
bell) causes a conditioned response (e.g., salivation).
 Aversive conditioning

• An unwanted behavior (e.g., setting fires) is paired

with a painful or aversive stimulus (e.g., a painful
electric shock).
• An association is created between the unwanted
behavior (fire-setting) and the aversive stimulus
(pain) and the fire-setting ceases.
 Learned helplessness
• An animal receives a series of painful electric shocks from
which it is unable to escape.
• By classical conditioning, the animal learns that there is an
association between an aversive stimulus (e.g., painful
electric shock) and the inability to escape.
• Subsequently, the animal makes no attempt to escape when
shocked or when faced with any new aversive stimulus;
instead, the animal becomes hopeless and apathetic.
• Learned helplessness in animals may be a model system
for depression (often characterized by hopelessness and
apathy) in humans.
• Antidepressant treatment increases escape attempts in
animal models.
 Imprinting
 Imprinting is an inherited tendency that newborn
animals exhibit to respond to their environment.
Ducklings, geese, and other animals imprint
within hours of hatching and imprint on what they
first see and follow it.
 The newborn creature bonds to the type of
animals it meets at birth and begins to pattern its
behavior after them.
 In humans, this is often called bonding, and it
usually refers to the relationship between the
newborn and its parents.
 Operant Conditioning-Principles:

• Behavior is determined by its consequences for the

individual.
• The consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
occurs immediately following a behavior.
• In operant conditioning, a behavior that is not
part of the individual’s natural repertoire can be
learned through reinforcement.
 Reinforcement
• Reinforcement is used to help increase the
probability that a specific behavior will
occur in the future by delivering or
removing a stimulus immediately after a
behavior.
• Another way to put it is that reinforcement,
if done correctly, results in a behavior
occurring more frequently in the future.
 Positive Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement The following are some

examples of positive
works by presenting a reinforcement:
motivating/reinforcing
stimulus to the person •A mother gives her son praise
(reinforcing stimulus) for doing
after the desired homework (behavior).
behavior is exhibited, •The little boy receives $5.00
making the behavior (reinforcing stimulus) for every A
he earns on his report card
more likely to happen (behavior).
in the future. •A father gives his daughter
candy (reinforcing stimulus) for
cleaning up toys (behavior).
 Negative Reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement occurs
when a certain stimulus The following are some
(usually an aversive stimulus) is examples of negative
removed after a particular
behavior is exhibited.
reinforcement:
• The likelihood of the particular
behavior occurring again in the •Bob does the dishes
future is increased because of
removing/avoiding the negative
(behavior) in order to stop
consequence. his mother’s nagging
(aversive stimulus).
• Negative reinforcement should •Joe presses a button
not be thought of as a
punishment procedure. (behavior) that turns off a
loud alarm (aversive
• With negative reinforcement, stimulus)
you are increasing a behavior,
whereas with punishment, you
are decreasing a behavior.
 The Difference between Positive/Negative
Reinforcement and Positive/Negative Punishment

• When thinking about reinforcement, always

remember that the end result is to try to increase the
behavior, whereas punishment procedures are used
to decrease behavior.

• For positive reinforcement, think of it as adding

something positive in order to increase a response.
For negative reinforcement, think of it as taking
something negative away in order to increase a
response.
 Punishment
• When people hear that punishment procedures are
being used, they typically think of an aversive or harmful
consequence. This is not always the case as you can
see below.
• Punishment is a process by which a consequence
immediately follows a behavior which decreases the
future frequency of that behavior.
• Like reinforcement, a stimulus can be added (positive
punishment) or removed (negative punishment).
• There are two types of punishment: positive and
negative, and it can be difficult to tell the difference
between the two. Below are some examples to help
clear up the confusion.
 What is Positive Punishment?
Positive punishment works by presenting an aversive consequence
after an undesired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely
to happen in the future. The following are some examples of positive
punishment:

•A child picks his nose during class (behavior) and the teacher
reprimands him (aversive stimulus) in front of his classmates.
•A child touches a hot stove (behavior) and feels pain (aversive
stimulus).
•A person eats spoiled food (behavior) and gets a bad taste in his/her
mouth (aversive stimulus).
 What is Negative Punishment?
Negative punishment happens when a certain reinforcing stimulus is
removed after a particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in
the behavior happening less often in the future.

•The following are some examples of negative punishment:

•A child kicks a peer (behavior), and is removed from his/her favorite

activity (reinforcing stimulus removed)
•A child yells out in class (behavior), loses a token for good behavior on
his/her token board (reinforcing stimulus removed) that could have later
be cashed in for a prize.
•A child fights with her brother (behavior) and has her favorite toy taken
away (reinforcing stimulus removed).
 Punishment cont’
• With punishment, always remember that the end
result is to try to decrease the undesired behavior.
• Positive punishment involves adding an aversive
consequence after an undesired behavior is emitted
to decrease future responses.
• Negative punishment includes taking away a certain
reinforcing item after the undesired behavior
happens in order to decrease future responses.
Example: A mother would like her 8-yr-old son to stop hitting his 6-
yr-old brother. She can achieve this goal by using one of
the following features of operant conditioning.

Feature Effect on Behavior Example Comments

Positive Behavior is Child increases his kind Reward or reinforcement

increased by behavior toward his (praise)increases desired
reinforcement behavior (kindness toward
reward younger brother to get
praise from his mother brother)A reward can be
praise or attention as well as
a tangible reward like money
Negative reinforcement Behavior is Child increases his kind Active avoidance of an
increased by behavior toward his younger aversive stimulus (being
brother to avoid scolded) increases desired
avoidance or
being scolded behavior (kindness
escape toward brother)
Punishment Behavior is Child decreases his hitting Delivery of an aversive
decreased by behavior after his mother stimulus (scolding)
scolds him decreases unwanted
suppression
behavior (hitting brother)
rapidly but not permanently
Extinction Behavior is eliminated Child stops his hitting Extinction is more effective
by non-reinforcement behavior when the behavior than punishment for
is ignored long-term reduction in
unwanted behavior
There may be an initial
increase in hitting behavior
before it disappears
 Operant Conditioning
Features
The likelihood that a behavior will occur is increased
by positive or negative reinforcement and decreased
by punishment or extinction
The pattern, or schedule, of reinforcement affects
how quickly a behavior is learned and how quickly a
behavior becomes extinguished when it is not
rewarded.
Extinction in operant conditioning is the gradual
disappearance of a learned behavior when
reinforcement (reward) is withheld.
 Schedules of Reinforcement
Schedule Reinforcement Example
Continuous Presented after every A teenager receives a candy
bar each time she puts a
response dollar into a vending
machine. One time she puts
a dollar in and nothing
comes out. She never buys
candy from the machine
again
Fixed ratio Presented after a A man is paid $10 for every
five hats he makes. He
designated number makes as many hats as he
of responses can during his shift
Fixed Presented after a A student has an anatomy
quiz every Friday. He
interval designated amount of studies for 10 min on
time Wednesday nights, and for 2
h on
Thursday nights
Variable Presented after a After a slot machine pays off
$5 for a single quarter, a
ratio random and woman plays $50 in quarters
unpredictable despite the fact that she
number of responses receives no further payoffs
Variable Presented after a After 5 min of fishing in a
lake, a man catches a large
interval random and fish. He then spends 4 h
unpredictable waiting for another bite
Effect on Behavior
Behavior (putting in a dollar
to receive candy) is rapidly
learned but disappears
rapidly (has little resistance
to extinction) when not
reinforced (no candy comes
out)
Fast response rate (many
hats are made quickly)
The response rate (studying)
increases toward the end of
each interval (1 wk)
When graphed, the response
rate forms a scalloped curve
The behavior (playing the
slot machine) continues (is
highly resistant toextinction)
despite the fact that it is only
reinforced (winning money)
after a large but
variable number of
responses
The behavior (fishing)
continues (is highly
resistant to extinction) despite
the fact that it is only
reinforced (a fish is
 Operant Conditioning
Resistance to extinction
is the force that prevents the behavior from disappearing
when a reward is withheld.
Shaping and modeling
1. Shaping involves rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the wanted behavior until the correct
behavior is achieved (e.g., a child learning to write is
praised when she makes a letter, even though it is not
formed perfectly).

2. Modeling is a type of observational learning (e.g., an

individual behaves in a manner similar to that of someone
she admires).
 A Little bit of History…Sigmund
Freud
• Sigmund Freud was an
Austrian neurologist and the founder
of psychoanalysis a clinical method for
treating psychopathology through which
an analyst unpacks unconscious
conflicts based on the free associations,
dreams and fantasies of the patient.

• His theories on child sexuality, libido and

the ego, among other topics, were some
of the most influential academic concepts
of the 20th century.
Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Theory

Psychoanalytic theory is based on Freud’s

concept that behavior is determined by
forces derived from unconscious mental
processes.

Psychoanalysis and related therapies are

psychotherapeutic treatments based on this
concept.
 FREUD’S THEORIES OF THE MIND
To explain his ideas, Freud developed, early in his career, the
topographic theory of the mind and, later in his career, the structural
theory.

A.Topographic theory of the mind.

B.In the topographic theory, the mind contains three levels:
The unconscious, preconscious, and conscious.
1. The unconscious mind contains instinctive drives and wishes that
are not available to the conscious mind, and uses primary process
thinking.
a. Primary process is a type of thinking associated with primitive drives,
wish fulfillment and pleasure seeking, and has no logic or concept of
time. Primary process thinking is seen in young children and psychotic
adults.
b. Dreams represent gratification of unconscious instinctive impulses
and wish fulfillment.
 Freud’s Structural Theory of the Mind
Structural Topographic Level Age at which it Characteristics
Component of Operation Develops

Contains instinctive sexual

and aggressive drives
Controlled by primary
Id Unconscious Present at birth process thinking
Not influenced by external
reality
Controls the expression of
the id to adapt to the
requirements
of the external world
primarily by the use of
defense mechanisms
Unconscious, Begins to develop Enables one to sustain
satisfying interpersonal
Ego preconscious, immediately relationships
and conscious after birth Through reality testing (i.e.,
constantly evaluating what
is valid and then adapting to
that reality), enables one to
maintain a sense of reality
about the body and the
external world

Unconscious, Begins to develop Associated with moral

values and conscience
Superego preconscious, by about 6 yrs Controls the expression of
and conscious of age the id
 FREUD’S THEORIES OF THE MIND

The preconscious mind contains memories that, while not

immediately available, can be accessed easily.

The conscious mind contains thoughts that a person is

currently aware of. It operates in close conjunction with the
preconscious mind but does not have access to the
unconscious mind. The conscious mind uses secondary
process thinking (logical, mature, time-oriented) and can
delay gratification.
Structural theory of the mind.
In the structural theory, the mind contains three parts: The id,
the ego, and the superego.
 DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Defense mechanisms are unconscious mental techniques used by
the Ego to keep conflicts out of the conscious mind, thus decreasing
anxiety and maintaining a person’s sense of safety, equilibrium, and
self-esteem.

They can be useful in helping people deal with difficult life situations
such as medical illness, but, when used to excess, can become a
barrier to seeking care or adhering to treatment recommendations.

Specific defense mechanisms

1. Some defense mechanisms are immature (i.e., they are
manifestations of childlike or disturbed behavior).
2. Mature defense mechanisms (e.g., altruism, humor, sublimation,
and suppression), when used in moderation, directly help the patient
or others.
3. Repression, pushing unacceptable emotions.
 DEFENSE MECHANISMS
Transference and countertransference are unconscious mental attitudes
based on important past personal relationships (e.g., with parents).

These phenomena increase emotionality and may thus alter judgment

and behavior in patients’ relationships with their doctors (transference)
and doctors’ relationships with their patients (countertransference).

Transference
1. In positive transference, the patient has confidence in the doctor. If
intense, the patient may over-idealize the doctor or develop sexual
feelings toward the doctor.
2. In negative transference, the patient may become resentful or angry
toward the doctor if the patient’s desires and expectations are not
realized. This may lead to poor adherence to medical advice.

In countertransference, feelings about a patient who reminds the

doctor of a close friend or relative can interfere with the doctor’s medical
judgment.
THANK YOU