,

ro psychology had been overshadowed in the Unitetl States by lhe broaclel,,mbrepraencal approaii't of the funcdonalists. The functionalist victory was completeby 1930, and

fr

Ps'iclrPLo7q Hitro *Y r J ,or ilobFRNgc+lttrz

Lun 6U

in the U*ted Smtes today psychology is, to some ex&nt, funcdonal in its orientation, rhough functionalism as a seBarate school o[ droughr no longer exists. Because of its
succe-ss, there is no longer any need for

t\ f Airun* " ftftRebunrr l5RfrrE YxvftAro\t:cH euLEGE " ' y-Auutiqlrng 4gg!
Behaviorism: Antecedent Influences

mrv

rc P. ELEN Scuutrz

it to retain the ciraracteristics o[ a school'

SUGGESTED READTNGS
Functionalism .Can,H.A.(tC:O).Functionalism.tnC'lvturchison(Ed'),Psychotogreso/l9JO(pp'59-78)'
tVorcester, MA: Clark Universiry Press' Monographs, Har.rison, R. (1963). Functionalism and its historicat significance. Genctic P.9 chologt

ffi,3871423.
Heidbreder, E- (1s69). Functiopalism. In D. New York: APPleton.Century-Crofs.
Jameq

Krantz (Ed.). Sclools oJpsychologr (pp. 35-50).

INTRODUCTION
By the second decade of the rwentieth century, fewer rhan 40 years afrer wundt formally launched psychology, the science had undergone dost,. ,.uirion, CtJ;ll psychologiss agree an the value of inrrospection, on the existence of elemJns of the mind, or on the necessity of psycholog/s.rernaining "pure.;i functionaliss wer'e rewritingthe rules of psycholog5 experimenting wirh and applying ps;..chology in rva;s

W (I90+).

The Chicago

school

Psyclwlogxal B*Ilerin,

I, l-5'

lvtcKinney, F. (1978). Funcdonalism arChicago-Memoriesof a gmduate studenr 1929-1931. f4' l'12-118 Jounai of the l;tut*yaJ'thp Behavioral Sciaces'

n. b;;;;

Raphelson,A.C (Ig73).Thepre-Chicagoassociarionofrheearlyfunctionaliso.Journalo!the Hsary oJ the Behavioral Sciences, 9' I15-122'

DeweY

rlii

'.

ii: - Ciibsgrnn;
Angell

Boring,E.G,(1953).JohnDewey:1859-1952.funerirrr;a]ownaloJPsychalog'66'145-1,17' p.,(194'z). The psltchology of Jo-lrn Dewefi.fsllhol..Trcpiaevrgp,49,.fJl-J6J;..., ,; -Derve5J.(1896).Therellexarcconceptinpeychology.PsycholqgicclReview,3,SJT-37O.

.,,,

"

Angell,J. R. (1907). The province of fuircdonal psl,chology'. Psychological Revierq 14,6l-91. . Angell,J'R.(l9l]),Behaviolasacatesoryofpsychology Psycholog1calkvinv,20,255.27a.

'

Carr
Grr, H. ( I9I7).
Whirely" The nature of mental process' Psychologi':al Review, 24, l8I- 187' L. (1976). A new name for an old idea? A student of Harvey Carr rellects. Journal oJ tlv Hktory of tW Behavioral $cien*s' 12, 260-27 4'

Woodrrorth
pofllnhe;gci.

t.

-f.

1g62). Robert Sesslons i.1.)od*'onh. i$69*1961. ArnericoxJorrr&rl ty'

PsYchoi,rgr, 75, 67 7

-692:

Thorae, F. C. (1976). Rellections on the golden age ofColumbia psychology Hutnry aJ thc Bchavioral Scicn?es, 12, 159*165'

J*ttwlat

the

lvorilworrh,

R. S. (1939). Fsychologc4l issucs: Sihced papers Cotumhia Univcrsiry Press.

tf

Robert 5. tVoodr'orth' New York:

thatcould not be admiued into lripzig or Comell. The movement from wundtian psychology and from strucruralism to functionalism was less revolurionary,than evolutionary. Thi functionaliss did nr:t or out to d*troy the esublishment of wundt and Titchenerrhey modi6ed ir, adding a bir.herei .lnstead, " changing rhere, so rhat slowly, over a number of years, a new psycholog) imerged. q -It was rnore a chipping away' from within than a deli6erate attack fioin The leaders of the functionalist rnovement did not even feel the nced to solidifv or formalize their position into a school. After all, it r,tas, as they san'ii, not a break u,ith the past but a building upon it. The change from strucruralism to functionalism was, rherefore, not all that noticeable at the time it was taking place. There is no panicular day or year that *.e can poinr io as the stan of functionalism, a time when psychology seemed to change overnight. lndeecl, it is difficult, as we have noted, to point to a particular individu]al as the-founder oi' functionalisrn. This was the situation in the second decade of rhe nrtndeth centun, in the united States. Functionalism was maruring and strucruralism stilt helcl a srrongiur no longer exclusive position. In l9l3 a revolution against both of rh*se posirinn-s enrpted. This l*s trul,v a revolt, an open break, a total r*ar against rhe rstnblishment, inrent cn shanerrng br.rth po,inrs of vier',1 Nothing about rhis event u/as gradual or smooth. It was sudden,-traum*tic, ancl dramatic, no modificarion of rhe pest, no compromise, but a complete change. rtte n"* *"t.meru *li.d fuhaviorism and is leader *as theJ>yir.oh-ps;,, .bdloei:t .lobn sroadus \L'aE 1.,* pi..-o. under Angdl at the University of Chicago, the cenrer

oithlur

'

*s

JEi'jl@E;;Lqtsa_hA_rsi."d @ wA rsofrffi ;u 3ni6n. - ----* "*

t-6

17l

a" -.

The lnfluence oJ Animal Prycholog on Behdviorisnr

manifesro he ouiote was a broad, slashing auack on the existing systems ofpsychologyl if,"-"ia order, he suted, was a hilure and wouldhave qgl*. Yy to behaviorisrn if prychology were to advince. In tirne these older schools of thought were largely abanio*A uui behaviorism became the rio$ important and controversial American sysJem Social life of of osycholoqy. Moreover, ie assumed a'Prominent role in the culUral and that earlierpositions had not achieved' of watsoni behaviorism were .simple, direct, and bold' He called for wirh psYchologY, an objective acts that could be

Watson iryugpraled his revolution with an anicle in the Psycholpgial-Rnf":3hl

objectively observed- Comte vigorously protested against mentalisrn and su,bjecive

merhodology. By the beginning of the iwentieth century objectivism, meehanisrn; and marerialisrn had grorwr strong. Their lnlLience was so pervasirre rhat they led inexorably to a new kind of psy'chology, one wirhout 'consciousness" or'mind' or "soul," one rhat focused on only what could be seen and heard and touched. The science of behavior, viewing the human being as a machine, was rhe inescapable result. We nolr tum to a discussion of the influence ofanirnal psychology and funcdonalism on the founding of behaviorism, as borh movemens were infused by the mechanistic, materialistic, and positir*dc climate of rhe times.

rh"'ti*.r, uitutus

fit. trti.i""",t

aW

Watson! ioterests shed light on

Such rvordi was

'

TITE INFLT'ENCE OF

ANIMAL PSY,CHOIOGY ON BET.IAVIORISM

tasrcd, or,moved, ltlis d:piain'assurnption jusr asrrnprovable as the "*,itl"d, o[ soul" (watson 6r McDougpll; 1929, p. 14). The technique of,inrospec' old concept

iou.f,.a,

consmicied his $ew system of psychologp The poinr is *'onh reiteraring' "Creations ''r"ry ,ur.,lif thay o..ur at all; mos-r novelties are only novel absolutely de novo "r" the degree of novelry is thus a matter of interpretaelements,.'and combinaiions o[ old tion" (Sanon, f936, p. 36). This chaprer examines behaviorismb antecedent in0uences, the .+old elenrents" At least three his Watsonso Fm, of

Wason stated succinctly the relationship berween animal psychology and behaviorism: "Behaviorism is a direct ourgrorth of studies in aninal behavior during the first decade of the tnentiedr.centur-y" (1929, p. 327). Clearly, then, the rnosr imponant single antecedent ofthedevelopment ofWaaorib program uas anirnalpsychology, which grew out of evolutionary theory ft,led,to."a$ernpsirddemonstrate rhe,existence iif'rnind in lower organisms and the continuity benreen hunran and.anirnal rninds" We 'har,ne discussed :the work o[ rwo'pioneet inimal psychologisrs. George John Romanes and C. Lloyd lrlorgan (Chapter 6). With Morgan's law of panirnony and great r reliance on experimental insread ofanecdotal techniqued, the nerv field ofanimal psychology uzs becoming morg objective. Consciousness was still irs concem, however, ,,. .and informarion abouran"aiiimal's level o[ conscioushess was inferred from observations of irs behavior. Thus, wbile the nrethodology was becoming more objective, the subject tllatter was not. The Frrnch psychologst, Alfred Biner, published The Psychk Lift aJ Micro-Organistns (1889), in $'hich he prop,osed that prorozoa have the abiliry to perceive and discriminate between oblects and to display behavior that is purposive in nature. As late as 1908, Francis Darwin (Charle5 Darwin's son) discussed the role of consciousness in plants
(Boakes. 198.1).

mechanistn had been

In the early years ofanimal psychology in the United States, we find, nor surprisingly, a continuing interest in animal consciou.sness. The founders ofanimal, or compararive, psychologl Romanes and Morgan, exened a srrong influence on the field forsome tirne.

A significant step rcir"rd greater objecivi.ry in animal

1921]

psycholrtgy rvas taken by

*hos" utte*pts at mechanistlb explanarions of the body were among the first steps in
the direcrion of greater pbiegtivity. (1798-1857), founder More importit U the hisrcry of ol$ectivism is Auguste Comte

Unircd

Srates

analogy, Loeb developed a new theory ofanimal beha./ior, His approach was based on the concept o{

of

ih. *orrlm"irt called positivisrn, which emphasized posirive knowledge-facs*the ralid tnrrh of which is not debauble (see Chaptei 2). According to Comte, the only kno*,t"dg" is rhat $.hich i! social in narure and objectivel,r'observable..These criteria o.,r-i,,,.orpecrion, rvirich depends on a privare consciousness that cannot be

ttrrnq.lnrrfltesp.

*i.

The Influtnce oJ Aninral Psychology on Bchaviorisnt 177

176 Chapurgl}ehaiorism:Antacedentlrfluences

<

reject consciousthrou'n nasl-Uc clld not 9ff 1he t{oweveq Loeb'had'nog'completely

ness,

particularlv in

argued

when *"--*-*.-;;;;.," exanrple, byryuL.,'*"* the calling o[ its name' a ccrhin sound by I, *ffi"ilt*-"at to plott-tfit" it is fed' :t.*ltn this is evidence of associative memory

:::*".-,f "ni*"r' that consciousness ti"lgl":T*1:.::::5i

r'lg;':i''t:

T:':l#lffiltllt
rru,r,':),-

ulIrFlEr

Titchener's 6rst doctoral student and wrorc a major

uxtbook in comparativg

goins repeatedly to the mincl or consciousness (specllit/*L En.n-ln ihi, otherwise higd;;;;t5 1ttt o{ idlsi rvas still being invoked' the Universiw of Chicago and expressed lv"son took ,.ut'ul touot'iit-ft rt"Uit with' or r,i. ,""i"ge. This inclicates wasons sympathy rhe desire to do research ,"a.. faculty membcr' another Angelland L""b't ;;d;"'o'i; "of at leasr a curiosity about' this desire' arguing that Loeb ou' n' ponliso;' the neurologist indicating objecdon to Loeb's perhaps but was "unsafe," a word open

;il il;;*-tion

;; ;ik;ffi;" -'t*i;;;;";'

animai behavior within a T;.-f;:Ht'l5t:rbj:'iil'Jh"'tieth century.rh':'"9I:t time in.the Unired Sutes' At the same

biological framework h^d work of Thorndike' was developing rapexoerimenml animal psycnotigl"t""Ufy"tt" o[ una his rvork' using a wide range tsoo iu t*d;;: idlv. Robert Yerkes began '"tt;;i psychology' comparative of and influence animals, greatly qtrengthe"tj'tt't fo'ition w. s. s*^it, and rhe white rar and maze
Also in 1900 rhe rat maze became a sranda,rd

b";;;;d;;'"td

iD:

n;

:;il;;iili"\al
L,[
It is

*;; irrr5i"..J sf **:l-",lt-tfl the problem. **n"a "i ti,,oyi"g t.J*ing' Yet in "l ma;e. ln inteq)retrng ttre the rat rvhire the psychologf .".n'*.ilh
I think' that rihat properly maytre
in called ideas' 6nd slight place

terms: U.n"uiot' Smali wrote in menralistic

also clear,

:,.thdass,:cirri..eprocess.Cilsri","Sii:"iil,A,oliu..ory'.*o,or-organicconditions' That ihesL elcmens mry

and instinctive actiulti"' ii" bleach out and at'""""t"11'"tfri*t11 ence rvould incleed point

i"uLdly

'*t * i'it*ilusion'

the main elements' i*pottiutt Analogy rvith hu1nan eriperi iMackenzit' 1971 p 85)

brand of anthrois more restricted than Romanes's Althoueh this comment of Small's with mental processes' even with pomorphizing,

i n"""*n"r*i"frtJ;;;;;;; w"oon' inii" {'ri1'"".i11".111.ffi il;li"do. ;ffi1*:ffi in 1903' was entr' trjr'Jo.roruf dissertation' completed Watson rvas discussing the 1907 as iltt a' *t:i Psychical Development "f ;"'tfit;; in his rats' objec;l,J;;;;p;;Jnce o[sensation ;i;;i;al psychologl'u'as becoming increasingly In eeneral. however, tht ;;ld experiences o[ consciotrs kinds ihe *u'*t ti ltt ffiti rive iir i,.i methods t"a t*; rsould drsrppear alttrgtthcr'

flffi

r -i',"icil: .:'.iii;i:

being invokecl

w." g,'o*i"g nu"t*"t l"a in a short time rvere beirlg estlhlisheC an'-l manl'universitics ljb.'f:iic,rics olct*p"*tt'"t f ithoiol;v strt' "f i*gtttiff"y Washburn' litr:hcncr''s lirsi dortt'ru1 t'U.ittt offered courses in tft" lvli"d (1908)'
denr, wrote a major

o;ife?iat,rgv ol hrrnran ocperirrrce. . . . We must be anthropomorphic in the notions u.e ftinn r:[ t'hat takes place in the mir-rcl o[ an animal" (\,\'ashburn, 1908, p. 88)ln 191-t the Jorrnal of Alinral Bgh.gr;igf flltgr the Journal $ Q,ornparatir':e P.5ychplogr) urclrk:,r:hich grearly rr:rr r l:cqrrn. lxsirn. ln ln'190{y'' 190'i Paolev'-. Pavlovs vrrrr[, rreatlv.sirnrrcritil sirppcried an olrjecriye olrircrivr. p.:t'cfqilsl r's\irhr!li1r1"
and \\iarson s U"."h1T-o*fliqp.+'.|!r!iilai,' became knowrr in the united Sutesit ";i'gn ". anicle rvritten by Yeikes and a Russian student, 5. Morgulis. The article was published in the Psl'chologi cal Reviev', the joumals editor at the time rvas John B. Whtson. Eecause their influence rvas so important in the der'*lopnlent of behiviorism, u e strall consider the works o[ Thorndike and Pavlori But firsr. ler us tell the t:rle of the most fanror.e horse in the hisrory o[ psych,:log1:,

rhe Animal ttl<'b;"k't;':;;;;;" psycholoer" psychologv at coranimal rauF"hr iaitio*' which went through th*t ;;';;;t 'na of consciotts' imputation i-enitotMinci-rhe nell. Noie rhe tirle of \\hshil;i;'; dt" mcthod t'f as psycholouu' in t'*"g -"att*y 'uas ness to animirls was srill " Iiind \\'ashburtr nLlted thxt *tt1 the animal t";i;;;?"r;
introspecting
'^w* aie crtrliged

uttt"o*rtlgtir'*i
'o

nast be ittt,,rpretdtion oJ animal behavior ..ripq)'tnit 'rt;'tt"y"

Elward

I:e Thorndtu (18f1-1919) 179

Clever llans, the Clever

Hans rhe Won&r Horr., The hotse was a .ut.U*ty

.l "' ,: about read had rvorld western person in^the ln the early 1900s virtually every literate four-legged creature who ever lived'

llorsq

.: , : yit*

One of Pfungst's first d,xperirnenu follolved a demonstration that Hans could answer questions correctly even when vsn Osrcn was not presenr. Pfungst formed rwo groups

,uo"li7h;;;;;;ii,,."t

;ffi;ffi;;;r.

"*ugazine anicles, and adverdsers used the horse's narne nooi. una was a sensation' to sell their products Hans time' lra"tions and decimals, read, spell, tell The horse could add phenomenal of dernonstrations ^"o and.give discriminare among colors, by tapping his hoof a specified t9

and sor1g'*tut ttt'otlgho"r Europe arid America' Plays

d#;;,; ##ru;;; n"t ,tii* memory. Hans replied t" #;;;;or chart ilfi;i J il* o', ty noaaiigi.r head torvard the correct object *tilt *a
nuit
iof stt'*
hais wom by the ladies'-..

was ar wearing straw hats?" the horse "How many of the genrlemen Preseirl m right foot' being careful to omit the , Hans upped the ut't*o

"What is rhe lady holding in her nanor

H;ilil;&and H"J;*il''h;ffir More imporunt, i-;;i;h.'t'ook " question, su.h "' h"* ;;;:;;;;i"f (Femald' 1984' p 19) g
Jo

The horse oppta means of a special

.hr"."!i;;;;;;riaEly

out:liFtii#''- *lningp"'"tol' indicaring

each o{1ne successful at distinguishing berwcen alsoberween saaw and felt hars' himse]f when asked a completely novel his head from side to side

fttel

fl

sty rh"r"

*",e

none'

Wilhelm von and amazed' No wonder Hans's owner' No wonder people were !^trzl"d what he had Germany' ort.", r.ti."i *uthematics teacher in Berlin' to be the considered he whai years teaching.Hans " accomplished. n" ma'p"nt painstaki"g

'

of quesdoners, one composed ol persons who knew the answers to the questions they put to Hans and the second composed of persons who did not know the answers. This led ro a crucial finding, namely, that Hans could only ans,wer quesdons when the quesrioners knew the correct ansn'ers- Obviously, Hans rvas receiving inlormation froru the person who was questioning him, even when that person was a sftanger. After a series of well-controlled experiments, Pfungst concluded that Hans had been unintendonally conditioned to begin tapping his hoof whenever he perceived an verso-slight downward movement o'f von Osten's head. When the correct number of taps had been reached, von Osten would move his head slightly upward. Pfungst demonstrated that virtually everyone, even persons who had never been around a horse before, made the same barely perceptible head movements when speaking to a horse, Thus, it was shown that Hans did not have a storehouse ofknowledge. He had sirnply been conditioried to surt tapping his hoof, or to incline his head torvard an obJect, rvhenever his questloner made a cenain kind of movement. Further, the hone had been condirioned to stop tapping in response ro another kind of movement. During the training period von Osten had reinforced Hans with pieces of carrot or lurnps of sugar every time the horse made a correct response. As the training condnued, von Osten no longgr teinforced Hans's behavior for every correct repll', but instead rew-arded him or a:ptifrel of ilit-eniiirtrii basE. s. F. skinnei would tutei demonsnaii itre effatiueness of panial reinforcement in the conditioning process (Chapter ll).
The case of Clever Hans demonsr,rates the value*indeed, the necessity-of an experimenul approach to the study ofanimal behavior. k made psychologiss all the more skeptical of claims of high intelligence in animals. It was dear, however, that animals

**

tit*l

"f.J*iir

fundamenmls,o[ human i""ifigt*t1 that rhar Danrviri. lr?s aonect in stlggesring nrrrelv scientifrc. His goal is"ro prove

ifte.motivatiol for his

tlf:::

Y:

appeared to be less ;ry';;;i n"*o *a other animalssufficient education' eiven notleen had. they ilt t";llt;;,h* ,-t .y "'rfy *to;t show could horse the train"ing, J"il and . He was convinced ,t u, *,t' ,t. "g"tli'il1'"'r

ffi;Jil;;i;"b

hiu' ti*ilat *"'tal

processes and abilities'

Von Osten believed th"t tht

ihr, i, *", tn intelligent being performances' not profu financiallv from Hans's we should nore rhar uon 6r,.n did Dut on frequently in the d.*onrtrationsie th. fo, He never charged "a*irsion-i.", and he never benefiited from the resulting

lelgvior. Thereforq, the stud;r of leaming seemed much more profiable than the continued speculation about what might be going on in an animal's mind or about their level of alleged intelligence. Pfungst's report on his experiments with Clever Hans rvas reviewed byJohn B. Watson in an American journal and influenced Wa6on! rapidly grou'ing inclination to deal only with behavior and not with consciousness OV'atson, 1908).

were capable of leaming. They could be conditioned to change their

coutyard of his

EDWARD LEE THORNDTKE (1874-1949)

Thorndike, who was never able to learn horv to drive a car, is one o[ the most important researchers in the development of animal plg[919.g]1. He worked out an objective and mechanistic theory of learning thar focused on o1'rrt behavior. lie believed that psychology must study behavior, not mental elemens or conscious experience in any form. that had been and terms of coniffi between stimuli and resp.on 'ever, as we shalt see,
The

"p^tt*ei.ti;;ilJi"g' n'lrtX?o,'^.ntcommirteewasesublishedt-oin1:t::ct::l::::::i::r*::""1i1:
included a circus * tttJ"tt* "* irruolved Th" committee co determine if uny auttpriln of the Berlin Zoo' and director the manatier, a veterinrrian, hr't*;iii;;:"'oortt*"n' of the Psvchological lnstitute at the carl Sri-rrtpf (sle Chapter;).:il;;;Ji'"tto' UniversitY of Berlin' "'i;;;;H;-1904, aftera lengrhy invesrigarion, the commiuee concluded that Hans deceit' But ot *it from his.owner' No fraud' no was not receiving u"y iottn;;;i'(* able to was horse the how about Ht ;;t c-urious Stumpf wis no, .o*pttttty J"ft;e' he assigned the problem and questions' of respond correctly to * *;;il;;;t"iiti"ai tfttt Juho app'oached the task in the careful ro one o{ his graduate tt"o:il:;il;
(Roserrthal' i,irnr,., nt ru*.*perimental psychologist
1965)

s'ork df Thorndike and Pavlov

is

discovery. Thomdike's law of elfeA was developed

anothrr example of sinxrltaneous independenr in 1898 and Pavlov! sirnilar law oJ

/
180
Cha,lwr
9

/ Behaviottjfn: Anteceder't

lnJTuences

Edwartl Lee Thorndihe (187 4 -1949

) l3l

+l
between the was many years befr:re rhe resctttblance

; .: ! :

@itJ.94St$.in.I902."1h9l1gh'it

'

.;i

Edqard Lee Thorndike (187+-1949) pionEireel

the field of learning rvith connecrionism, his theoretical atrempr to explain how the organism associates sdmuli rvith
responses.

Y;:1'nf,t""sJ'f,"3"; t in rhe united sJ"r;;

PsYcholog,v

all of his education * frrsr American psychotogists r' receive just trvo crecades after waJpossible i;r,g.fi;;; ,uo,,tJ

;l

was founded'

il

The Life of Thorndike others) when he awakened (as it rvas for many Thorndikes interest in psychology.rvas readwilltamJam.,s.r,i".,pr,,*iiileanund"rgro.tuateatWesleya.rUniversity.Helater learning' he beln his investigation of animal studied uncler 1;'"t;;;;;;J';;;'" s initial research of l"ctu'"s git=iJy r'ro'gon' Tiorndike apparently by placing books io runitr"*i-, **L i*provised '*p'*Ji:' " "tits
was for #tndrhe""',;';ii';iih;*att"ta'tn'ui?n;l;n"Groomroihischicks'uis ,h"* in'f,i, U"anoo*Iso he turned to James L.,aiuav ,oot u iJ ,*"Tf ir,, ."rl'ng laboratory or the museum'

rvit!9_hicks.*,"[l'ii:i*".a

finding ffi:ih:ffii""r.."rrf"f," Tr'",:;il"-;;;hi;k; i;.;,i. s6 he took

space in either the

the bu,.*unt of his home, apparently to

i:l:[:::i]l[::Jli'ifi-ii!"
,J'l#;.;;itii*
,in

Berie.ing aia,l3i;3.1prete his ed'lrcation at Harva*r at columbia to eattell appti.d t'e rlserrult*ns, rhat a certain to do; rather' it was ot"o' lt N'as' not'shat he really $'Inted ,L gt,t u'"t;'' trom' tfr'e Bo'ton tgs*' p' 103)' (Jansich f,ustration' i,'tt d..pt1 b,,,,'.

rrl}ji

^ou" married ihe woman in question ..' ijoir*' tuo bestrr'"'"aike rvent to Nerv York' taking his sith rvorking { otlered ' i'n;;;h'p;;:'tli'}r' Columbia' t"ntinued his uni*"i '""^tttt at lris dobtoraie :--: ji" ..-i-r ;qai5red,9bic-lq;;l;t"*:it; h.s orvn Clesig,n. He u'ns arr,ar<ied
cas and d",, in 1898. Hi'
processes

"i;":,;;;i;*p"ir

""a

li^J.

fuu*ing in chicks' fish' hnd monkel's'

in he ,uro,.

,"

o"i;i;:j;;rl"ur.qr;"",rr

,;i';;;;'pu,.t. to*., of th;;:':"ij*ul tnttlligtnt":

An ExpeJmenut Study o[ the Associadve on ass(!publishei, along s'ith other reseatch

'lThornclike*;'"tt"*ri"*iiiioustrnd'hiAhlvcompetiriveAtthetimeo[hlsgradu' :ia;. decided tl S., top.o[ the psvchology heap .ation

lj i-'i, i""JU", 1i't. then quir" (Boakes' 1984' p 72)' in r'five years, 'i ^nd at pt"tf'otogy Teachers College' Columbia' "*h;;;;;; became an instructor in thorndike applied he 'i suggestion' Cattells jtegS, ,",J#l',h;'ir. it. *., "f itrt'.^t!...-n, worked ^nd *r#.i".ir,or., .r,irar"n unJ loung p.opt.',und-thereafter io ihis aninral
lmo,er'.irhhuntansttbjects.,Therestofhisca,*.,*.*'i.n,turgelyintheareaso[human ,.r,in',

Thorndike's Connectionism
Thorndike created corrruclio,lisrn. an eyfriF.anril lFnroach to associarionism that includctl sr:r.eral

learning..a"..iio.'jndrnental,",ung.'un.ti..i'.ln.i.i.,.'dal*^derinthernerrtll did get to highl;: successftrl textbooks' and he

itt'"i" -"""t '"ut'il P:;chrrlogilal "t''"'ttttl'tti"'fUil he *as ti"tt-'i'i'*""f*tt't'i 'hrtoAmtrican ftt"p tne' ut the tr'i' result o[ his soas-a clo ,h. irl, p.y.hologisr tusociation. nJ'ilir*. O*l'"."f,it.' (it *t'ital ttttt and his textbooks Bv
$ork in
rhe

impofiiii-@ar''ures

anrii?s

rh-c

himtn-rhiiiciTilifuLi-*

ilrm-!idl!lg{:j:jJ1GFE1,i!!-Gn --

1924 hc t'as enjoying an income

nt;d';L;;'t"i";ifr'o"t 'oy*r'ittf'o* ot nearl) iio'OOo

that a year' a tremendous sum at

-fi;a;;nnarions

*Tn**;:''r33]/"""
l^,;hlioqrr',hv ti.; retir*ti ,"

lenithy book ,r,'.1"0"*'tit"t,.rr. *r"i'of r-tt?Ju* death l0

productive ever recqrtled His ut columbia are among the mosl and monograplx'
,.t work.rcrive[1, irntil his
1'ears later'

of varying strength benveen (a) situations, elements oI situations, and compounds oIsituations and (b) responses, rerdinesses ro respond. facilitations, inhibitions, and clirections of resprrnses. [[all tircse coukl Lt cr-rrnpleteli, invenroried, te lltng lvhat thr man uc.uld think ;rnd do and \r,h!1i $ ould srrislr iincl rnnrry him. in

c'very conceivable situation, it seuns to me thrrt nothing wtruld be lefi out.... Learning is connecting. The mind is mnn'-s connection-system. (Thomdike. 1931,

fi;,';, ;ii".,"i

p.122)

Edward

ke

Thorndihc

(1871-1949) 183

descendarrt-of the older philosoph:Tl This associaribnisr position wag a direct t"e significam difference' Instead of talkinS.about associat:,T111:1'1t1t"t;

;;;;h iirnr u.*"."

::.t:-

rhat had elapsed from the moment the cat vras placed escaping. As learning iook place, this time period lavorable

in rhe box until it succeeded in d6cieliiid." '

idcai, Ttiorndike ralke{- qbout

srudy of learulng'at o thaa

aftnld'rto* 3T:*J,^:::1":11afi"tY:

*r1.$ffi

Thomdike wlote of the "samping in*or "samping out' of a response tendency by its or unhvorable tesults. Unsuccessful response tendencibs (those that do nothirg to ger the cat out of the box) are starnped out over a number of trials. Response tendencies thar lead to success are surnped in after a numbsr of trials. This kind of leaminghas been called "trial and error learning," though Thomdike preferred ro call it "rial and accidental success" (ongich, 1968, p. 266). The samping'in or out of a response tendency was formalized in 1905 as Thomdike's
law of

,.fi'::T:lffi ;il;;;l;iryo'*":n*n::iil^Y;1"1,i"'l1f*ff.1ffi eloa-1en *-1;' *i5gi1: ::Hfi ffi ftiilLiffi#;;;:'i*ii"'' L tuand..:disccir,nfon." rhsse r.r'n$ 4re l;666o;,".l.aLp.ornc{. ;:ffi ffiil't";; rnentalistif !9rrIS also he used writingF o*rcr bphauiiriiaiiln ;;;;;;illirric tr,an *,etJaviorothit -.."'irn"'a".a il;;il;*oc len o'cusuls tr 9*rtti*t1"1t":i*b', -by,Romanes the tsamework established Thorndfu was sdll under th "t detaile** r ! -r -- ^-:-^r'- *.ntat it;d;;'i ,J'il;llT ffiH.,l'jil ]"iii"L *u' rori"*'a :l5irijfl:**:T1* il:,['"K:" ;; #fi ilil;;il" *:'*f::H' :f#
:ff#H?.ilT,,p"ilr;;f,fir*:u*i.t,subictive,infrrence"(Mackend".:Le77:
. P,

effut.
Any act which in a given situatiron produces satisfaction becomes associared with .that situarion. so that when the situadon rgqurs the act is more likely than belorc to ':':' '*''

iecur also. Conversely, any act which in a given siruation produces dtscomfon
becornes disassociated from that situation, so that when the situetion recun the acr . is kss'likly than before to recur. (Thomdike. 1905, p. 203)

'd:companion

lsw is the,law oJ aterciseor the law oJ use or digsc, which stated thrt
the situation,

thr moresl

ien&'to

w,eaken the association,

In

.".r.J"r*o

Hiliiflli'.i friii;;;il;l ;;;;;r;;1Jr,;Jir:tr,Ag{i'*la**"'

?o)r-". ... .. It must oe ltuwu' lr!.ilEYE+' iiq,i;;,u.".,$a,ft#ffi;'iliLiflit;;Irdh,*ttonrdik3iaryo;rsra{f*9-*Sttfj*t,and inteligence,to aniryfi al frllFnd *-..-r.^r^m,,rrnm ril'"r. or eerqsiougness -,,r:^, q?.:h"lg;tj11: r'*s on the usebr the irys}ine-ntal

tl

i' Tt*t

ir

sponsa.Thorndike's later research convinced him rhat repetition ofa response is relatively ineffective comparcd to the reward codsequenceE sf the rcsponse. In rhe early 1930s Thomdike reexamiqed the law of iffect in an exrensive program of research using hurnan subjects. The results revealed that rewarding a response did
1ilrH.,::i:$"glr1i;jf:1r.

r, .

r.';;

Figure 9-1 Thomdikeb puzzle box.

Thorndiket
of foodin the slatted puzzle box. Food ifi:ifi;ffif;!; ffi;;il;"",' uas hstened the box was loor of the-box fhe door pnoeqe J|r;:;-r -^*orinx engase in sometimes and chain, a si ffi'r:Jffi"H;:ii,;;;J;;,ii"1, "1*.i. doo the open to in successibn, $er^' -- - lBvolveo Plffmg a qr UBL lBu vLer' J"pi*a er*pitg reward for escaptg ---- pr..,iatrflae box-as a ."*tJto, the t* -r^^-,r ^,,rci,tp thp *"r ".1
r

s&eral suchacts At first' rhe cat

""lU;:# ;H"#;:'ili";;;;;; :ilffi H ffi;ilil; .o*pl"'u a"d the

,,",iii;m;g;*,

ilililil

clisp{aveil;;;;';tt;Eharrdc

* t:t"lt9-Tgli$ *: :::T:.:n:-::::"ITi ';;;;to ;;;;s lrre n51 triar the corrcctt:Pl1:-:.,:::*:l tt'" *-"i"* u"r''"rors, were u':ol:-t;'-l,1T^ j::1'* as it
behaviort
the frmd' E'erituallv cat

world dis*hy the correct behavior

as soon

rras placed ii the box' the learning' C)ne technique- rvas to recr*'d Thorndike used quantiative measurei of over box' the {rorn escapi*g to tttt^Jors that did not Lad rhe time frequent. Another tecrrnique was to record a series of triars, th"r" b.."*. los

"r;;;

;i;;;iuJn""i.o'

lg4

Cl,"P]!t

9/

B^t'b'i*"

/
A
'

Ivan

Pe

ft o,titch Pavlor (1849

-1936) I85

punishncnt o[ a resPonse did not produce a indeed suengthen that resPonse' but revised ihe law o[ Lffect to place greatiir emtherefore comparabie negadve effect.'He phasi, on reward than on punishment'

Awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion, lvan Petrolitch Pavlov (1849-1936) advanced the cause of objectiviry in

)k ./)\

Comment
Thorndike'spioneerinvesrigationsintothefieldsofhumanartdanimallearningare l{is theory of association or learn;il,h" gi*,"tt'it'tt'" fiiito'y or psychology larer prominent posidon in Amerito its iheory leirning of ing heralded ,rr. ,"piJ rise theories and models have appeared since can psychology ATil;;; ""* l*tiittg remains secure. His in{luence conributions hii of rignifion." Thorndike.s *.rk,;; but.his work remains systems' learning declined ti,ft tft. uau.ni?f *ott sophisdcated his arrd th" objacrive spirit in which he conducted ;;;l;,i;*,
a cornersrone

psychology through his precise research on the physiology of the conditioned tellex.

"f is an important antecedent of behaviorisrn' reseatch -manner: to Thorndike's s'ork in the follorving uibute puia fuutou

the work wirh our new method I learned that Some years after dre beginning of by been per[ormed in Amedca' andindeed not somewhat I studied in more detail rhe American phy,intorittslulUy itytf*i"git" Thereupon the first ,i"i-:i **"i.r""wledgi that the honour cf hirving rnade put ti.^tionr, u"r"'ui it E Th"omdike' Bt'nvo or chree vears his experi'

';ilt;;;tfi""siad lii

,,.p,
ii;;;J

'L "tong.thl;!"iit .un.,p"tti"i5'"*?rtl!u"tIAninrolhrtelligenic]mustbeconsideredaclassic' ursk ind tor the accuracy of is resulu' immense an on outlook bold its ftrr both ;;; ts28; cired bvJr:nEich' le68' pp +15-416)

tvAN PETROVITCH PAWOV (1849-1936)

:'-l;i...iu.iiii.;;+*ii1;'1;:.i'.''.'.5.:,''':,...;..,';."i;.,,;'
'Theinfluenceo[lvanPavlovisfeltkeenlyinmunyt'*sofconrcmporuryp'ytt'oiogy-

.|lislr,orkintt'"u."uor*,*iadonorlearninghelpedtocauseassociationismtoshifl and quantifrom its tradirio";i

;ppli.;;i""

, hable glandular John B. watson

,".."ii1n,

" control and modifY it'

The Life ofPavlov

J,h

ro subjective iJeas, io completely objecdve rvork pro'iided uoa ,o,,r.uio. *o,r"*onts. As a risult, Pa'lor"s to .,"* *uy of investigaring behar,ior and a means of attempdng

in central Russia' the eldest of ll children of a Pavlov r.r,as born in a provincial torvn responsibility and hard ,,ilhop Iri,"qt His Dosition in r,,.t * large family brought him hJretainei all his life. Fte ,vas unabie ro attend

;:,f:l;,,';,il#;;,;;;,ics

;:;r;i ;;l ;ug": ot rr t'tc*"e of an rtcident inr'':lving l!.r.tr !'. iri i r'arlicr. '"';,:';,"h-';;cl tutored him at home' and in 1860 he entered the local

3 seYere blarv tu' the

htrd
social conditions often produced an especially dedicated intellectual, one rvhose entire life was centered on the intellectualpursuir thatjustified his existence. And so it was wirh Pavlov, $.hose almost fanatic devotion to pure science and to e.xperi. nrental research rvas supported b; rhe energy and simplicirl'of a Russian pcasanr. (lvliller, 1962. p. I77)

theological

alter reading Darwin' he priesthood' .Later' seminary intending to prepare for the to arrend the university rniles hundred several walked he .ir"r*.;ilJ,]rra, ina in rgTo

"iiilp*"r.U"rg, ;d;;;;;;;i;:d

this university train' where he specialized in animal physiology wit intelliSen$ia: societv-the in Russian class third the emerging

;;;;;'";;i

tr-ro

frotn rvhich he came' but too rvell-eclucated and too intelligent for the peasantry'

;"; P*' r";';;;;to"",u

into rvhiih he could never rtse rhese

Par,lov obtained his degree in 1875 and began medical training, nor to pracrice medicine, but in rhe hope o[ pursuing 2r career in physiological research. He studied in

il

lvan Pttrovixh Paylcy

Q849-19j6) 187

to 5t' rPetersburg Gerrnany for two years' and returned

laboratory research assistant'

br

several hard years as

;:ffii ffi;ffi ,o I".''t' ** of paramount imp"li::t:Hl'-',':5:'iT:*:::: -J'"::Jil;';H;;;;;;i-;;u*iu'r'i':ir'?id"lhl'e',:":11'1'-t"::*YlH I;:ilff ffi;;, t# ffi;'; ;""'"'J i' tT'r 1* tll:: :ii:T:Tiiil

lrorR i:ff munoarrc rrrdrrcrJ' "-il;; never to drink or play ;;;t it -o*' He promised would allow nothing to distra ,- -rL-^..^L^,,r Li. lifo parilov evenings' Sunday o"rlt.na,o to.i"liz'e only on Saturday and

"Jffi;:";;ffi:""il;;il;t'1.tu1lTli1':r.:T:"i:iJY"'*:
ffiriit-ffi';e
to everydav affairs is the
-his

;oe.. ,*ffififfiil:;il;;*;; buy a ,"it or efit'o Cy::rtitotai" Nothing.mattered

his salary she once said

'tory:n"t

th:.:fY]*jl

orhim that "he shouldnt

be trusted to

laboratory he jumped off to research. when he vl." z: "nJ,iatris ;He -rt. was impetuous-he wouldn't wait for it to leg' before it stopped and brske his he said' 'My' here is a man of genius' but and it s?t stoo. A s'oman sunding neaaflm 28)' p' (Gantt, ' Ie79. les' his withour breaktng g.i "fr " i890 *h"n' tht ni41' he finally obtained the post Pavlov liyed in pou..r) "gt Academy in St. Petersburg. For a "t Mediil r-lirt,"ry of profesor of pharmacologyuiii. a-.. - .oJm hi, luboororv while his wife lived with iirn. iri;, his mairiagg h6 preparing Pavlovwas when f883' ln un relative because th.y.o,fa n* "ffl'J Frail and sicklv' the infant would not lire, n"' "iirJ could rest in rhe counrry After a great child ;';"dic;;i unless both *oth",

,"1.*r

:.1t:,.T::: :t;

frorn &mbridge Universiry, sorne students lot'ered a stuffed toy dog into his lap by a rope from ihe baicony Pavlov kepr the dog nexr to his desk in his apartment (Neu' Yorh Times, September 23. l9B4). His reladons ,rvith the Soviet rtgime were complicated and difficult; he was openly critical of the revolurion and the Soviet govemment. He wrote dangerously *rong, angry leners ofprotest to Sralin and bp1'coned Russian scientific meetings ro demonstrate his disapproval of the government.f\or until 1933 did he finally accept the govemmenr and acknorvledge that it had achiei'ed some success in uniting the Russian people. For the last rhree years of his life he lived in peace rvith the authorities of whom he had been so crirical for 16 years. Despite his arirude, Pavlov received generous govemment support for his research throughout his career and was largely free ofgovernment pressureThe following passage from Pavlov's autobiography sums up his attitude toward his life:
Looking back on my li[e I would describe it as being happy and successful. I have received all thar can be demanded of life: the bompletd'realization of the principlcs rvith which I began life. I drearned of finding happiness in intellectual work, in science-and I iound it. I uanred ro have a kind person as a companion in life rnd I found this cornpanion in my rife. . . rvho pariendy endured all the hardships of our exisrence before my profer.orship, alu'ays encouraged my scientifrc aspirations and who devoted herself to our family just as l'devoteil myself to the labontory. I "' have iedounceal prbtricaliry inlife nfih itS curinirig-and hdt afsCys iitiproacliaLii na1s, and I see no reason for regretting this; on the conrary precisely in rhis I find now cenain coniolarion. (1955. p. 46)

;:ir* il;ili.

*il

,"."Lr

hed;il;;;

; b;*' ;il;;,"-fi;1;'ir'"i' *d ;d b;;;-;;gh monev for.the ioumev ro the hpme o[ a il;; il;"r. "ur" '" tnJit't *:,:tl,? -^t':-::1:t:rt::T: child.iied' t* r,,t
rqlative. but it rvas too

'pu***t

boari with nratrves. A group.f Pavrovs lffJ'ff;HJ';l*#;:il;ilil; pretext of hirE mgrey on problems, of his

it^:

,r"i."L, t."*,ng

..,-^- ,L^.. L^,t

financ-ia'i

-r...r

li-

g3vg

rbe

cgYgrrng

rl-o-ire Pavlov spent the mqcy-9d4!9laby financial

ips. He said that

Pavlov remained a scieritist almost to the last moment of his life. He had alu'ays obsen'ed himself'A'henever he was ill, and rhe day of his death was no exception. He called in a neurqp.arhnlogisr and de.cribed his s;.rnproms, Akhough |re v;ag extremely weak frorn iineurioni", h" said, -Ity brain is nor *'orking rveli, o6sessive feelings and involuntary movements appear; mortification may be sening in." For a while they discussed the meaning of the syrnprcms until Par4ov fell asleep. When he auakened, he raised himself up and began to search for his clorhes, shoutng the same impatient energy he had demonsrared all his life. "k is time to get up!" he said. "Help me, I must dress!" And wirh that, he fell back on the bed and died (Gantt, 19.+1, p. 3i).

;;;il;;ir''nor'r'*tr'Y*t:jl"l-(Y.:?"ti:::::,',':'"7 ,#:?;.T.:ffi:;*lffi 'JttlJ.*il;;;;;i;[;'"tes.ra1.r.ora1":ry1TiT3i'l'"1

lil?;'ll'"ff tf:t::T,ff ,l,*;*#;;';;'r#:'ithresearch'"what-:5ll9lT:'"'*:*:: :;:'::ii',"ffi"f,r';;;;d;;'.'t,"whenvou'vec::Y'l::1'i:-i:.1*:5:""",

Pavlov's Research
lems-

lHn:ffi :';:,",;;4b.11";:;:.lt:.::"T'i:5'::':::i?*: ;i:*lJ':[: i+;;;r;*r:::li:lsa*1ll:i:Hi*:lus'

iTl,ili'"i.i;,"[;ffi other aldavs considerate' in hh dealings with

ilIit..;;f ;;t

During his distinguished and productive career Pavlov worked on rhree rescarch probthe f

an audience

students to

sense o[

he made use of coiriirioning, hiJgreaiesr scientific achievement. h is instructive ro consider hou Pavlov ievel6p.--ea-*ris teihnique, which changed the direcrion oI his orrn career and profounclly influenced the develLrpmenr of psychology

tion from 1902 until his death in 1936. ln his atrack on th !#

IronPetroyixhPd.vlov (1849-1936)

l9g

ffii-verr '-r#;;,h:;;;;J"
oDerations.

many scre4tinc breakthrougtts) The notion of condirioned reflexeg oriSinated .(a1 s9 navtog.qea on digestive-glan{1' work his ln discovery accidental an in tht T":n:l-:t ttt the-digestiYt (dogs) the cgllgglign permit to subjects of the ,urni.ut recoroeq. lne ""oorure measurgd,_and. uons oursiie the body rvhere they could be observed, the secretions o[ a Particular Sland mrougn a were or *t" body, *ithout damaging rhe nerves and blood-suppl1: skjll in performing these technical and ingenuiry p""r"" considerable displal,ed aiin ri .

/p*touroon dlr.ot.r.d
His tlpica

rhat any stimulus could produce the conditioned salivary

ff-

response so long as iiw,as. capablg_of aurl:ring rhe animal'r ug:1ggn : He useil such stimuli as a bel[,

buffi".

ytour

aro!:In

cated technique he used to collecr the saliva. A rubber tube was connecred ro an created in the dog! cheek through rvhich saliva flowed. When each drop of saliva fell onto.a platlorm that resBd on a sensitive spring, rhe movement of the platform activated
a marker on a

oi."i."f

""onffi..,

of his work dealt with the. function of

t{t":l1h]:L::il1T::::]::,*
or the

saw the

Gredon, with its

*"gl:igli:: Trl:d.'lT F-he:om:::ojr .;;;""";;Aillr of occurrence,"

-';il;,;il *i'."[,
otiu-tsy.hi.-oi,iature,

,,ffiii*iiiJ l";' #;;#;A;ail;a ;i;il;; ,t,. ;tJ;'t'J to'"at of the attendant)

me amached or conditioned to (as p."uio*ly been associared with feeding. These "psychic" reflexes thern) were aroused.in the animal by -".igt."b"called p"a"t realized that this happened because these other stimuli
response o[ salivation, had
s

"t*:ll:'l"tl^1:l*tlf

had so often been

"assocatPi-bv

*th jl-: Tt:ti1"qti:l:::'v

pavlov dJcided in 190? ro inriesdgate rhese psychic ' ,ooi i..u*. tUsorbed in the new research' before him), in accordance with the preothers and Loeb, Thomdike, ifif.. gxperiences of 2rirr.irt kr animal psychology, initially focused on tne,gSfrulll-lit reltelies""ifirn term:lof::bonclitloned original his .t tiL Uto.r,ory animals; this cah bi seen'in animals'desires, judgment, wrote abourtris he research his early In pry.iri *n.'-es. ppychic events in subjecdve' human terms' Afrcr a time'

because pqriod of doubting whetherie thould follow up this observation re{lexes. He

revolving drum (Frgure 9-2). This arrangement, rvhich made possible the recording of the preclse number of drops as well as the exact moment at n'hich each fell, is but one e"rample of Pavlov's painstaking.efforts to standardize experimenral conditions, use rigid controls, and eliminate sources of error. He *'as so concerned about prevenring intnrsions from the environment that he designed special cubicles for his research. The experimenul animal was placed in i hamess in one cubicle rvhile rhe experimenter occupied rhe other. The experimenter could then operate rhe various conditioning stirnuli, collect the saliva, and present the food without being seen by the animalThese precautions did not completely satisfy Pavlov. He believed that extraneous stimuli could still reach the animals. He designed a three-story research building. later known as the Tower of Silence, in which the windows u'ere cor,ered wirh emra-thick shees of-glass;the rooms hacl double steeldoors that sealed hernretically rvhen.closed; and the steel girders that supported the lloors were embedded in sand. A deep moat filled"wirh srrarv encirclerf the building. Vibrarion, noise, temperatqre extrenres, odors, and even drafa had been eliminated. Nothing could influence the experimenul animals except the conditioning stimuli to w'hich rhey were exposed. experiment runs as follows. The condirioned srimulus-.4 ,. I Ypi:fl goSrditioning iighrler us-sir,-is tumed on. lmmecliately: iheunconditioned stimlrius-rhe forirl-=
Figure

irrh

.objective approach. Pavlov'described it as follows:

rve conscien' Ar first in our psychical experimens rvith the psychical.glan{s- " ' 1",'.i"..a."""'t to explain out results by irnaginlng t}r subjective state of the views

;;";;

*it,

interpreting anlmai pr"rJ'n a".ia"a to drop all mentalistic references in favor o[a straightfonrard'

9-2

Pavlov's apparatus for studying classicaI conditioning.

that coniroueisy and,individual ilfill il;;;i,ttc .1r,n.'oiittit .*ttpt st"rii" ffiffi;;;;";;;:iied. And so r''e could do nothing bui conduct the research on a purely objecrive basb. (Cgny, 1965,

65)

*.r. "*"pf.. ti.

*n,.,1,,

Par4o,'.sresearchbecame.amodelofobjectivigvandprecision-Hislirstexpedments rho.u.d a dog a piece of biead in his hand before grvi1llio.:11f1:?

,,o.,

srr1r'atir,n_began as

sJgjl-irlh.9-dlEJgrJlg-lrjj:jlr:!".$t*I.9lE:L]cg
in ltg mouth is
a

\4adimir M. Behhteret (1857-1927) 191

number of pairings of thelight and the food, the 4nimal salivates at light. The aninrai h", b-..orn..onaition.a to respord to the conditioned it iritrt, An association. or bond has been lormed bet*'een the light and the food. stimius. "r,rt. io-ing or.nodirioningwill nor occur unless the light is followed by the food a number
is presenred. Afrer a

place. of nmes. Thus, reinlorcement (being fed) is necessary for learning to take Pavlov and his assoIn addition to studying the formation of conditioned responses, sponulneous recovery ciates invegtigated other plenome-na-reinforcement, extinction' (all well-kno*'nrilords in e.neralizad;, discriminarion, and higher-order conditioning work with Pavlov, ,"i. i."g*s;-;ffty"itofo$, roday). SJme 200 collaborators came to more r"a tft.-.*iatl*"nral program extended over a longer period of time and involved situation iself conditioning the As noteJ, Wundt!' since iffo.t ."s*i.h u"t o.oof" ,fr* generared many specific questions rhat required years of patient and
'

Tosrard the end.qf his life, horvever Pavlov changed his attitude u.rd even .ull.d himself an errperimental psJ'chologist. Pavlov's inirialll' negative r,'iew did not, of course, prevent psychologiss frorn making effective use of his work. Ar first, they used the conditioned response to measure sensory discrimination in anirnals; it is still used for that purpose today. During the l9Z0s ir began to be used, primarily in America, as the Ioundarion {or leaming theories. Since then, it has generated c6nsiderable research and theory as well as controversy. pai;lov,s immense contriburions ro science are lr'idely recognized and respected, but the sociai and philosophical implications of his research and the resulting concePtion of human naturghave been criticized. Many frnd the idea of conditioning people to re' spond to various sdmuli olfensive to rheir vision ofhuman beings as far removed from anirnals and possessing free rvill.

il';;l;, ;;1 it to answer" - ' rhorougti -'t;ffi a.perimentation a prelirninary reporr on his 6ndings in 1923, after 20 yeaps o!
,o*r.t
" of his,research ind the reports of his findings tesdfies not only ;;;;;; ;. beginning He wanted ;rh.;;;;r;scopJof rhe problem, but also to Favlov's scientific integrity. theln widely making to be certain of rhe-accuraq: and validiry of his findings before
.

ia fOZZ t puttished a more systematic account of his *'ork- This long interval

prir"r,t.a

vr.ADrMlR M. BEKHTEREV ( 1857-1927)

Another imFor.tanr 6gure in the &sv$lrunr o{ rnimal psychologl'and associarionism ev. from subieciive ideas tos'ard objectivelyohsen'ed oven

kno.]v1,
Comment

behavio

$ltoggh

!ep9

$'eil }4s:yt-t

th.e1.*P"e-u-lqt:,

number of

were-inroWith Pavlor,'s work, more precise and objective mEasures and terminology arra.a

ir,r

,nunrl-poo..rr.s

"*i*"i pry.hotogyi

hnd without u.,y ."f"r"t-c. to ccnsciousnest: l: ,gttq3-lY, tl*t:::9. shift touard objectivity in sr.i[ect manbr and merhodology The ellecs-ol in which the this nend are seen more suikingly.in the development of behaviorism, psychology of science the pro'ided concept This a cenr*ipun. plays conditioned reflex with a basic element or arom of tehavior, a workable, concrete unit to which highly tomplexhumanbehaviorcouldbereducedandexperimenteduponunderlaboratory and made it the .undi,ionS. fu we shall see, Wa6on seized upon this unit of beha'ior believed that work. He pavlov Wasori! rvith pleased highly was ;;;;i h" pfogram.

higher rhe study of association or leaming. Also, Pavlov demonstrated that use of with the terms physiological in studied could be effectively

iru.i"."

Miliary Medical Academy in st. Petersburg in in Leipzig u.ith Wundt. and in Berlln and Paris, and returned to Russia to nke rhe cheir o[ menral diseases at the Unirersiry o[ Kazan. In 1893 he accepted thc chair oimenul and nervous diseabes at rhe lr{iliun'lrledical Academy, where he also orgnizld a mental hospiral. ln 1907 he founded the Psychoneurological Institute and began a ptogram of neurological researth. wh.rius P.ulor's conditioning research had been conducted almost exclusively on
Bekhterev received his degree from the
1881. He studied

glandular secretions, Bekhterev rvas

gro*th Lf b'.hdviorism in the Unircdstates represenred a confirrnation of his ideas and his methodology (Windholz, 1983)' It is ironic rhat*favlovs greatesr influence has been in psychology, a_field.toward strucwhich he \\'as not altogether;fatorable for some time He was familiar with both

J.

rs

(the electric shock)

Fr:r

had ,u*i una functional p-ry.hotogy and agreed wi(h william James thar psychology *iro.1,",f rhe smrus of a iierrce. donsequently, he excluded i[ lrom his own 1vork. "o, f,".J,,lrr..is in his laboratory who used psychological rather than physiological ii.

remark ,".rnina.gy. Wordwcrrrh noted that in his lectuies Pavlov frequently made such
following:
ph1'siology o[.the highest In conclusion we musr count it an uncontested lact that the

as the

Ll of example, the sounding of abuzzer at the finger by iaelf. The associstionists had explained such connecrions in tcrnrs oI the opeirtion of sottre sort of mental process. Bekhrerev, horveter, considered rhc rcactions to be tutalli' reflexive. He beliered that higher-level behaviors o[ greater complexity could be explained in the same wa)'-as a compounding of the lorv-level motor reflexes. Thought processes rvere of the same characrdr in that thel depended on inner acti\1ties o[ the speech musculature. .Bekhrerev argued for a cornpletely trtrjecrive ap:proach to psychological

' nrnoIthcncn'otlssysttmofltighernrrimalscrnno(bcsuccs..tull}.studie(l,unless i." uu.rty rrr, rc' ir" "'tenable prerensions of psyctrologl rI9+8, p 60)

phenomena and against the use

of nenulistic tenirs and concep6. His stand *as

"192

ChaPkr gtBeha4-^t

^*'"^"^J"" '
In rhe decade before 'i:at'o' formally founded behaliorism, the zeitletstlavored and ieinlorced the idea of a rotally objectir:e psychology, and rhe o*,.,jr tno*rn.ni or
American psychology was in a behavioristic direction. Robert woodwonh noted rhar American psychologists r'"'ere "slowly corning down u'irh behaviorism . . . as more and more of them, from 1904 o', expressed a preference for defining psychology as the science of behavior rather than as an arrempr ro describe consciousness" (\&'oodworrh" 1943, p. 28). In !9ll walter Pillsburyi rvho.had studied wirh Titchener, defined psychology in his. textbook,-Essencials oJ Psycholog, as the "science of human behavior." HL arguJ that ir was possible to treat human beings as ob.iectively as any orher aspecr of rhe physical univere. Also in l9l l, lvtar Nleyer published rhe Furula mennl l-aws oJ Human iehaviar. In I9l2 William McDougall published Ps-.rrhology: The S,udy af Bclwvior, and Knighr Dunlap, a psychologist atJohns Hopkins University, where Whtson was teaching, pio_ posed that introspection be banned from ps1'chology. Angell, perhaps rhe rn.sr forwardJooking of the functionalists, predicred rhat American psychology was ready ro nove toward greater objectiviry. In l9l0 he commented that it seemed possible thar the rerm "consciousness" would disappar from psychology, much as had the term "soul." In 1913, shordy before \\hsons manifesto *pp.urJ, Angell elaborated on this point, suggesting rhar ir rvould be profitable if the.:possible -axistence"-of consciousness.r,vere forgotten"and.anirnal and human behavior riere described objectively insread. Thus, the notion that psychology should be the science of beha'ior was gaining in p..pulariry:. walson's gramess \&'as not in being rhe 6nit to propose rhe idea but in seeing, perhaps more clearly rhan anyone *f,at the times "lse. were calling [or. He responded vigorously and articulately as the agent of a revolution

.expressed-iaabjectivePsycho-lgg.publishedinlg0TandtranslatedintoGelmanand in rrlnct in iSff f';r*hici rime ii*rs read by datson. A thiid edition wqs published
English

in

1932 (General Principles ol Human Reflexolog)'

COMMENT
..From the beginnings of anlmal isychology in rhe work o[ Romanes and Morgan, we ean gtearer objecriviry ln both subject'maner and see a steady "oJolpia ^ouutn.nito**i rhe conceps of consciousness and merhodology. ir,"Lrry work in the field invoked equally subjective. By rhe early were that methods research ,p.rrt l pro.*r., was completely objective in psychology anirnal y,orc oi,ii" wentie h century, however, conditioned reflexes, resPonses, secredons, Glandular methodoiogl. and matter subject ,u.*r leilno doubt ttut animal psychology had finally discarded

.,

"J,i*a

acts,

behaviorjru.h

ia subjective Past' for behaviorism, whose leader AniIn"l pry.hoiogy was shortly ro_ serve-as a model to huiran subjecs for psychological research. John B. wason much pre ned "niiid psychologists as. a foundadon for the used rhe firrdings and methods of the animaf and a'imals' of ?science of behavior that *'as applicable ro both humans
deuelopment

ON BEI'IAVIORTSM THE INFLUENGE OF FUNCTIONALISM

was functionalism. Althoug[not totally obAnother direct antecedent o[ behaviorism day did represent qreater nhj"cttvity u]aprrs wason's iective. functiona[ psychology in

whose

ineviubiliry.lnd suclgss rvele.llreadf elsurld

ffil ffi,h"dology, ;:;;i;;;iil

r*"ii"*r

werq'imphas!7irlbeh?vipr and mor+ expressed had {issatisfaction with introspection' The-,various in,.ir, to the functionalists hadllttle use for consciousness alid introThus' the funcessendally constituied an ob.lecdve lunctional psychology' .*.,iun, "na hai moved away from the pure psychology of comcir:us experience ,ttrrri o.u.f,"f"*ists lectures before Watson came on the scene. [n their writings and
o

, ,

:.. , : .

SUGGESTED READINGS
Anteced.ents oJ Behav

iorism

;iyyuf,i,"|jntchener

,"r".

psychology. psychologists were quite specific in arguing for an objecdve corsciousness' of instead behavior on focus wpuld that , o.".hology tcl_"ffi*r.ingat rhe lg04 world's Fair in st. Louis, Missouri, commented:
to the study o{ consciousness I am not convinced that psychology should be limited thllt rhere is no ps)-chnlog'v apart tronr as "ur h. . . . The rather rlide'spread notion to rne in.rirouai*., Ls refured by the Lrure,rrgument o[ accornplished fact. lt seems is rq.*erch tto,k that his been done by me or in my laboratory I :;ec rto t;,,;' intr.'sp':ctiirn x5 u'1'rk in physic' or in :n'rlcAr-

Bumtr.rm,J. C- (1968)- On the origins of behaviorlsm. Jorrrn aI oJ tfu History oJ tlv Behavbral Sciewes,4, l.+l-15I. I)iserens, C. bl. (1925). PsJ-chological objectivism. PsythologicalReiew,32,l2l_!52. Femeld, D. (1984). The Hanslcgaq:

A story oJ tirnre, Hillsdale, NJ: Larrence Erlbaum. Mackenzie, B. D. (1977). Beha'ionrisnr andthelbniuo!scizntiJicmethod. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Hunranittes Press.
\lhrden,
C_. J.. & Warner, L. H. i 1927). Ihe dertlopmcnt of anirnal psycholop.in rhe U. during rhe past three detad.-s. Psyrhoi,lglc-rrl Rrirrv,.i.l, 196-2u.1.

;;,;'"ni;;";i;"
t;

S.

o[ hurmn "-;il;,,Jenr."'[ ,i; ,tpliiation of systematizcd kno*'ledge to rhe ccntrolcommensu;;r;--;'hy i"',it" .ou* of tire prescnt century accomplish resul's *"i "r,r* "",ninetcetrth c'enrury applications of physical science to tne matenal with ihe mre

'

Tlrorntiilrs
Bitterman, I{. E. (19691. Thorndike and the probieln of animal inrelligence. Anwrican
,

'wortd. (1904, PP. 179-18!' 186) and wltson heaid this address and the simil^rrity beveen his later position -cattells te called the ,,",u*"ni is so striking rhaf it has been su6gested that Cattell could
l

-45 3. Burnharn,-f. c. (1972). Thomdike! puzzle

8, 159-167.

Pryrhologrst, 24. 4 4 4

boxes. Journal oJ the Hisrory o/the Br&oviorcl sciences.

(Burnh*m, 1968' tiar:Cfati;cr of \4tatson! behavictrism"

p la9)'

J.fl"i,

C (1968). n'' 5ans pdjiiilirr A biqgraphr' .,f Erlruar d L. Th,trndihc.I{iddletown, CT: l!'eslevan LIn il'ersit,v- Press-

191

Chep tEt 9 t Behaiorisrn: Antecedent InJluence{

P,os.qnar|,ll(19.t7).Ttrelrisfo.tyandpresent$alusofthcbwofE{fia. '
489-563.

P5ycl1r/logiadlBttllfi;ia,l4"

Thomdike, E. L. (1949) . Selected witings lrom a connutionist\ pEcholog' New York: ApptetonCentury-Crofa.

Pavlw
Cuay, H. (1965). luaaPavlov:The,marand his dteories. New York:.Paul5. Eriklso-n. U<ldell, t{. S. (l93lD. Pavlovb coatributiori to psychology. Psychological B-ulletin, 33,:583-s90.

Behaviorism: The Beginnine

llistory

Lo*ry, R. ( 1970). The reflex mcdel in psychology: origins and evaluation.

Joum al oJ the

ahe

B&aviorul Scinces, 6, 64

-69.

Pavlov. t: P. (1957) , Ea,grimentrtl prycholog and other csays. New York Fhilosophical Library' (lncludes Pavlov's autobiography). Razrdn, G..(1965). Russian physiologiss' pqycholory and American elPerimenial psychology: A hisorical and a systemaric collation and a look into the furure. Psychological Bulletin, 63,

+2-64.

JOHN B. WATSON (1878-1958)

we discr.rsed segelal autecedents of the behaviorisr movernenr that influencrdJohn
B.

woma.n, nevef ro return. 'watsdn described himsetf as lazy dna insub6rditrate;.and

he

never earned more than passing grades. His teachers remimber him as indolent, argu-

,j

menativei and nor rasily controlled. He lrew up in wharcouldlbe callcd a state-of delinqugncy" rrlfaBbn got into'6ghts aod was arresred rwice, once for shsoting fireagns ,iuithin the ciry limits. h was rior a promising beginning. Nevertheless, he entered Furman university in Greenrille at the age of 16 with a firm plan for hii future*-he rvas going to become a minister. llany yors ,earlier he had promised his mother thar he would follow rhe life of a clergyman. Ar Baptist-affiliated Furman, Warson studied philosophl', marhemarics, fatin, and Greek, and was expected to graduate in 1899 and enterPrinceron Theological Seminary the following fall. A curi'ous thing happened during waaonb senisr year. one of his professors wamed _ the students (p*rhrrpsJokingly, burthat is not kno*:n forsure) that anyone who lianded in a paper back.,qard w"ould fail rhe cw*e. lVatson took t?re professor up on the challenge, tumed in his paper bac'f<ward, atrd fsited. The s[t# prevenrod hnr from graduating, rvhich meant that he could not arrend rhe seminary as planned. He stayed-ar Furman for another year dnd received aft Nl.A. in 1900, but during thar year hts m,rther died, freeing him from the promise to undertake eligious trainingl It is interesting to speculate whether waeonb ddihemre hi{ure to graduate on rime was an arrempr ro escape the life of a minister ro which lre ulag comrfiiited.