Dollard and Miller PDF

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Summary

Dollard and Miller' theory of personality...

Description

Dollard and Miller- stimulus response theory

Personal histories

JOHN DOLLARD     

Born in Wisconsin in 1900. earned a Ph.D. in sociology at University of Chicago studied psychoanalysis at the Berlin Institute taught anthropology, psychology, & sociology at Yale individually research o The issues of race relations & social class – we can predict about a person if we understand the culture s/he was born into at the time. o

Social class determines a gamut of specific learning experiences.

Neal Miller       

born in Wisconsin in 1909 Father was an educational psychologist. Ph.D. in psychology at Yale Trained in psychoanalysis at Vienna institute Studied with Clark Hull- learning theory & drive reduction. founded the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at Rockefeller University, New York Ultimately his work helped develop biofeedback

Ab ek sath ○ Believed the two best sources of information about the normal human personality are the rat and neurotic humans who seek professional help. ○ lot of work on frustration and aggression ○ Sought to translate Freud’s theory into concepts of learning theory and make his claims testable ○ Their work is often seen as representing the transition from radical behaviorism to cognitive psychology

Origin of Stimulus response theory (drive reduction theory) – Clark Hull ○ Habit is the association between a stimulus and a response o

If a stimulus (S) leads to a response (R), which in turn produces a reinforcers, the association between the stimulus and response becomes stronger. (The habit of performing that response in the presence of the stimulus becomes stronger)

Habit is the key concept in the theory by Dollard and Miller. 

A habit, we have seen, is a link or association between a stimulus (cue) and a response. Learned associations or habits may be formed not only between external stimuli and overt responses but between internal ones as well.

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a crucial stage in the organism's learning is the production of the appropriate response. In any given situation certain responses will be more likely to appear than others. This order of preference or probability of response, when the situation is first presented is referred to as the initial hierarchy of responses. If this initial hierarchy appears to have occurred m the absence of any learning It may be referred to as the innate hierarchy of responses, which we have already mentioned as part of the primitive equipment of the individual. After experience and learning have influenced the individual's behavior in this situation, the derived order of response is labeled the resultant hierarchy

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The Development of Personality ✢ Less interest shown in structural aspects of personality than in process of learning and personality development. ✢ The transformation of simple infant into the complex adult is elaborated by Dollard and Miller.

Innate Equipment 

First the baby has specific reflexes which are responses to specific stimuli, example its cold the b aby would sneeze, if some dust particle gets in the nose the baby would sneeze, if some dust particle gets in eye it would begin to have tears.

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Second the baby has a number of innate hierarchies of responses which are tendencies for certain responses to occur / appear in particular stimulus situations, example loud noise and the baby would cry, hungry it would cry, wet or dirty it would cry.

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Third the baby posses a set of primary drives which are linked to physiological processes, exampl e all primary motives hunger, rest, sleep.

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Fourth the extinction and elimination of existing associations between stimuli and responses

The Learning Process  

The study of the circumstances under which a response and a stimulus (cue) become connected. When learning is completed the SR are bound together so the appearance of stimulus (cue) evokes the response

To learn  DRIVE: Wanting something o Deprivation produces drive in the animals o Drive is a need- “a strong stimulus which impels action o Different needs develop in different circumstances therefore culture is important to understand.  internal (hunger or even thoughts)  External (infliction of pain, discomfort in environment.)  primary (natural responses to physical need or discomfort)  Secondary (learned values for things associated with satisfaction or distress.)

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Cue: Noticing Something o discriminative stimuli that are noticed at the time of behavior o include sights, smells that may act as cues to a behavior o Even internal thoughts can act as cues. o Better learning = better connection between the cue and response

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Response: Doing something o Responses are simply behaviors o Any behavior subject to change through learning is a response  Overt (voluntary physical behavior)  Covert (hidden behavior such as thinking.)

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Reward: Getting something (Reinforcement) o o o o

After a response has taken place- two possible consequences Can reduce drive Or Drive continues in the same or even greater intensity reinforcers can be primary or secondary

Secondary Drive and the Learning Process Infant is born with a limited range of primary drives that develop into a complex system of secondary drives with growth and experience. Drives aroused by previously neutral cues are called secondary, or learned, drives.

Higher Mental Processes 

Individual’s interactions with the environment are of two varieties o o

Direct and guided by a single cue or cue situation Mediated by internal processes - cue-producing responses -main function is to mediate or lead the way to another response

The Social Context o o o o

Neurotic conflict is not only learned by the child but it is learned primarily as a result of conditions created by the parent. Child during infancy is not well equipped to cope with complex learning demands even if they are consistent. society demands that the child learn to be aggressive in some situations and submissive Such conditions frequently lead to neurosis.

Critical Stages of Development Dollard and Miller assume that unconscious conflict, learned for the most part during infancy and childhood, serves as the basis for most severe emotional problems in later life. Agree with psychoanalytic theorists D&M liked Freud’s critical psychosexual conflicts depicted in 3 developmental stages, but they added a fourth- conflicts around anger.

Feeding     

Occurs upon birth and satisfies the hunger drive, so is inherently rewarding. responses the infant makes before being fed become strengthened by the reward of food secondary rewards- mother’s smell, touch, sounds of comfort If left to cry when hungry- loses the response of crying for food- go within and become very nonresponsive- Character traits of apathy or anxiety develop If appropriately responded to- develops love for parents, self-respect for one’s needs, and a more sociable personality, able to give and take, since there is no great anxiety about getting basic needs met interpersonally.

Cleanliness training   

as Freud described the anal stage, has to do with toilet training If there is too much criticism or too high an expectation for training, the child may learn avoidance of the parent to avoid punishment D&M suggest this stage be delayed until the child has enough language to produce mediating cues.

Early sex training   

relates to Freud’s phallic stage Parents may punish children for masturbating when they explore their bodies. This produces anxiety around any sexual impulses. Too much control or criticism can set up fears of authority figures & inhibitions.

Applications of the Model

Unconscious Processes   

Language as playing a crucial role in human development Quite natural that those determinantsof behavior that include language, or are unconscious, should play a key role in behavioral disturbances Consistent with psychoanalytic formulations in accepting unconscious factors as important determinants of behavior

Conflict All personality theories must deal directly or indirectly with the problems posed for the organism by conflicting motives or tendencies. Five basic assumptions 1. The tendency to approach a goal becomes stronger the nearer the individual is to the goal and this is referred to as the gradient of approach.

2. Tendency to avoid a negative stimulus becomes stronger the nearer the individual is to the stimulus and this is referred to as the gradient of avoidance. 3. gradient of avoidance is steeper than the gradient of approach 4. Increase in the drive associated with the approach or avoidance will raise the general level of the gradient. 5. When there are two competing responses the stronger will occur. Types    

Approach – approach ○ This type of conflict occurs when the individual has two desirable but mutually exclusive goals. Avoidance - avoidance ○ This type of conflict occurs when there are two undesirable situations but cannot avoid one without encountering the other. Avoidance - avoidance ○ This type of conflict occurs when there are two undesirable situations but cannot avoid one without encountering the other. Approach – avoidance o

The conflict occurs when a person is both attracted and repelled by the same object, person or situation Double/ multiple approach ○ In this type of conflict one is attracted to two positive goals but each one has negative alternatives.

How Neurosis is learned Neurosis or neurotic conflicts are taught by parents and learned by children, four critical learning situations that are feeding situation, toilet training , sex education and training to control aggression are usually mishandled by parents that develops anxiety and guilt in chi ld which continues in adult life. It is called Neurotic conflict Psychotherapy Dollard and Miller are concerned not only with the development of neuroses but also with their treat ment  The actual therapeutic procedures that Dollard and Miller advocate are quite traditional.  The therapist should be a sympathetic, permissive listener who encourages the patient to express all his or her feelings and to free associate.  Whatever the patient's thoughts, the therapist remains nonpunitive and tries to help the patient understand these feelings and how they developed.  These are all stimulus response connections that have taken place and person must understand

The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis 

Frustration and aggression is the area D&M made the most impact.

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They differed with Freud on aggression as due to libidinal impulses restrained by social conventions, however.

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They explained aggression as purely the result of frustration, blocking of one’s goals, not a death instinct.

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The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis described aggression as the result of frustration, which occurs when obstacles interfere with drive reduction.

Reactions to frustration Aggression  Aggression is a kind of behavior intended to harm another person. It is either express verbally or physically.  2 types of aggression: a. Direct aggression b. Displaced or indirect aggression Apathy  This is another response to frustration which is just the opposite of aggression. This kind of behavior shows indifference or withdrawal. Regression  This behavior is described as a return to childish form of behavior. Adults sometimes resort to immature forms of behavior when faced with frustration situations like to yell or start a fist fight, etc....