Essay About Theory Of Behavior And Environmental Stimuli

Clark Leonard Hull
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Clark Leonard Hull
(1884-1952)
Hulls life
U. of Wisconsin: studied mining engineering before psychology
1918: Ph.D. from Wisconsin
Clark Hull
early work
concept formation
effects of tobacco on behavioral efficiency
test and measurements
applied area: Aptitude Testing (1928)
practical methods of statistical analysis
invented a machine for calculating correlations
hypnosis and suggestibility: 10 years, 32 papers, 1 book (1933)
Clark Hull
1929: research professor at Yale
theory of behavior based on Pavlovs laws of conditioning
his final research interest
1927: read Pavlov
1930s: articles about conditioning
1940: Mathematico-Deductive Theory of Rote Learning
1943: Principles of Behavior
1952: A Behavior System
Clark Hull
The spirit of mechanism
omitted mentalistic terms, including consciousness and purpose
used mechanistic terms
human behavior
mechanistic, robotic
automatic
reducible to the language of physics
machines could be constructed that would display human cognitive functions
Clark Hull
Objective methodology & quantification
objective experimental methods
quantitative
laws of behavior expressed in language of mathematics
equations
empirical constants
theorems and corollaries
Clark Hull
objective definitions
rigorous deduction
four methods
simple observation
systematic controlled observation
experimental testing of hypotheses
the hypothetico-deductive method
establish postulates
deduce experimentally testable hypotheses
submit them to experimental test
method necessary for psychology to be a science
Clark Hull
Drives
motivation
a state of bodily need
arises from a deviation from optimal biological conditions
drive
an intervening variable
a stimulus arising from a state of tissue need
arouses or activates the behavior
Clark Hull
its strength is empirically determined
is nonspecific
energizes behavior
does not direct behavior
direction of behavior determined by environmental stimuli
reinforcement: reduction or satisfaction of a drive
Clark Hull
primary drives
arise from a state of physical need
are vital to the organisms survival
secondary drives
are learned
are situations or environmental stimuli associated with the reduction of primary drives
as a result of the association, become drives themselves
Clark Hull
Learning
has a key role in Hulls system
focuses on principle of reinforcement (Thorndikes law of effect)
law of primary reinforcement
defined in terms of the reduction of a primary need
primary reinforcement is the basis for learning
secondary reinforcement
Clark Hull