Examples Of Psychological Positivism

Improved Essays
Assignment Three
Question One
Drawing upon psychological positivism discuss the ways in which crime might be considered normal in society.

Psychological Positivism is the scientific understanding of crime and the criminality of the offender. This will show and allow you the comprehension about the distinction between “normal” and the “deviant” and apprehend the specifics of what triggered the rise within a deviant and the embarking start of someone whom may be an everyday normal citizen to a citizen starting an anarchy criminal rampage. Additionally, it states that something within a ‘criminal psychological makes up lends itself to their behaviour, and is usually due to parental negligence, mental illness, horrible upbringing or other mental
…show more content…
Skinner introduced Reinforcement Behaviour which is reinforced trends that are repeated .An example of how psychology reinforced behaviour can occur, ‘…if you were younger and you tried smoking at school, and the chief consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively reinforced and would be most likely to repeat that behaviour, however if you were caught smoking by someone else such as like a teacher the main consequence was that you were caught, suspended from school and your parents then became involved and you would be punished at home, and you would consequently be much less likely to smoke again…’, because it was a negative reinforced behaviour that led to smoking. Burrhus Frederic Skinner believed that there are many problems with punishment such as punished behaviour is not forgotten and the can lead to increased aggression, fear of attending school (humiliation). Reinforcement tells you what you should do i.e. Social norms, whereas punishment only tells you what not to do (Hopkins Burke, R (2009). To some extent, the conditioning process is specific to the specific stimulus that is presented but it can also be generalized to the other similar stimuli, thus the teenager would smoke the cigarette to reward himself with popularity or friendship. For behaviourist, it is this notion of differential conditioning that is the key to understanding how learning works (Hopkins Burke, R (2009). Learned behaviours are much more resistant to extinction if the reinforcement has only occasionally been used during the learning, this can be shown through this example “if you put money in a ticket machine and no ticket comes out, you stop using the machine”. However, many people put ‘money in gaming machines even though they pay out prizes infrequently’. Operant conditioning can be differentially conditioned

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Skinner was born on 20th March 1904 and died on 18th August 1990. He was, and remains, one of America’s most influential behavioural scientists. Skinner’s work and ideas what based on his experiments with the ‘Skinner Box’, but instead of using cats like Thorndike, Skinner used rats and pigeons which were rewarded with food pellets. To receive the food pellets they had to touch a small lever. From the results of Skinners experiment, he believed that after a person performs a behaviour there can be one of four different types of possible…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Cyp 3.3 Step 3

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Lee Canter is another theorist that came up with a behaviour model which is similar to Skinner's theory of operant conditioning. He came up with a model called the assertive discipline model that states five steps to assertive discipline. Step one adults should understand that they have an affect on children's behaviour. Step two is that adults such as parents, carer and practitioners should display assertive responses these means that they should be confident and self assured without showing aggressive behaviour. Step 3 is that parents, carers and practitioners should provide a clear discipline plan within the setting with rules and consequences.…

    • 135 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Jean Watson Behaviorism

    • 1761 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Skinner believed that values are established in terms of the reinforces that occur in consequence of those values (Kanekar, 1992). Under this position, actions are considered good when they are positively reinforcing (good outcomes) (Kanekar, 1992). Contrastingly, actions are thought to be bad when they are negatively reinforcing (bad outcomes) (Kanekar, 1992). Skinner also continues this theory that effective behaviors of ethical judgments are those that lead to human’s survival or sexual reproduction. Skinner believed that he can control human’s behavior and ultimately help the world in this manner (Schultz, 1969).…

    • 1761 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Toddler Application Paper

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This idea of positive reinforcement is also connected to Skinner’s theory of reinforcement of approved…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Moral Development Theory vs. Operant-Utilitarian Theory of Criminality Yengcheecha Thao California State University, Fresno Criminology 100: Criminology 10 December 2017 Introduction Today, there are many criminological theories that analyze and help provide insight into motivations behind most crimes. Two known theories that describe crimes from a psychological point of view are the Moral Development Theory and the Operant-Utilitarian Theory of Criminality. Both theories have contributed in helping others find the motivation behind certain crimes and how an individual developed their way into committing those crimes.…

    • 1650 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    According to B.F.Skinner, children are easily involved in the learning, engaging in the behaviours that result in certain consequences, popularly called reinforcers, and their behaviours are reinforced currently or in the past (M, p.546). Teachers make children understand the effect of reinforcement and punishment, which is taking away something that is pleasant or giving them something unpleasant (W, p.229). This leads to children’s actions, aimed to bring good behaviours, as an…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    B. F. Skinner began his career researching how different reinforcement schedules affect the learning process, using what he would eventually call operant conditioning (Mikheeva, 2015). Using his theory, Skinner would play a significant role in the development of behavioral psychology, enhancing the research methods and behavioral techniques for many generations to come. This paper will explore some of his behavioral techniques as well as his ideas of generalization and discrimination, and his concept of the technology of behavior. Skinner believed that society could use the technology of behavior to create a positive reinforcing culture. He thought that if the outlines of this technology were followed, society would be en route to creating…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Skinner wanted to understand variable and behavior in its context (the environment). He chooses the environment as a variable because it is where we, us organisms, operate (communicate, react and/ or respond) every day and because the environment also operates on our behavior. Thus, his idea further explains the idea of what happens after we behave/ engage in the behavior. Our experiences of what happens after we behave/ engage in the behavior can greatly affect the way we behave, such as a bad reaction can cause us to think twice about repeating the behavior, also known as a consequence (a reinforcement or punishment). Therefore, experimental analysis of behavior is an idea that Skinner created to study operate conditioning, also known as voluntary behavior.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction: There are many unique theories as to why humans commit crime, engage with others in crime, and are lured or motivated by a criminal lifestyle. By studying these theories, one is afforded a chance to develop and then test potential solutions to this enormous social problem that has afflicted humanity since the beginning of time. The various ways of deterring, controlling, preventing, and punishing crime throughout history has changed drastically. Attempting to attack the problem of crime head on, has not worked; so developing different ways to learn why, adapt, and address the root causes of crime is the current strategy. One very important point is that the structural frameworks and contributions from both classical school of…

    • 1226 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Skinner play a huge role in behaviorism and his theories are based on operant conditioning which is when behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the tendency to repeat the behavior in the future. This was shown when using the “Skinner Box” it showed that the mice would press down on the bar for the food and that altered the behavior of the mice within the environment the mouse was in. When the food was no more the mouse adjusted their behavior accordingly to stop pressing down on the bar. That example reflects a little of part of evolution and how the mouse evolved its behavior to get the food, but then when it ran out it then had to modified the behavior again. This shows that the environment plays a role on the mind and that to survive the mouse figured out how to live in the…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This paper is going to compare and contrast the theories put forth from Terrie Moffitt (Dual Pathway Developmental Theory) and from Sampson & Laub (Age-Graded Developmental Theory). First we will look at what is similar in the two theories. They both are longitudinal studies, meaning that they take place with a fixed group of subjects who are monitored and data is gathered on for a specific time. The Dual Pathway Developmental Theory used data that was collected from New Zeland over the last forty-one years, and is still on going.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In this essay I will reflect on the few assumptions and understandings I had about crime and see how they have changed. Upon arriving at De Montfort University to study Criminology and Criminal Justice, I had average knowledge about crime and punishment i.e. insight into biological and psychological perspectives of crime having studied A-level Law and Psychology beforehand. However I did expect to delve so deep into the history and other aspects of Criminology during this first semester. During A-level Law I have read many case studies of murder, manslaughter, GBH, rape etc. I found the main reasons behind committing these crimes were usually motives for revenge, loss of control, hate, rage, and biological inheritance of 'criminal genes ' such as Monoamine oxidase A which makes individuals more prone to exert violence.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The biological positivism theory emerged in the late 19th century and marked a shift in the way that society looks at criminals. Prior to its conception, the criminal justice system was based on the classical theory which stated that, because everyone has free will, individuals who commit crime make a rational choice to do so (Bradley & Walters, 2011). Biological positivism was founded in an attempt to answer the question: “What makes a person choose to commit crime?”, something that classicism wasn’t interested in addressing. For this reason, biological positivism, in contrast to classicism, puts its focus on the criminal, not the crime. With the integration of the medical model into criminology that biological positivism brought, criminality…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This essay will be an extension to the short answer question that will compare and discuss, two theories within criminology, these are Classicism and positivism. Starting it with a brief introduction to each school of thought with the theories and their theorist. Throughout to discussions about what are their key differences are to the end conclusion. Positivist and classicism approach to the theory of criminology were both very powerful in their definition and approach with how to deal with crime and criminal punishment. These two theories are rather different, however they contain similarities, such as bout of them influence criminal system, share same idea that criminal behaviour could be controlled or that they both focus on punishment…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Criminology is a subject which aims towards discovering the reasons behind an individual’s choice to commit crime and their behaviour in some situations. By understanding a person’s motives to commit a crime, criminologists can try and prevent crime from happening. Several criminologists developed their own theories which explain why people commit crime, what makes them do it and also how we can prevent individuals from committing a crime again. The main theoretical perspectives examined in this essay are Biological Criminology and Psychological Criminology.…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays