BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY

What is this field?

Behavioral psychology, in essence, is about human behavior. Notable researchers include Ivan Pavlov and John Watson, who famously said that he could train an infant to be anything.1 This field has equal amounts of observation and conditioning using people of all ages to examine the infinite facets of human behavior.

What do these researchers study?

  • Behavior = interactions with the environment2
  • Conditioning
  • Reward and Punishment

Research in this field has looked at specific concepts such as association and reward versus punishment. Ultimately, behaviorists believe that human behavior is always a result of interactions with and factors of the environment in which a person lives.

Studies of behaviorism have included the Learned Helplessness Experiment, which led to deeper examinations of depression, and the Bobo Doll Experiment, which showcased the potential dangers of children’s exposure to negative behavior.3

How can Labvanced match these famous designs?

Modern researchers are conducting their studies with Labvanced using advanced technology from the convenience of the home office.

  • Audio/video presentation: In Labvanced, you can present audio and video files to subjects. These can be triggered by any action, even eye tracking.
    • Example: present a video to subjects and ask them to respond to questions about the behavior of the person in the video.
    • Check out the videos for audio and video presentation here.
  • Reaction Time: Record accurate reaction times from participants as they respond to stimuli.
    • Example: condition a response, such as pressing a button when an object appears, and see how quickly the conditioned response will occur over time.4
  • Feedback: Labvanced makes it easy to provide dynamic feedback to your subjects following the completion of a task or after a specific response.
    • Example: Develop a system of rewards and punishments, such as earning points, for responses to a controlled task or game.
  • Advanced Eye Tracking: Eye movements can hold a wealth of information, especially for behavioral studies. Our advanced system can help you capture this information in real time.5
    • Example: Compare eye movements before and after a stressful task, then measure eye movement during a relaxing video.
    • Check out the eye tracking video playlist here.

What are the advantages of online experiments?

  • Easily recruit: It is easy to recruit subjects online, simply give them your study’s URL or connect a crowdsourcing platform. No need to set up a lab space and bring people in to test.
  • No travel time: With online studies, there is a nice flow to the experiment. Subjects can easily transition from playing a game to answering questions to watching a video without having to move from their seat. This minimizes “travel time” between stages of an experiment.

Additional Use Cases

Explore these topics to see more applications of Behavioral Psychology:

  • The Placebo Effect6
  • Twin Studies7
  • Conditioned Play Audiometry

References

  1. Rivier University. (n.d.). An Introduction to Behavioral Psychology. Rivier University. Retrieved from https://www.rivier.edu/academics/blog-posts/an-introduction-to-behavioral-psychology/#:~:text=Behavioral%20psychology%2C%20or%20behaviorism%2C%20is,middle%20of%20the%2020th%20century
  2. Cavanaugh Simpson, J. (2000, April). It's All in the Upbringing. John Hopkins. Retrieved from https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0400web/35.html
  3. King University. (2018, October 16). 7 Famous Psychology Experiments. King University Online. Retrieved from https://online.king.edu/news/psychology-experiments/
  4. Ojala, K. E., & Bach, D. R. (2020). Measuring learning in human classical threat conditioning: translational, cognitive and methodological considerations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 114, 96-112.
  5. Hoppe, S., Loetscher, T., Morey, S. A., & Bulling, A. (2018). Eye movements during everyday behavior predict personality traits. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 105.
  6. Kirsch, I. (2004). Conditioning, Expectancy, and the Placebo Effect: Comment on Stewart-Williams and Podd (2004). Psychological Bulletin, 130(2), 341–343. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.341
  7. Johnson, W., Turkheimer, E., Gottesman, I. I., & Bouchard, T. J., Jr (2010). Beyond Heritability: Twin Studies in Behavioral Research. Current directions in psychological science, 18(4), 217–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01639.x