John Dollard and Neal Miller

BOIGRAPHY
Neal Miller - Studied with the famous learning theorist, Clark Hull. Well known for
his work
with biofeedback and animal models of human behavior. He was also president
of the APA.

John Dollard - was Prof. of anthropology at Yale. He wrote the classic 1937 book
Caste and class in a southern town. With Miller and others, he also wrote an
important book on
Frustration and Aggression.

THEORY AND CONCEPTS

A good attempt to explain Freudian concepts such as repression and
displacement in terms of learning (drive reduction) theory. A good attempt to
reconcile psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

Four concepts of Clark Hulls drive reduction theory

1. drive - stimulus that impels the organism to some behavior (hunger).
2. cue - "guides" or indicates the appropriate direction for behavior (time,
restaurant,
going home).

3. response - behaviors directed at reducing drive (cooking food, ordering food).

4. reinforcement - anything that lowers drive (pleasant feelings of eating and
being full).

reinforcement theory - for learning to occur, one must WANT something, NOTICE
something, DO something, and GET something.

hierarchy of responses - any drive and cue (hunger and restaurant) elicit many
responses with some (order hamburger) being more likely than others (order
liver).
dominant response - the most likely response (order a hamburger) for a given
drive and cue (restaurant).

the "learning dilemma" - in the absence of a dilemma (need) NO learning takes

place.

Millers demonstration of fear conditioning in a rat:

1. a primary punisher (shock) is associated with a neutral stimulus (white
compartment).
2. fear becomes a drive (CER or conditioned fear reaction)

3. any response that lowers fear is reinforcing so its "habit strength" increases
4. feared stimulus (white compartment) is avoided so the rat never learns that the
danger is no longer present (basis of phobic avoidance).

Types of "conflict"
1. approach-approach - you are drawn to two equally attractive goals (date Mary
or Jane).
2. avoidance-avoidance - you are repelled by two equally unattractive goals
(working
overtime vs. not being able to pay bills).

3. approach-avoidance - you are equally attracted to AND repelled from one goal
(might be drawn to graduate school for the degree but repelled by all the hard
work).

4. double approach-avoidance - you are both drawn to AND repelled from two
goals
[working overtime (good pay but, you're tired) and family dinner (you feel
obligated but find these boring)].

factors that influence the probability of reaching of a goal (e.g., asking for a raise)
1. avoidance gradient is steeper than approach gradient (in an approachavoidance conflict, as you get closer, drive to avoid increases more quickly than
drive to approach).

2. vacillation (indecision) - occurs where the approach and avoidance gradients

cross.

3. increased drive - (approach gradient gets "higher," NOT steeper) makes

reaching goal more likely (e.g., financial demands worsen making a raise more
imperative) (see fig. 10 -1).

Millers demonstration of displacement

1. When two rats were placed in a cage with a doll and shocked, they attacked
each other and ignored the doll.

2. When one rat was removed, the remaining rat attacked the doll. Aggression
was displaced to a similar target.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis - Dollard and Miller suggest that aggression is

the result of frustration. A correct but incomplete explanation.

The Unconscious Mind

1. Experiences that were "never verbalized" - Experiences during the first year or
two of life may make a strong impression. But, because language has not yet
been learned the experiences were never verbalized or "labeled" thus they
remain "unconscious."

2. Suppression - anxiety is a drive and its reduction is reinforcing. Redirecting

the mind from anxiety-provoking thoughts is reinforcing and becomes a habit.

3. Repression - the above process becomes "automatic" and anxiety can be

totally avoided rather than just escaped from.

4. "STUPID" behaviors - Dollard and Miller used this term to indicate that
repressed thoughts cannot be dealt with logically or rationally so behaviors
related to them will appear stupid and unreasonable.

psychotherapy - a situation in which repressed thoughts (fears) can be

expressed without being followed by the punishing consequences that initially
made them anxiety provoking, leading to extinction of fears and neuroses.

Berkun and Murray experiment (psychotherapy for shocked rats)

1. rats were shocked in, and learned to fear. a white compartment.
2. they were then repeatedly placed in an apparatus with connecting white, gray,
and black runways each with a food goal.

3. at first they moved (displaced) quickly to the black runway (most dissimilar to
the white).
4. with continued trials, they reached the food goal in the gray runway and
eventually in
the white runway. The fear had extinguished.