lucy

The behaviorist approach leads us to believe that personality consists of all of an individuals behaviors. According to Skinner all behavior is determined by contingencys of reinforcment, based on the type and frequency of the reinforcment. If this is true, then we are more apt to repeat behaviors that are rewarded and less apt to repeat punished behaviors. The expirence I’d like to share about my reinforcment procedure involves my dog Lucy. Lucy is …

…to why I am laughing at her, but when I tell Lucy to sit she will. When she sits, she looks for a reward that is sometimes given to her. Using generalization, I will tell Lucy to spit and she will sit and still look for the reward. Sit and spit are so similar that she believes they will have the same outcome, only one may get a reward and the other gets a chuckle.