Objections

**Objections** **Hermann Ebbinghaus: The Forgetting Curve**

Hermann Ebbinghaus is well-known for his work with the forgetting curve, which describes the exponential curve that tell us how fast we forget information we have learned. This finding is still useful in the field of psychology today,however, Ebbinghaus’ method has recently been criticized by some recent researchers. Researchers today believe Ebbinghaus was too concerned with the acquisition of verbal repetition habits, instead of focusing on how human memory operates under the conditions of everyday life (Gregory, 1987).For instance, a British experimental psychologist, Frederic Charles Bartlett, thought that Ebbinghaus seemed to pay no attention to important conditions of memory which relate to pre-existing attitudes and response tendencies(Gregory, 1987).

**Problems with Behaviorism**


 * Generalizibilty **

The study of animals in classical and operant conditioning have produced significant results and insight into the study of learning. Classical and Operant psychologists apply their research with animals to people, in an attempt to explain our human nature. K. Boulding (1984), along with other psychologists, takes issue with applying principles discovered about animals to humans, who are far more complex. Conducting more studies on human subjects would allow for a greater likelihood that the results can be generalized amongst the population of the human race. Strictly using human subjects in experiments, however, can actually lead to further issues with this psychological approach.


 * Ethics**

The “Little Albert” experiment conducted by Watson is one of the most well-known psychology experiments of all time. Despite its popularity, the “Little Albert” experiment is highly controversial for its use of ingraining fear into an infant. Today there are standards that restrict experiments from crossing ethical boundaries. These standards make conducting experiments involving certain negative reinforcements (ex. Introduction of a painful stimulus), found in operant conditioning, impossible to conduct on human participants.

The “Little Albert” experiment was also criticized for its vague experimental design, which relied too heavily on the subjective interpretations from Watson and his colleague (Cherry, 2011).

*** The video below depicts one of the most unethical psychological experiments * ** media type="youtube" key="wWfFjEj2JAA" height="349" width="425" align="center"

**Language**

One of the main criticisms of Behaviorism is the vagueness and incapability of explaining how language is acquired. According to psychologist Noam Chomsky, Skinner’s book on verbal behavior does not clarify how children are able to acquire language at such a quick rate (Graham, 2011). Behaviorists believe that learning is acquired through reinforcement; however when involving language children do not require constant reinforcement to learn words (Graham, 2011). Chomsky, rejecting Skinner’s theory on language, instead suggests that human beings possess “abstract innate grammar” enabling them to rapidly learn language (Graham, 2011).

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**Incapable of interacting with environment, incapable of learning? **

Behaviorists view the ability to interact with one’s environment as a key factor in acquiring knowledge. This aspect of behaviorism discriminates against those who are physically disabled, those unable to interact with their environment to a human’s fullest capabilities. The hindering of one’s abilities to interact with the world does not make one incompetent; they are still able to acquire knowledge, thus going against the belief of behaviorism.