BEHAVIORAL AND EXCHANGE THEORY - Purdue University



BEHAVIORAL AND EXCHANGE THEORY

Intellectual Influences

- Watson and Skinner: behaviorialism

- Simmel?

- Anti: functional, interactionist, Freudian

Socio-historical

- Harvard in 1950s: Homans and Parsons

and applied social science

- the Sixties: therapy and social change

Theoretical Model

- teleological and reductionist

- human nature: selfish, gratification-seeker

- behavior modification: conditioned response and

operant conditioning

Behavior Modification

Reinforcement Punishment

(reproduce behavior) (extinguish behavior)

Positive Positive Positive Punishment

(impose Reinforcement (pain)

condition) (pleasure)

Negative Negative Negative Punishment

(remove Reinforcement (pain)

condition) (pleasure)

General Model of Behavior

-/+

+

Behavior Reinforcer/Punisher

Behavior Modification in Three Stages

Stage 1 Stage 2 Success

punish reinforce punish reinforce punish reinforce

- + - + - +

Operant Desired

Behavior Behavior

- Social Exchange

- relations are instrumental/value-rational

- other as source of reinforcers/punishers

- power and values and social structure

-/+

+

Person Other

Much of the recent, rational choice theory is based on game theory, best represented by “the prisoners’ dilemma.” Police catch A and B with stolen goods. Police interrogate suspects separately to encourage each to “cop a plea” and avoid a five year sentence for grand theft. If nobody cops a plea there is not enough evidence and each is convicted of receiving stolen property.

Prisoner A

No plea Cops a plea

No A: six months A: one year

plea B: six months B: five years

Prisoner B

Cops A: five years A: one year

a plea B: one year B: one year

What a rational person would do depends on the probability that other will cop a plea.

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