Neal E. Miller was a pioneering American psychologist who made significant contributions to the fields of learning and motivation. Born in 1909, Miller received his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in 1930 and his PhD in psychology from Yale University in 1934.
One of Miller's most influential contributions was his work on classical conditioning and operant conditioning, which helped to establish the foundations of modern behaviorism. He conducted a series of pioneering experiments on animals and humans that demonstrated how behavior is shaped by the consequences of that behavior. For example, he showed that animals and humans can learn to associate certain stimuli with rewards or punishments, and that this learning can be modified through reinforcement or punishment.
Miller also made significant contributions to our understanding of motivation and emotion. He proposed that motivation is driven by a system of competing drives, such as hunger, thirst, and sex, and that these drives can be modified through reinforcement or punishment. He also argued that emotions are not just the result of physiological arousal, but are also influenced by cognitive processes and social factors.
In addition to his work on learning and motivation, Miller also made important contributions to the field of social psychology. He conducted a series of influential studies on aggression, showing that aggression is not a fixed trait but can be influenced by environmental and social factors. He also studied social influence, demonstrating how people's behavior is influenced by the presence and expectations of others.
Miller's contributions to psychology have had a lasting impact and are still widely studied and debated today. He received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the National Medal of Science and the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. He passed away in 2002, but his contributions to the field of psychology continue to be recognized and celebrated.
Miller, Neal
Many of Miller's theories, now accepted as little more than common sense, were established in ground-breaking work begun in the 1930s and based on his conviction that the brain affected human behaviour; and he sought to map the physiological underpinnings of the most visceral of human drives, like fear, hunger and curiosity. Neal Elgar Miller 1909-2002 On August 3, 1909, American experimental psychologist and neuroscientist Neal Elgar Millerwas born. The facilitation of exploration by hunger in rats. Humans have to draw the line somewhere in animal rights, or we're dead. Neurosis was not seen as ego being overwhelmed by internal conflicts, but as a failure to make adaptive behaviors which could be studied as a learning failure, and as such, could be remedied with new learning. This can occur through therapy, or by using tranquilizing drugs, even alcohol.
Neal E Miller
It suggests that aggression and frustration are interdependent and cause each other to flare up. Different needs develop in different circumstances, which is why culture is important to understand. Behavioral medicine as a new frontier: Opportunities and dangers. And an increase in drive raises the height of the entire gradient. Social cues are more ambiguous, which is why getting the right response from a partner can be tricky. Lynching of blacks in the antebellum South, profiling criminals, dispensing of civil rights for people we decide are terrorists, whether there is a shred of evidence or any legal justification at all. People often make serious changes in their lives and choices once they overcome their fears.
Neal Miller: A giant in American psychology
In general, goals that are equally difficult to embrace produce immobilization, procrastination if possible, or escape. American Psychological Association citation for outstanding lifetime contribution to psychology. When Miller's experiments showed that the animals learned that they would get a reward if they performed a change effected usually by the autonomic nervous system, he suggested that, since people were a lot smarter, they might be taught to do the same, provided they could monitor the process directly. People who are closer to the target in some ways will more likely elicit an aggressive response. The behavior is being done for a past reward, not the same trigger as for the model. Miller was regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on animal learning abilities. Children need to have anger described to them and to learn how to use this powerful emotion responsibly.
17.5: John Dollard and Neal Miller
He claimed that people could directly influence their bodily mechanisms, such as blood pressure, and that everybody could be taught to do so. This combination of psychoanalysis, sociology, and learning led to some of the most famous theories in psychology: the frustration-aggression hypothesis, social learning, and a theoretical basis for understanding behavior in conflict situations. Aggressive cues trigger aggressive behaviors This has been seen when people are exposed to violent media, games, especially when the perpetrators suffer no consequences for their violence. Tranquilizers, especially alcohol, can disengage inhibitions, however, which put people at risk sometimes. Behavioral Medicine Update, 1 2 , 5—7.
Neal E. Miller
Neal Miller was born in Milwaukee, Wisc. Suppression is willful control of thinking- putting thoughts out of consciousness. When we are acting rationally, we make less aggressive choices. Monday 07 February 2022 Neal E. He showed the autonomic nervous system functions like heart rate, gastric vascular responses, and blood pressure could be influenced by operant learning. He then left Yale to establish the Laboratory of Physiological Psychology at Rockefeller University, where he retired as professor emeritus.
