2 - Behavioural Psychology Flashcards
Define Behavioural Psychology
A theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning (past experiences people have had through interacting with their environment)
What is the conventional personality perspective?
States that our behaviour is driven by inner motives such as instincts, unconscious drives and feelings
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning was proposed by John Watson, based on Pavlov’s observations. It is divided into 3 stages:
Stage 1, before conditioning:
- an UCS (unconditioned stimulus) causes an UCR (unconditioned response). This is a natural response of the NS (neutral stimulus {a person}) that has not been taught
Stage 2, during conditioning:
- a neutral stimulus (produces no response) is associated with the UCS, and the NS now becomes the CS (conditioned stimulus). This conditioning normally requires a number of occasions of association, but can occur after one trial
Stage 3, after conditioning:
- The CS is now associated with the UCS and produces a new, CR (conditioned response)
Operant Conditioning (instrumental conditioning)
Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning was proposed by B.F. Skinner, based on Thorndike’s Law of Effect - the principle that the consequences of a behaviour (pleasant or punishing) will determine the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. He altered this with the term ‘reinforcers’.
Skinner believed the classical conditioning paradigm is too simplistic for most learning situations
Skinner identified 3 types of operants (responses from the environment) that can follow behaviour:
Neutral Operants:
- do not affect the probability of a behaviour being repeated
Reinforcers:
- increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated
- can be positive or negative
- positive reinforcers reward the behaviour
- negative reinforcing is the removal of a negative stimulus by doing the behaviour
Punishers:
- decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated
- does not necessarily guide towards the desired behaviour, just against the undesired
- punished behaviour is only suppressed and will return if the stimulus is removed
Describe Thorndike’s Law of effect
the principle that the consequences of a behaviour (pleasant or punishing) will determine the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated
- operant conditioning was formed from this effect
> based on findings from putting a cat in a puzzle box
Different Reinforcement Schedules in (Operant) conditioning (5), and their effects
Different schedules of reinforcement have different effects on Response Rate (rate of doing the behaviour) and Extinction Rate (rate of cessation of behaviour)
There are 5 schedules of reinforcement:
Continuous Reinforcement:
- positive reinforcement every time a behaviour occurs
- Response Rate = SLOW
- Extinction Rate = FAST
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement:
- positive reinforcement after a given number of behaviour occurrences
- Rr = FAST
- Er = MEDIUM
Fixed Interval Reinforcement:
- reinforcement after a given time period if the behaviour occurred within that time
- Rr = MEDIUM
- Er = MEDIUM
Variable Ratio Reinforcement:
- reinforcement after a random number of behaviour occurrences (fishing)
- Rr = FAST
- Er = SLOW (very hard to extinguish due to unpredictability)
Variable Interval Reinforcement:
- reinforcement after a random amount of time, providing the behaviour occurred within that time (self-employed pay schedule)
- Rr = FAST
- Er = SLOW
In conditioning, what is response rate and extinction rate?
Response rate is the time taken for the participant to do the behaviour
Extinction rate is the time taken for the participant to cease the behaviour
Describe Morgan’s Cannon
Morgan’s Cannon states that a behaviour should not be explained by complex, high-level mental processes if it can be explained using a simpler one
Describe shaping within operant conditioning
The idea of shaping is that extremely complex behaviours can be conditioned using the principles of operant conditioning
- by slightly altering the contingencies (conditions) required to receive the reward each time the reward is received
- this should shift the overall behaviour of the organism closer to the desired behaviour
What is Contiguity?
How close in time the condition and the outcome are
relates to association
What is simultaneous conditioning?
When the conditioned stimulus (CS) happens at the exact same time as the UCS (unconditioned stimulus)
- when this happens, the organism cannot experience the predictive relationship
What is delay conditioning?
the CS is followed immediately by the UCS
- Produces the strongest conditioning
What is trace conditioning?
CS is followed by a delay period, then the UCS
How can Pavlovian conditioning (classical) be applied to the development of anxiety (fear conditioning)
Little Albert Experiment:
- conditioned a baby to become scared (UCR) at the sight of a rat (CS), by pairing the sight of a rat (NS ) with a loud noise (UCS)
- the loud noise caused fear in the baby, and the baby became conditioned to become fearful at the sight of the rat
Cohen Kadosh et al. experiment
- had teenagers view a recording of an empty room, in which a face would pop up and a loud scream would sound in 3 separate conditions:
Predictable scream condition (P):
- every time the face (NS -> CS) would appear, it would be followed by a scream (UCS), causing a startle (UCR -> CR)
Unpredictable scream condition (U):
- the face and scream would occur separately, as to not be related to one another
No scream condition (N):
- the face would appear but no screaming
Findings:
- the mean startle amplitude was measured afterwards when exposed to the room, and the face
P condition:
- a significantly higher startle score when exposed to the face (CS) than the room
U condition:
- similar value to the P condition for the startle score due to the room, also similar value for the face
Stimulus-Response Model (Dollard and Miller) and the 4 conflicts situations they found between drives
- agrees with Freud that the infant is born with some innate drives
Primary Drives:
- motivate behaviour
- innate physiological drives that ensure survival
- reduction of these drives provides powerful reinforcement of the reductive stimulus (behaviour)
Secondary Drives:
- secondary reinforcers
- learned in order to help cope with primary drives (drive to gain money in order to buy food etc.)
Dollard and Miller identified that different drives compete to influence behaviour:
Approach-approach conflict:
- two equally desirable but incompatible goals
Avoidance-avoidance conflict:
- two equally undesirable alternatives
Approach-avoidance conflict:
- there is one goal, with an attractive aspect and an equally unattractive aspect
Double approach-avoidance conflict:
- multiple goals, some desirable, some undesirable
- most similar to regular situations
