2. The Behavioural Approach Flashcards
When was the Behaviourist approach founded
Founded by JB Watson in 1913, the behaviourist approach emerged at the beginning of the 20th cent, rejecting the vagueness of introspection.
Instead it focused on how we are a product of our learning, experience and environment
Important contributors to the behaviourist approach
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1939): theory of classical conditioning
B.F Skinner (1904-1990): work into operant conditioning
What experiment did Watson & Rayner carry out & when
Little Albert, 1920
Method of Little Albert
The participant was an 11 month old boy named, ‘Little Albert’. He showed no fear of white fluffy objects sa rats or rabbits. The researchers tried to create a conditioned response to these objects. A white rat was placed in front of Little Albert. As he reached out for it, a metal bar was struck loudly behind his head. This was repeated twice at first, then 5 more times a week later
Results of Little Albert
After the experiment, when Little Albert was shown a rat, he would start to cry. This also extended to other white fluffy objects sa a white Santa Claus beard
Conclusion of Little Albert
A fear response to white fluffy objects had been conditioned in Little Albert, showing that abnormal behaviour can be learned
Evaluation of Little Albert
- The experimenter was very unethical - such an experiment could not be repeated today.
- Not everyone goes on to develop a fear or phobia after a negative situation, so learning theory cannot be the fully story
- It was a laboratory study, so lacks ecological validity as the situation was artificial
- HOWEVER, results support Pavlov’s idea of classical conditioning
5 assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- Behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thinking/emotion. Observable behaviour can be objectively & scientifically measured.
- When born, our mind is a blank slate.
- Animals & humans learn in same ways. (the principles by which we learn are the same) Therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans.
- Behaviour is the result of stimulus - response (ie. all behaviour, no matter how complex) can be reduced to a simple stimulus
- All behaviour is learnt from the environment. We learn new behaviour through classical or operant conditioning (except inborn reflexes & inborn instincts)
What is a stimulus
Anything, internal or external, that brings about a response
What is a response
Any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
What is reinforcement
The process by which a response is strengthened
Who discovered Classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov, Pavlov’s dogs
What is Classical conditioning
(Pavlov was the first to describe this process of learning by testing it on animals)
This is learning by association & refers to the conditioning of reflexes & involves associating a new stimulus w an innate bodily reflex.
What does Classical conditioning involve
Pairing a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus
What did Pavlov do
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - BEFORE CONDITIONING: First, Pavlov established that meat caused the dog to salivate.
Unconditional stimulus (food) = Unconditioned response (saliva)
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: Then Pavlov established that a tone did not cause the dog to salivate
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - DURING CONDITIONING: He then presented the tone w the food. Note that the dog is salivating in response to the food at this time. Unconditioned stimulus (food) + Neutral stimulus (bell) = Unconditioned response (saliva)
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - AFTER CONDITIONING: After several pairings of the tone & food, Pavlov found that the dog would salivate to the tone when it was presented alone. Conditioned stimulus (bell) = Conditioned response (saliva)
What is Unconditioned stimulus
The stimulus that causes the reflex response before conditioning. It is the stimulus that naturally produces the response
What is Conditioned stimulus
The stimulus which, after repeated pairings with the unconditional stimulus, produces the response
What is Unconditioned response
The innate (reflexive) response to a stimulus that has not been conditioned
What is Conditioned response
The response that occurs after exposure to the conditional stimulus
Who conducted the operant conditioning experiment and when
BF Skinner, Skinner’s Box (1938)
What did Skinner claim
- Claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment- operant conditioning
- This involves learning through the consequences (positive & negative) of behavioural responses
Method of Skinner’s Box
Skinner created a ‘Skinner box’ in which he placed 1 rat at a time. Each Skinner box contained a variety of different stimuli - a speaker, lights, a floor which gave an electric shock & food dispenser which dispensed food when a lever was pressed.
A hungry rat was placed in the Skinner box. The time take for the rats to learn that pressing the lever would release food was recorded
Results of Skinner’s box
Initially, the rat would run around the cage until it accidentally pressed the lever & it was rewarded w food. The more the rat was put back into the box, the quicker they got at learning where the lever was
Conclusion of Skinner’s box
Rats can learn behaviour through operant conditioning. A behaviour sa pressing a lever can be positively reinforced by receiving food
Evaluation of Skinner’s box
- Skinner’s experiment has been hugely influential in promoting the idea of behavioural psychology
- HOWEVER, his experiment did use animals, which means results may not be generalisable to humans
- His sample was also small, reducing reliability of results
How did Skinner also test negative reinforcement
He showed that rats could learn to prevent an electric shock by pressing the lever when a light came on
What is operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is concerned with the use of consequences, sa gaining rewards or receiving punishments, in order to modify & shape behaviour
Skinner, like Pavlov, tested this learning process on animals
What is positive reinforcement
Increases the likelihood of a response occurring bc it involves a reward for the behaviour
Egs of positive reinforcement
- Worker gets paid a bonus for working hard
- Dog gets treat for returning when called
What is negative reinforcement
Increases the likelihood of a response occurring bc it involves the removal of, or escaping from, unpleasant consequences (eg. it leads to stopping or avoiding an electric shock)
Egs of negative reinforcement
- Car warning when seatbelt is not strapped
Anything done for purpose of avoiding smth negative happening
What is punishment
The consequence is receiving smth unpleasant which decreases the probability of the behaviour being repeated (eg. the behaviour leads to an electric shock or a smack)
What is important to note about operant conditioning
It is important to note however that the associations between responses & consequences have to be made close tg in time for learning to occur
Difference between positive and negative punishments
Positive punishment: stimulus presented after behaviour occurs eg, receiving a detention for poor behaviour
Negative punishment: stimulus removed after behaviour occurs eg. having smth taken away, tv
see table of reinforcement and punishment on Goodnotes
What did Wong (2008) suggest
- Explained addiction to video gaming by stating that gaming provides reinforcement contingencies & rewards depending upon certain behaviours
STRENGTHS of Approach
- Behaviourism is very scientific. Theories are testable & supported by rigorous experimental research - uses the experimental method –> helps to establish cause, effect & objective
- It influences all areas of psychology
- Replicable - can be repeated due to high control, so has reliability
- Mainly quantitative data - easy to analyse
- Behaviourist explanations can be applied to the real world to explain everyday behaviour sa phobias & has produced many practical applications
- Useful applications to education, child rearing
- It provides strong counter-arguments to the nature side of the ‘nature-nurture’ debate
LIMITATIONS of Approach
- Many forms of learning cannot be satisfactorily explained by classical & operant conditioning
- Approach ignores important mental processes involved in learning
- Reductionist –> only takes into account nurture, rules out any influence of anything else
- Deterministic –> ignores free will
- Lack of ecological validity due to highly controlled experiments –> issues with generalisability
- Ethical issues, not all research meets ethical guidelines (testing on animals?)
- Lack of qualitative data - no thoughts or feelings known
- Much data has been obtained from species sa rats, dogs, but the relevance of these findings to human behaviour is dubious
More on ethical issues of Approach
- Is this fair on the animals
- Experienced stress and aversive condition
Why did the behavioural approach reject introspection
Wundt tried to study consciousness using introspection. This involves analysing your own experiences. HOWEVER, there’s no way of finding out whether what a person said is true or not - so introspection can never be properly scientific
What is the behavioural approach also known as
Learning Theory
Principles of Classical conditioning
Generalisation - when stimuli similar to the original CS (bell w diff pitch) produces the CR (salivating0
Discrimination - when stimuli similar to the og CS dont produce the CR. Achieved by withholding the UCS when the similar stimulus is used
Extinction - when the CR (salivating) isn’t produced as a result of the CS (bell). Happens when CS is repeatedly presented w/o UCS following it
Spontaneous recovery - when a previously extinct CR is produced in response to the CS. Happens when CS is presented again after period of time during which it’s not been used
Higher order conditioning - when a new CS (light) produces the CR bc the animal associates it w the og CS. Achieved by consistently presenting new CS before og CS
WEAKNESSES of conditioning
- There’s lots of ev to show animals & humans can learn by conditioning, BUT conditioning cant explain all behaviour. We also learn by observation (as shown by social learning theory)
- Most research into conditioning involved animals - generalising to humans is difficult
- Diff species have diff capacities for learning by conditioning. This is also affected by genetics of species
- Research using animals seen as unethical
