2.1 - Approaches In Psychology (Set C - behaviourist approach)

Question 1

Who established the behaviourist approach, who else contributed what was the overall assumption of the approach?

Answer 1

John B Watson established the approach in 1913 it also includes work from Ivan Pavlov (1927) and skinner (1938) - it rejected the vagueness of introspection and focuses instead on observable events and how behaviour is shaped by the environment

Question 2

Explain the main assumption of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

Environmental stimuli shape behaviour - for example a stimuli in the environment (eg a spider) will cause us to respond in a certain way (eg being scared)

Question 3

Explain 3 other assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 3

• blank slate - when we are born our mind is like a ‘tabula rasa’ - what we learn through our interactions with the environment determines our behaviour
• behaviour is learnt though conditioning - both classical and operant
• humans and animals learn in a similar way - therefore findings on animals can be applied to predict and generalise human behaviour

Question 4

What is the behaviourist approaches stance on ‘nature v nurture’ debate?

Answer 4

Behaviourist falls on the ‘nurture’ side as behaviour is determined by factors external to the individual (overruling any innate or biological factors such as genes, hormones or evolution)

Question 5

What is the behaviourist approaches stance on determinism v free will?

Answer 5

Behaviourist approach is firmly on the deterministic side, as we are born as a blank slate shaped by the environment - as children we have little to no control over the environment

• approach does acknowledge small contribution of free will - we are able to shape and choose our environments at times

Question 6

What is a problem with the behaviourist approach siding with determinism?

Answer 6

Undermines the sense of choice or free will that humans have when making designs - validates the idea we have no personal or moral responsibility for our behaviour leads to a ‘blame culture’ (for example someone may display aggressive behaviour and blame the environment rather than it as something they are responsible for)

Question 7

What is a strength with the behaviourist approach siding with determinism?

Answer 7

Recognising the role of determinism in behaviour means we know what factors have pre-determined a behaviour such as a persons phobia - which means we can aim to alter these factors in an attempt to change the behaviour

Question 8

Is the behaviourist approach scientific?

Answer 8

Behaviourist uses scientific methods to investigate ideas - for example forming hypotheses and using methods like experiments - considered scientific

Question 9

What is a strength of the behaviourist approach being scientific?

Answer 9

Approaches that use scientific methods to investigate ideas tend to be seen as more credible due to higher quality of supporting evidence - also important as psychology as a subject aims to be scientifically recognised

Question 10

Explain what classical conditioning is?

Answer 10

Classical conditioning is learning through association, it was discovered by Pavlov and involves two stimuli being linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal

Question 11

Explain the work of Ivan Pavlov in 1927?

Answer 11

Investigated the salivary reflex in dogs and noticed that animals not only salivated when food was in their mouths but also when their was the presence of a food bowl or the person that fed them - led him to experiment and showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to a conditioned stimulus (sound of a metronome)

Question 12

Explain 3 things Pavlov showed or disscovered?

Answer 12

• dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a metronome (a conditioned stimulus)
• discovered that unlike the UCR the CR does not become a permanently established response - it can be unlearnt
• stimulus generalisation - once the animal has been conditioned it responds to a stimuli similar to the CS

Question 13

Explain the neutral stimulus (NS) in Pavlov’s experiment with salivating dogs?

Answer 13

before conditioning takes place the neutral stimulus has no effect on behaviour - sound of the metronome was the neutral stimulus (did not cause the dogs to salivate)

• becomes the conditioned stimulus

Question 14

Explain the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) in Pavlov’s experiment with salivating dogs?

Answer 14

stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any learning needed - the food was the unconditioned stimulus as it automatically induced salivation in the dogs

Question 15

Explain the conditioned stimulus (CS) in Pavlov’s experiment with salivating dogs?

Answer 15

previously neutral stimulus that after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus comes to trigger a conditioned response - the metronome became the CS as the dog learned to associate it with food

Question 16

Explain the conditioned response (CR) in Pavlov’s experiment with salivating dogs?

Answer 16

the learned response to the CS it is triggered by the CS - in this case salivating to the sound of the metronome (CS)

Question 17

Explain the unconditioned response (UR) in Pavlov’s experiment with salivating dogs?

Answer 17

automatic, innate reaction to an unconditioned stimulus, does not require any learning - in the experiment it is dogs automatically salivating in response to food

Question 18

Explain the contributions of Pavlov’s work?

Answer 18

• showed that learning could be investigated experimentally using non-human participants (animals)
• provided therapies for conditions such as phobias and addictions - can help us unlearn these behaviours
• behaviour is learnt over a period of time

Question 19

What is the law of temporal contiguity?

Answer 19

Idea that if the time between the conditioned stimulus (bell) and the unconditioned stimulus (food) is too great then learning will not occur

Question 20

Explain the contribution of Pavlov’s work in regard to therapy techniques?

Answer 20

Techniques based on classical conditioning, such as systematic desensitization and exposure therapy, have been developed to treat a variety of psychological disorders, including phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• in these cases a CR (like fear) can be unlearned by changing the association between a specific stimulus and its response

Question 21

Explain the little Albert experiment experiment and what took place)?

Answer 21

Conducted by John B Watson and Rayner in 1920 and involved a young child being conditioned to fear a white rat - this was done by Watson making a loud noise every time Albert was presented with the rat which would make him cry

• after repeated pairings Albert began to expect a frightening noise whenever he saw the white rat

Question 22

Give the 5 stimulus’s and responses in the little Albert experiment?

Answer 22

• Neutral stimulus - white rat
• unconditioned stimulus - loud noise
• unconditioned response - fear
• conditioned stimulus - white rat
• conditioned response - fear

Question 23

Explain how stimuli’s generalisation was observed in the little Albert experiment?

Answer 23

Watson observed that stimulus generalization had occurred - after conditioning, Albert feared not just the white rat, but a wide variety of similar white objects as well. His fear included other furry objects including a fur coat and Watson wearing a Santa Claus beard

Question 24

Explain 3 criticisms and ethical issues regarding the little Albert experiment?

Answer 24

• The experiment has very low external validity because it isn’t generalizable to others
• their interpretations of little Albert’s neutral and fear reactions can be heavily biased - difficult to assess whether their data is reliable
• caused a young child a lot of stress and discomfort all while already being ill with a condition

Question 25

Explain 2 of the advantages of the little Albert experiment?

Answer 25

• evidence that classical conditioning can occur in humans - builds on skinners work with dogs
• plays an important role in understanding how phobias are acquired - can help treat them

Question 26

Explain the strengths of classical conditioning, reference its application to treatment of phobias/anxiety - evaluation?

Answer 26

Classical conditioning has been applied in the development for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias - systematic desensitisation is based on classical conditioning

• this classical conditioning based approach has been found to be effective for a range of phobais

Question 27

Explain how systematic desensitisation works with reference to classical conditioning?

Answer 27

Is a therapy based on classical conditioning and works by eliminating the learned anxious response (CR) that is associated with a feared object or situation (CS) and replacing it with another like relaxation

• has been found to be effective for a range of phobias

Question 28

Explain a weakness of classical conditioning, reference its appropriateness to learning - evaluation?

Answer 28

Because different species face different challenges to survive some relationships between CS and UCS are more difficult to establish

• idea that classical conditioning may be more appropriate in learning of specific types of association like those important to survival are link to a species evolutionary history

Question 29

Explain what Seligman (1970) proposed and how it links to classical conditioning only being appropriate for some learning?

Answer 29

Seligman proposed concept of preparedness which is the idea animals are prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival needs - (eg associating smell of meat with presence of food) - unprepared to learn associations that are not significant

Question 30

Explain skinners main belief?

Answer 30

Skinner claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences (such as gaining rewards or punishment) in our environment this is operant conditioning

• explored this by also testing it on animals

Question 31

Define reinforcement?

Answer 31

Anything that has the fact of increasing the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated it can be positive or negative

Question 32

Explain the term positive reinforcement - give an example?

Answer 32

Anything that has the effect of increasing the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen

• eg a dog getting a treat after being commanded to sit

Question 33

Explain the term negative reinforcement - give an example?

Answer 33

Anything that has the effect of increasing the liklihood of the behaviour being repeated by removing unpleasant consequences

• eg doing homework to avoid punishment/detention

Question 34

Define punishment?

Answer 34

Has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant - can be positive or negative

• eg getting a detention for not doing homework

Question 35

Explain the term positive punishment - give an example?

Answer 35

Involves applying an undesirable stimulus to weaken a behaviour

• eg slapping a naughty child

Question 36

Explain the term negative punishment - give an example?

Answer 36

Involves taking away a desired stimulus to weaken a behaviour

• eg taking a teenagers phone away

Question 37

Explain how positive reinforcement was investigated in skinner experiments with animals?

Answer 37

Hungry rat was placed in the Skinner box and as it moved around the box, it would accidentally knock the lever which would immediately distribute a food pellet - after a few times the rat would learn to go straight for the lever

Question 38

Explain how negative reinforcement was investigated in skinner experiments with animals?

Answer 38

A rat was placed in the Skinner box and would then be subject to unpleasant electric shocks which caused some discomfort, as it moved around the box it would accidentally knock the lever turning the electric off - rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times

Question 39

Explain 3 problems with using punishment?

Answer 39

• punished behaviour is not forgotten, its suppressed - behaviour returns when punishment is no longer present
• causes increased aggression
• does not necessarily guide you toward desired behaviour, reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you not what to do

Question 40

Explain what the Skinner box is?

Answer 40

Created by B.F. skinner and is a box containing a lever or switch which would reward the animal with a food pellet or turn of an electric shock

Question 41

Explain the contribution of Edward Thorndike’s work to the behaviourist approach?

Answer 41

Thorndike’s theory of learning emphasised the significance of reinforcement and punishment in shaping behaviour

• he believed learning occurs when there is a connection between the stimulus and the response - this connection becomes stronger with repetition

Question 42

Explain 3 of the main points of thorndikes work?

Answer 42

• Thorndike’s experimental work with animals particularly his development of the puzzle box provided insights into the role of reinforcement in learning and behaviour
• his theory has been instrumental in the development of applied behavioural analysis (ABA) - used to treat autism
• states behaviour followed by a positive consequence is more likely to be repeated whilst behaviour followed by a negative consequence is less likely to be repeated

Question 43

Briefly state the main idea of Thorndike’s theory of learning?

Answer 43

states that behavior that is followed by a positive consequence is more likely to be repeated, while behavior that is followed by a negative consequence is less likely to be repeated. This theory is based on the idea that learning is a gradual process that occurs through trial and error.

Question 44

State the meaning of law of exercise?

Answer 44

Part of Thorndike’s theory and focuses on how Learning occurs through repetition and practise

Question 45

Explain two strengths of Thorndike’s work?

Answer 45

• has influenced the development of other theories of learning such as skinner operant conditioning and Banduras social learning theory
• principles of reinforcement and punishment central to his theory are still used in behaviour modification and therapy

Question 46

Explain what acts as the reinforcer in the skinners experiments?

Answer 46

The food pellet which is released when the rat accidentally presses the lever

Question 47

Explain how extinction occurs in the skinners experiments?

Answer 47

If the food pellets stop, the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it

Question 48

Explain a strength of skinners work with reference to his method - evaluation?

Answer 48

Skinners reliance on the experimental method, using controlled conditions to discover a relationship between variables - allowed him to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the consequences of a behaviour and the future frequency of its occurrence

Question 49

Explain how skinner was able to carefully control variables in his experiments?

Answer 49

Through his reliance on the Skinner box - by manipulating the consequences of behaviour (Independent variable) he was able to accurately measure the effects on the rats behaviour (dependent variable)

Question 50

Explain a weakness of skinners work with reference to his reliance on animials - evaluation?

Answer 50

Skinners over reliance on non-human animials in his research - means they have little relevance to humans, as humans have few will

• skinner argues that free will is an illusion and what we believe, are behaviours chosen through free will are actually the product of external influences that guide our behaviours on a daily basis

Question 51

Explain a weakness of skinners work with reference to his limited perspective on behaviour - evaluation?

Answer 51

Behaviourists have been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation which emphasise the importance of cognitive factors or emotional states - skinner argued even complex behaviours such as our interactions with the opposite sex or pathological behaviour could be better understood by studying the reinforcement history of the individual

Question 52

Give 3 strengths of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 52

• very scientific - uses experimental method, means it is very replicable
• has application to real world activities - treatment of phobias (systematic desensitisation)
• mainly quantitive data which is easy to analyse

Question 53

Give 3 limitations of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 53

• most data obtained is from non-humans - uses rats,dogs and pigeons
• ethical issues - research methods did not meet ethical guidelines
• lots of learning can not be explained with classical conditioning

Question 54

Explain skinners work with pigeons for the US military, give the conditioning used?

Answer 54

Idea pigeons could be trained to guide anti-ship missiles to their targets - three pigeons in separate compartments in the cone of the missile with each compartment having a lens - the pigeons were operantly conditioned to peck at the target projected on the lens to keep the missile on target

Question 55

Give a strengths of operant conditioning with reference to behavioural treatment - evaluation?

Answer 55

• operant conditioning has been applied to the treatment of behaviours - eg social skills training for offenders

Question 56

Define response?

Answer 56

Reaction to a stimulus - could be fear or shaking

Question 57

Define stimulus?

Answer 57

Anything internal or external that brings about a response