Approaches Flashcards
What are the assumptions of behaviourism? [5]:
- Behaviour is learned from the environment
- Psychology seen as a science
- Behaviour is the result of stimulus response
- Concerned with observable behaviour instead of internal emotions
- Little difference between learning in humans and animals
Classical conditioning [explanation]:
Learning through association
When does a neutral stimulus produce a response?
When it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus
Pavlov’s dogs [4]:
- He presented a dog with a bell, they did not salivate so NS
- Food was the UCS and salivation was the UCR so it was innate
- He repeatedly presented the dogs with the sound of the bell and then fed them
- The bell became the CS and the salivation became the CR
Watson and Rayner 1920- Little Albert at 9 months old
[4]:
- Albert’s response to stimuli was tested
- He only reacted to a hammer striking a 4 foot pole above his head
- This was the UCS
- His fear reaction to it is the UCR
Little Albert- 11 months old [4]:
- The rat and the UCS were presented together
- Whenever he reached out to stroke the rat, watson struck the bar behind his head
- Occurred 7 times over 7 weeks
- Rat become CS and fear became CR
Little Albert’s fear response after experiment [2]:
- 5 Days after; CR produced by rat persisted
- 10 Days later; it was ‘much less marked’ but still evident a month later
Operant condition [explanation]:
The consequences of a response determine the likelihood of it occurring again
Positive reinforcement [explanation]:
Strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding
Positive reinforcement [example]:
Teacher giving you £5 every time you finish your hw
Negative reinforcement [explanation]:
Strengthens behaviour cus it stops/removes unpleasant experience
Negative reinforcement [example]:
If you don’t do your hw you would have to give ur teacher £5. By doing ur hw ur avoiding the forfeit
Punishment [explanation]:
Weakens behaviour by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus or removing a rewarding stimulus
Positive punishment [example]:
If you don’t do your hw you will get a phone call home
Negative punishment [example]:
You didn’t do your chores so your pocket money is taken away
Issues with punishment [4]:
- Punished behaviour is not forgotten it is suppressed; behaviour returns when punishment is gone
- Increased aggression; it shows that aggression is a way to cope with problems
- Creates fear that can generalise e.g. fear of school
- Doesn’t necessarily guide to wanted behaviour; only tells you what NOT to do
Skinner’s box - food pellet [4]:
- Hungry rat placed in a cage
- Every time it pulled the lever a food pellet fell out
- The rats learn to go straight to the lever after being put in the box a few times
- Shows that positive reinforcement increases likelihood of behaviour being repeated
Extinction [definition]:
When a behaviour that was previously reinforced, stops being reinforced so gradually stops happening
Primary reinforcers [explanation]:
Food water or sleep, don’t need to be paired up with sumn else to be reinforcing
Skinner’s box - electricity [5]:
- Rat was placed in cage where there was an electrical current running through it
- This made the rat uncomfortable
- The electrical current stopped when the rat hit the lever
- The rat learned to hit the lever immediately after entering the cox
- Negative reinforcement
Secondary reinforcers [explanation]:
Is when an idea or action is reinforced by a primary reinforcer (i.e: money can buy food)
Neutral operants [definition]:
responses from the environment that don’t increase nor decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated
