Approaches Flashcards
Evaluate the Behaviourist Approach
Good - Well controlled research (all lab studies) e.g. skinner’s rats, pavlov’s dogs
HOWEVER - Too simplistic - reducing to stimulus response associations could ignore other influences on behaviour (environmental reductionism)
Good - Real world application - conditioning has led to token economies to help in hospitals and prisons
Bad - Environmental Determinism - suggests all behaviour is learned from the environment and removes free will
What are some assumptions of the Behaviourist Approach?
(Need half points)
- Behaviour should be measurable and observable
- Use highly controlled settings for clear observations (lab settings)
- Animals have the same processes for learning behaviour as humans so they can be researched
- We are born as a blank slate (Tabula Rasa) and everything is learned
- Every behaviour is learned from stimulus-response associations from the environment
- Behaviour is learned from classical or operant conditioning
How do Behaviourists believe behaviour is learned?
Through simple stimulus-response associations from conditioning (classical or operant conditioning)
What 2 animal studies are there in the Behaviourist Approach?
Pavlov’s dogs - classical conditioning
Skinner’s rats - operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
What is the mapping for classical conditioning?
NS –> NR
UCS –> UCR
UCS + NS –> UCR
(after repeated over time)
CS –> CR
What did Pavlov do?
Pavlov researched dogs, and trained them to salivate when they heard a bell ring due to their association of food with the bell
What was Pavlov’s procedure?
The food was an Unconditioned Stimulus –> The dog’s salivation was the Unconditioned Response
The bell was a Neutral Stimulus –> The dog did not do anything for the bell, showing No Response/ a Neutral Response
The bell was rung at the same time the food was presented (UCS + NS) –> The dog salivated
After repeating this over time, Pavlov rang the bell but did not present food:
The bell was rung –> The dog salivated
Pavlov measured the saliva production of the dogs to test his findings.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement or response
What are the 3 types of reinforcement from operant conditioning?
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
What is Positive Reinforcement?
Being rewarded for performing a behaviour.
This makes the behaviour more likely to be repeated.
What is Negative Reinforcement?
When something unpleasant is removed if a behaviour is performed.
This makes the behaviour more likely to be repeated.
What is Punishment?
Being negatively or unpleasantly reprimanded for performing a behaviour.
This makes the behaviour less likely to be repeated.
What did Skinner do?
Researched rats in rat boxes to see how they responded to the different elements of operant conditioning.
What were Skinner’s Procedure/findings?
1) He rewarded rats for pulling a lever in their rat box by giving them a food pellet. He found the rats were more likely to repeat that behaviour again.
2) He punished rats for pulling a lever in their rat box by giving them unpleasant electric shocks. He found the rats were less likely to repeat the behaviour.
3) The rats pulled a lever in their rat box to stop an electric current on the floor of their rat box. He found the rats were more likely to repeat that behaviour to avoid the negative electric shocks.
What side of the Nature/Nurture debate is the Behaviourist Approach?
Nurture. They believe humans are born as a blank slate (tabula rasa) and behaviour is learned from the environment through stimulus-response associations
Is the Behaviourist Approach Nomothetic or Idiographic?
Nomothetic. It uses highly controlled environments and procedures to create general laws of behaviour.
What determinism does the Behaviourist Approach show?
Environmental Determinism
What are some assumptions of Social Learning Theory?
- Classical and operant conditioning alone can’t account for all human learning
- There are important mental processes that come in between stimulus and response
- People learn through observation and imitation in a social context
- Learning can occur directly through classical and operant conditioning but also indirectly through vicarious reinforcement
What is Direct learning (SLT)?
Learning through classical and operant conditioning
What is Indirect learning (SLT)?
Learning through vicarious reinforcement
What is Vicarious Reinforcement?
When an observed behaviour is reinforced through positive reinforcement or punishment.
Observing a behaviour being positively reinforced makes the observer more likely to imitate that behaviour to receive the same reward for themselves
What are Mediational Processes?
The bridge between observation (stimulus) and imitation (response) - the mental processes that determine whether the behaviour will be imitated or not
What are the 4 Mediational Processes?
Attention
Retention
Motivation
Motor Reproduction