Approaches Flashcards
State the assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- explains behaviour as a result of learning from experience
- focus on external behaviour as its the only thing that can be objectively measured and observed.
- the same processes that govern human behaviour also govern the behaviour animals
Outline pavlovs classical conditioning as a key principle of the behaviourist approach
Learning through association. This occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together:
- First an UCS (food) produces a natural UR (salivating).
- The natural UR is then associated with a new NS (bell) and an UCS through experience (food).
- The NS eventually produces the same response that was produced by the UCS alone. The CS (bell) therefore produces a CR (salivating).
Outline skinners operant conditioning
Learning through reinforcement (reward) which increases the frequency of a behaviour. Or punishment which decreases it.
If a person behaves in a way that produces a pleasurable outcome then that behaviour is POSITVELY REINFORCED.
E.G. the response lever caused food to come out of the food dispenser. The rat quickly learned this consequence and so would repeat the behaviour to get more food.
If a person behaves in a way that reduces an unpleasant feeling, then that behaviour is NEGATIVELY REINFORCED.
E.G. an electrified grid would cause pain to the rat but pressing the response lever turned the electrified grid off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the response lever when put in the box.
Outline the issues & debates of the behaviourist approach (COMPARE TO HUMANISTIC)
POINT - ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM - ALL BEHVAIOUR IS CAUSED BY EXTERNAL FORCES; NO FREE WILL TO CHOOSE OUR BEHAVIOUR
EVIDENCE - Skinner argued that free will is an illusion
EXPLAIN - Some argues that its a problem because it removes responsibility for people’s actions, as their behaviour can be blamed on the environmental external factor that’s conditioned them.
LINK - COMPARRED TO HUMANISTIC APPROACH:
- argues that we do have free will to be able to choose our behaviour which means we take responsibility for our actions, and can be more active in making choices to improve and change
- E.G. Carl Rogers conducts counselling therapy
Outline a strength of the behaviourist approach (practical applications)
CC - used in behaviourist treatment of phobias i.e. flooding and systematic desensitization
OC - token economies used in schools and prisons
Outline the research method strengths of the behaviourist approach
POINT - Moved away from subjective methods of introspection proposed by wundt to measuring OBJECTIVELY.
EVIDENCE - Skinner used controlled conditions with the skin of box.
EXPLAIN - Allowed him to establish cause and effect between consequences and future behaviour.
LINK - Therefore this gives it scientific credibility as it focuses on what is observable, measurable, and repeatable.
COUNTER - NEGLECTS mental events such as thoughts, reflections and emotions. In comparison to SLT and COGNITIVE APPROACH that emphasises the importance of mental processes during learning, and so don’t study animals.
Outline the assumptions of the SLT
- explains behaviour as a result of learning from experience
- also adds a social dimension: we learn not only from consequences of our own behaviour, but by observing and imitating OTHERS
- People imitate the behaviours of role models who they identify with.
Outline bandura’s bobo the doll experiment
aim: to see if this behavioural imitation continued even when the role model was no longer present.
procedure:
- 36 boys and girls, aged 3-6
- matched pairs design: split into 3 groups
depending on their level of aggression - experimental conditions:
AGRESSIVE: role model hits the doll with a hammer and shouts abuse at it
NON-AGRESSIVE: none
CONTROL: no role model - half of subjects had a role model of same gender, other half had opposite gender
- observed them for 10 minutes
- taken to room with toys then taken from them (mild aggression arousal)
- after 2 mins, taken to a room with more toys, including bobo doll, to play with for 20 minutes
outline the results of bobo the doll experiment
- Children who had observed an aggressive role model previously acted more aggressively than children who had observed a non-aggressive role model
- Boys acted more aggressively than girls in general (more likely to identify with role model)
- The child was more likely to imitate the behaviour of the role model if the role model was the same gender as them
outline vicarious reinforcement in bobo the doll experiment
= a person is more likely to imitate a behaviour if they observe the model being rewarded for it.
- another variation of the Bobo the doll where the model was either praised or punished for acting aggressively towards the doll.
- children were more likely to imitate this
outline the mediating processes in bobo the doll experiment
- SLT is not not entirely behaviourist, there are various cognitive processes in between, stimulus and response, that determine whether someone imitates a behaviour or not:
- ATTENTION
- RETENTION
- REPRODUCTION (factors that affect our ability to do so)
- MOTIVATION
Outline the research method strengths of the SLT
- HIGHYL CONTROLLED LAB OBSERVASATION: control of the variables to establish cause and effect, e.g. seen in matched pairs design to prevent any individual differences in aggression being an extraneous variable
- INTER-RATER RELIABILIY: had more than one observer to observe children, level of agreement had correlation coefficient of 0.89 (strong +)
Outline the research methods limitations of the SLT
- SAMPLING: children were very young which could they’re more likely to imitate adult behaviour but when they grow up they’re mode independent. Therefore questions extent to which SLT can be generalised to wider population
- ARTIFICAL: no interaction between child and adults is unlink real-life, children who previously played with bobo were 5x less likely to be violent in follow-up study. therefore lack of ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
outline the issues & debates of the SLT
- more comprehensive explanation of human behaviour than BEHAVIOURIST as it allows for cognitive processes, e.g. MEDIATING PROCESES
- EXCLUSIVELY NURTURE: fails to consider the importance of biological factors e.g. bandura consistently found boys showed more aggression towards the dolls than girls independently of other conditions. This suggests that other factors (e.g. testosterone levels) also play an important role in explaining behaviour
outline the assumptions of the cognitive approach
- inner mental processes (e.g. thoughts and perceptions) can and should be studied in a scientific way.
- inner mental processes can’t be observed, they can be INFERRED from their external behaviour.
