Approaches - Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
AO1
- Operant Conditioning – learning through reinforcement or punishment which can be shown through Skinner’s Research
- Classical Conditioning – when a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response
- Punishment – when a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence, results in behaviour being less likely to recur
- Positive Reinforcement – increasing behaviours by presenting positive reinforcers such as food
- Negative Reinforcement - Increasing behaviours by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock, negative reinforcement is not punishment
- UCS (unconditioned stimulus), UCR (unconditioned response), NS (neutral stimulus), NR (neutral response), CS (conditioned stimulus), CR (conditioned response)
AO3
- Ethical issues – a weakness of the behaviourist approach is the use of animal research and the ethical issues that come with it.
- For example, Skinner’s experiments often included animals like rats, pigeons and in these experiments there would be a unpleasant stimulus like an electric shock for the animals so that they could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid the unpleasant stimulus.
- This is a weakness because the experiment involves the study of non-human animals rather than humans which arguably limits our understanding of human behaviour as humans are more complex in terms of emotions and cognitive abilities to animals so the results for animal conditioning cannot be applied to humans. Additionally, the issue of the ethics behind the investigation can be questioned as animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and deliberately kept below their natural weight so they were always hungry
- However, it may be argued that despite the ethical issues associated with the research, it helps us to understand operant conditioning in terms of how behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences which includes positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment.
- Despite this, by researching on animals and treating human beings as a product of conditioning means that evidence for the role of cognition is ignored suggesting the behaviourist approach is insufficient in fully explaining human behaviour
- Thus decreasing the validity of the approach
- Well-controlled Research – a strength of the behaviourist approach is that it is based on well-controlled research.
- For example, Behaviourists focus on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings
- This is a strength as by breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all possible extraneous variables were removed, allowing cause and effect relationships to be established
- However, it may be argued that behaviourists have oversimplified the learning process by ignoring the influence of thought on learning as learning can be more complex than just observable behaviour alone and private mental processes are also essential
- Despite this, the lab studies and experiments from behaviourism have scientific credibility and replicability
- Thus increasing the validity of the approach
- Environmental Determinism – A weakness of the behaviourist approach is that it sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences
- For example, Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history and that when something happens we may think ‘I made the decision to do that’ but according to Skinner, our past conditioning history determined the outcome
- This is a weakness because it ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour
- However, it can be argued that operant conditioning is the basis of token economy and has been used successfully in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards showing the value of the behaviourist approach as it has widespread application in the real world
- Despite that, the behaviourist approach still ignores the conscious decision-making process on behaviour, reducing it’s applicability
- Thus decreasing the validity of the approach
classical conditioning
learning by association when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and a neutral stimulus (NS).
The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response as the UCS now a CR
Stimulus
Anything in the environment that causes a response
Response
Behaviour triggered by a stimulus in the environment
Operant conditioning
Learning by Consequence, when behaviour is acquired and maintained by its consequence including positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement
A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood that a behaviour is repeated
Punishment
An unpleasant consequence that will result in the behaviour being less likely to be repeated
Classical Conditioning by P
Ivan Pavlov
Lab experiment
to investigate stimulus-response associations in dogs
Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
Bell (NS) = No response
Food (UCS) + Bell (NS) = Salivation (UCR)
Bell (CS) = Salivation (CR)
Conc = behaviours could be learnt through making stimulus-response associations
Classical Conditioning by WR
Watson & Rayner
To demonstrate that phobias could be learnt through Classical Condtioning
Little Albert
Loud Noise (UCS) = Fear response (UCR)
White Rat (NS) = No Response
Loud Noise (UCS) + White Rat (NS) = Fear Response (UCR)
White Rat (CS) = Fear (CR)
After, Albert showed distress when presented with the white rat and other furry objects in isolation of the noise which suggests an association had taken place and a fear response was learnt through Classical Conditioning
Conc = Phobias are learnt through classical conditioning and making stimulus-response associations
Operant Conditioning by S
Skinner
to investigate operant conditioning in rats and pigeons
Skinner placed animals in a box
1) (positive reinforcement) when they touched the lever, they would get a food pellet
2) (negative reinforcement) subjected to an unpleasant electric current which cause discomfort and would be switched off when pressing the lever
Results
1) the rats pressed the lever to gets treats (reward) but when the food pellets stopped being released then the rat stopped the behaviour as the reinforcer had been removed (extinction)
2) the rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. the consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action of pressing the lever
Conc = behaviour is more likely to be repeated if they are reinforced and less likely to be repeated if punished. Therefore behaviour is learnt through consequence of actions
Reinforcement (OC)
something in the environment that rewards and then reinforces a particular behaviour and so makes the behaviour more likely to reoccur
Positive Reinforcement with example
occurs when behaviour produces a positive consequence strengthening the likelihood that that behaviour will be repeated
Child sits nicely at dinner > child receives a sticker reward > Chid sits nicely again
Negative reinforcements with example
occurs when something unpleasant is removed or stopped to reinforce the desired behaviour
car sounding alarm > driver puts on seatbelt > car alarm stops > driver always wears seatbelt
Types of Punishment
This refers the circumstance where behaviour is followed by an unpleasant experience. this would make the behaviour more likely to discontinue
