Approaches: The Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What is the Behaviourist Approach??
The influence of learnt and observable behaviours on behaviour
What are 3 assumptions of the Behaviourist Approach??
- Focuses on observable & measurable behaviour
- Watson (1913) -> Rejected introspection for being vague. Promoted controlled, objective lab experiments
- Influenced by Darwin, behaviourists believed learning processes are universal, allowing animal studies to replace human subjects
What’s classical conditioning??
Learning through repeated association
Who discovered classical conditioning and when??
Pavlov (1897)
Describe the process of Pavlov’s classical conditioning!
Bell (NS) = No salivation
Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
Bell (NS) + Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
Bell (CS) = Salivation (CR)
What’s operant conditioning??
Learning by consequences
What are positive and negative reinforcement and punishment??
Positive = Reward for behaviour
Negative = Avoid behaviour to avoid something unpleasant
What were B.F. Skinner’s negative and positive reinforcements??
Positive= Rat pressed lever & received food
Negative= Rat got electric shocked when ti travelled to one side of the box
What are 3 of the evaluation points for the Behaviourist Approach??
Name any 3 of:
- Scientific credibility (behaviour observed in lab settings, + validity)
- Ethical issues (protection from harm & informed consent)
- Anthropomorphic bias
- Real-life application
- Mechanistic view
How does the Behaviourist Approach have real-life application??
Classical conditioning is used to treat phobias (some people are more comfortable with ‘unlearning’ them rather than talking about how they feel)
Expand on the evaluation point that the Behaviourist Approach has a mechanistic view!
Assumes that we respond like machines to our environment (we don’t act consciously).
Disregards mental processes in learning so it may apply less to humans and rather entirely to animals!
Is the Behaviourist Approach free will or determinism??
Determinism!
How we act is a summary of our reinforcement history, we don’t act on free will at all
