Behaviorism

Question 1

Name the 3 scientists/psychologists involved in behaviourism

Answer 1

Jb watson
Bf skinner
Ivan Pavlov

Question 2

What are the six assumptions of the approach

Answer 2

1) behaviour is concerned with observable behaviour imstead of internal events like thinking and emotion
2)psychology is a science so behavior must be measured and controlled environment to have cause+effect
3)when born our mind is a blank state
4)research can be carried out on animals and humans due to little difference in the learning that takes place in both
5)behaviour is the result of a stimulus
6)all behaviour is learnt by classical or operant conditioning

Question 3

What are the three key concepts

Answer 3

• Stimulus: anything, internal or external, that brings about a response
• Response: any reaction in the presence of the stimulus
• Reinforcement: the process by which a response is strengthen

Question 4

What is classical conditioning

Answer 4

Classical conditioning involves pairing a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus.

Question 5

Who and what proved classical conditioning

Answer 5

(PAVLOVS DOG) Ivan Pavlov was the first to describe this process of learning, by testing it on animals

Question 6

Explain the process of pavlovs dog

Answer 6

1st * First Pavlov established that meat caused the dog to salivate.
* Unconditioned Stimulus (FOOD) = Unconditioned Response (SALIVA)

2nd Then Pavlov established that a tone did not cause the dog to salivate.

3rd He then presented the tone with the food. Note that the dog is salivating in response to the food at this time.
* Unconditioned Stimulus (FOOD) + Neutral Stimulus (BELL) = Unconditioned Response (SALIVA)

4th ~last test~ After several pairings of the tone and food, Pavlov found that the dog would salivate to the tone when it was presented alone.
* Conditioned Stimulus (BELL) = Conditioned Response (SALIVA)

Question 7

Who founded operant condition

Answer 7

BF Skinner (1953)

Question 8

What is operant conditioning

Answer 8

*operant conditioning claims that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment – operant conditioning
*This involves learning through the consequences (positive and negative) of behavioural responses.
Operant conditioning is concerned with the use of consequences, such as gaining rewards or receiving punishments, in order to modify and shape behaviour.

Question 9

What is posotive reinforcement

Answer 9

Increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves a reward for the behaviour
The worker gets paid a bonus for working hard.
Eg The dog gets a treat for returning when called.

Question 10

What is negative reinforcemt

Answer 10

Increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves the removal of, or escaping from, unpleasant consequences The consequence is receiving something unpleasant which decreases the probability of the behaviour being repeated (e.g. the behaviour leads to an electric shock or a smack)

Question 11

What are the 7 strengths of this approach

Answer 11

• Behaviourism is very scientific. Theories are testable and supported by rigorous experimental research – Uses the experimental method→helps to establish cause and effect, objective
• It influences all areas of psychology
• Replicable→can be repeated due to high control so has reliability
• Mainly quantitative data→easy to analyse
• Behaviourist explanations can be applied to the real world to explain everyday behaviour such as phobias and has produced many practical applications
• Useful applications to education, child rearing (i.e. super nanny)
• It provides strong counter-arguments to the nature side of the ‘nature-nurture’ debate

Question 12

What are the limitations to this approach

Answer 12

• Many forms of learning cannot be satisfactorily explained by classical and operant conditioning e.g. insight learning
• Approach ignores important mental processes involved in learning
  Reductionist→only takes into account nurture, rules out any influence of anything else
  Deterministic→ignores free will
  Lack of ecological validity due to highly controlled experiments
  →issues with generalisability
  Ethical issues→not all research meets ethical guidelines
  Lack of qualitative data→no thoughts or feelings known
  Much data has been obtained from species such as rats, dogs and pigeons but the relevance of these findings to human behaviour is dubious