Behaviorist approach Flashcards
Behaviorist assumption
After Darwin they assumed that the basic learning processes are the same in all species so in behaviouralists research animals could be the subjects of experiments instead of humans.
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is learning through association , it was first demonstrated by Pavlov by making them salivate when a bell rings by making them associate it with food through classical conditioning.
classical conditioning method
One example of classical conditioning is Pavlov and his dogs.
In this example the food was the unconditioned stimulus (ucs) which leads to the unconditioned response (ucr) of salivating. The bell is a neutral stimulus (ns) and will lead to a neutral response (ns) of ambivalence. During classical conditioning the ns (bell) and ucs (food) will be presented together which leads to the ucr of salivating. After this occurs multiple times the ns will become a conditioned stimulus (cs) and will lead to the conditioned response of salivation as learning has taken place and the bell has been associated with salivation.
Principles of classical conditioning
Stimulus genneralisation- stimuli similar to the original CS will lead to the CR , for example in Pavlov’s study a bell with a different pitch/sound will still cause the dogs to salivate.
discrimination- This is when a similar CS does not lead to the CR, this can occur by withholding the UCS (food) when the similar bell is rung so next time salivation wont occur.
extinction- CS will not lead to CR if the CS is produced and the UCS is not, leading to loss of classical conditioning.
timing- If the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS such as if there is a long time interval between the two or the NS occurs after the UCS then conditioning does not occur.
spontaneous recovery- after extinction if the CS and UCS are paired together once again the link between the two is made much more quickly.
strengths of classical conditioning
- ) Research evidence supports the idea of classical conditioning being able to explain phobias with the little albert study or Pavlov’s study.
- ) It has helped form treatments for psychological disorders such as flooding and systematic desenitisation. And both are very successful at treating phobias.
weaknesses of classical conditioning
-) studies supporting classical conditioning are lab studies so have low ecological validity and their findings might not be accurate.
- ) It might not explain how adults learn new behaviors so it is limited to explaining the learning of children and animals.
- ) It is deterministic as it ignores peoples behavioral responses and suggests people will respond the same way every time with no variation which isn’t realistic.
Operant conditioning
A form of learning in which we learn from the consequences of our actions. If the outcome is good then reinforcement occurs and you are likely to repeat the action if the outcome is negative then it is punishment and the behavior is unlikely to be repeated. Punishment and reinforcement can be positive or negative depending if something was added or taken away. For example something bad being taken away is negative reinforcement.
It was proposed by B F Skinner in 1953.
Skinners experiment
Skinner conducted research on pigeons and rats using his “Skinner” box. It was a cage with loud speakers , lights, a lever , a door and a floor which could be electrified.
One hungry rat would be placed in the box and allowed to roam around, if they accidently pressed the lever they would get a food pellet as a reward. Which is positive reinforcement, after they do this a few more times they learn it leads to a reward leading to the action being repeated. They could also learn to pull the lever to avoid something unpleasant such as a mild electric shock which is negative reinforcement.
Principles of operant conditioning
extinction- if they pull the lever but doesn’t receive a reward anymore so they will soon stop pulling the lever as they have learnt not to.
spontaneous recovery- after extinction if they do pull the level and get a food pellet then they will relearn the link very quickly and recover what they had previously learnt.
schedules of reinforcement
- )continuous reinforcement so when they get a reward every time they do the action such as pull lever
- ) fixed interval is when they complete the action but only receive a reward during a fixed time such as every 30 seconds
- ) fixed ratio is when they receive a reward after completing the action a certain number of times.
Strengths of operant conditioning
- ) Real life support for operant conditioning with token economies being used as a form of behavior modification in prisons and hospitals.
- ) The skinner box is a highly controlled situation which is used to discover the relationship between variables to establish cause and effect using the experimental method.
- ) It is on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate and is supported by it as it states that learning occurs due to environmental factor and external stimuli rather then nature and biology.
weaknesses of operant conditioning
- ) the skinner box may not be ethical as the animals where placed in stressful situations which could have had effects on their psychological and physical health.
- ) Skinner ignores free will and suggests that people/animals have no control over their behavior and that past experiences and operant conditioning determine their behavior. This is not realistic as it doesn’t account for free will.
- ) It ignored the biological approach which states that behavior cant be learnt but is instead innate through genes, neural mechanisms etc.
strengths of behaviorist approach
- ) It focused on scientific processes such as objectivity and replication it helped develop psychology as a scientific discipline with their highly controlled lab experiments observing behavior.
- ) It has real life applications such as with token economy systems based on operant conditioning. Both flooding and systematic desensitisation where based on classical conditioning principles and used to treat phobias.
weaknesses of behaviorist approach
- ) It is deterministic and sees our behavior on past experiences that have been conditioned which ignores the idea of free will
- ) The experiments supporting it have ethical issues such as in skinners box having harmful affects on the animals involved, or the little albert study possibly having a harmful affect on the child.
- ) The behavioral approach is critised by the biological approach as it ignores genes, hormones , evolution etc. Their is a lot of evidence genes cause may conditions such as schizophrenia and it is unlikely it can be learnt by conditioning so over models need to be considered.
