Behaviorist Approach Flashcards
Give 3 key assumptions of the behaviourist approach
Key words: observation, blank state, animals
- Behaviour is learned from experience and observations
- We are born a blank slate so there is no genetic influence
- Same laws apply to human and non human behaviour therefore it’s valid to study the behaviour of animals as they share the same principles of learning
What is classical conditioning and give an example including all terminology
CC: learning through association
Dog food: unconditioned stimulus as produces a natural response (salivation)
Salivation: unconditioned response
Bell: neutral stimulus as it doesn’t produce a natural response
When bell and food are presented together often the dog begins to associate the two.
Bell: conditioned stimulus as now produces a natural response of salivation
Salivation: conditioned response as the the bell now produces salivation
What did Pavlov investigate and how did he do it
He was originally investigating the salivary reflex in dogs and their digestive system
He associates a neutral stimulus (bell) with a unconditioned stimulus (food) and discovered that a bell could become a conditioned stimulus over time creating a natural response (conditioned response)
What is meant by extinction and spontaneous recovery in relation to Pavlov’s research
Extinction: after a few presentations of the CS in absence of the UCS, it looses its validity to produce the CR
Spon recovery: following extinction, is the CS and UCS are paired together again the link between them is made much more quickly
Why might some people criticise Pavlov’s research
As you can’t use evidence from one species (dogs) and extrapolate it onto another (humans)
What is operant conditioning and give examples of both types of reinforcement
OC: learning through consequence
Positive reinforcement: (adding something) ‘good job’, recovering a reward e.g. gold star
Negative reinforcement: (taking something away) removing yourself from a situation to avoid negative consequences
Give an example of both types of punishment (pos & beg)
Positive punishment: shouting at a child (adding a shout)
Negative punishment: taking phone away
Outline the procedure of Skinner’s study
He used a Skinner box. When a rat moves around in the box and when it accidentally pressed the lever a food pellet falls, the rat will continue to press the level to obtain food.
What is meant by continuous reinforcement
Every single response is reinforced e.g. every time a child picks up litter they get a sweet
What is meant by partial reinforcement ( include fixed interval/ratio and variable interval/ratio )
FI: a reinforcement is given at a fixed time interval e.g. every 30 seconds
FR: a reinforcement is given for a fixed number of responses e.g. a prize every 5 good exam results
VI: the time interval between reinforcement varies so is unpredictable
VR: the number of responses between reinforcement varies so is unpredictable (the more unpredictable the higher the risk of extinction)
Any strengths of the behaviourist approach
Has helped people overcome phobias through systematic desensitisation (works by creating a non fearful association with the fear)
Any weaknesses of the behaviourist approach (3)
The use of animals doesn’t necessarily tell us much about humans as people are much more complex and have free will.
Behaviourists also fail to acknowledge the influence of thoughts and cognitive processes that are unobservable.
Could be considered reductionist as it reduces the complexities of human behaviour down to overly simple ideas.
