Behavioural

Question 1

Who was behaviourism developed by???

Answer 1

JB Watson in 1915

other important contributors……..
- Ivan Pavlov (classical conditioning )
- B.F skinner (operant conditioning)

Question 2

What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

• behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviours
• psychology is a science
• when born our mind is a blank slate
• learning in humans and animals in near identical
• behaviour is always the result of stimuli
• behaviour is all environmental (** nurture **)

Question 3

What is a stimulus??

Answer 3

Anything internal or external that brings about a response

Question 4

What is a response ???

Answer 4

Any reaction in the presence of a stimulus

Question 5

What is reinforcement ???

Answer 5

The process by which a response is strengthened

Question 6

Classical conditioning (Pavlov)

Answer 6

• first person to ever test process of learning on animals

Learning by association :
- conditioning of reflexes
- association of the reflex with the stimulus via repetition

Before conditioning:
- establishing the reflex
E.g food (unconditioned stimulus) causes the dog to salivate (unconditioned response)

During conditioning:
- then presented with a stimulus
E.g food (unconditioned stimulus) + bell (neutral stimulus) = salivation (unconditioned response)

After conditioning:
- after several iterations of the former the association is made (unconsciously)
E.g Bell (conditioned stimulus) = salivation (**conditioned response **)

Question 7

Operant conditioning (skinner)

Answer 7

• claimed that all behaviour is the result of consequences in our environment
• learning through positive and negative consequences

E.g Skinner box - one rat in a box in which a different stimuli is contained (speaker, lights, electric shock floor, food dispenser) -> the reward of the food triggers similar behaviour

Question 8

Reinforcement and punishment

Answer 8

Positive - something is given
Negative- something is taken away
Reinforcement - increases the probability of similar behaviour
Punishment - decreases the probability of similar behaviour

Positive reinforcement = reward e.g sweets
negative reinforcement = relief e.g baby stops crying when you pick it up
positive punishment = punishment e.g getting shouted at
negative reinforcement = penalty e.g having a phone taken away

Question 9

Strengths of the behaviourist approach:

Answer 9

• behaviourism is highly scientific (replicable- high level of control in a lab setting + mainly quantitative data)
• influences all areas of psychology
• they appeal to the real world and its issues (e.g phobias)
• strong arguments in nature/nurture debate

Question 10

Limitations of behavioural approach:

Answer 10

• learning is not satisfactorily explained via classical and operant conditioning
• ignores mental processes
• reductionist (only takes nurture into account)
• Deterministic (ignores free will)
• lacks ecological validity (issues with generalisation - highly controlled settings)
• ethical issues
• lacks qualitative data
• most evidence is based on animal testing Animals =! Humans