Behaviourism

Question 1

Assumptions (3)

Answer 1

• we are born as a blank slate ‘tabula rasa’ for all experiences to be written on from our environment.
• 100% nurture
• in order for psychology to be scientific, it should only focus on observable behaviour that can be objectively measured rather than cognitive processes which can only be inferred.

Question 2

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

Learning by association

Question 3

Pavlov

Answer 3

Before conditioning:
Neutral stimulus > no response
(Bell > no response)
During conditioning:
Neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus > unconditioned response
(Bell+food > drooling)
After conditioning:
Conditioned stimulus > conditioned response
(Bell > drooling)

Question 4

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 4

a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences

Question 5

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 5

adding something to the situation to increase the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 6

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 6

taking away something bad to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.

Question 7

what is punishment?

Answer 7

when a behaviour is followed by a negative consequence so is less likely to be repeated

Question 8

Skinner’s Box - Negative Reinforcement

Answer 8

Rat knocks lever and is rewarded with the stopping of the unpleasant, constant electric shock that occurs in the box. This is to increase the likelihood of this behaviour (knocking the lever) to be repeated.

Question 9

Skinner’s box - positive reinforcement

Answer 9

Rat knocks lever and is rewarded with food in an attempt to condition this behaviour and increase the likelihood of it being repeated.

Question 10

+ controlled research (ao3)

Answer 10

• behaviourism focuses on the careful measurements of observable behaviour within lab settings
• behaviourists have broken down behaviour into stimulus-response units and studied the casual relationships to establish cause and effect with behaviour.

Question 11

+ real world application (ao3)

Answer 11

• behaviourist techniques can and have been applied to help many real world scenarios.
• for example token economies used in prisons and schools as a reward system are a form of operant conditioning.

Question 12

• approach may oversimplify learning (ao3)

Answer 12

-learning isn’t linear and the behaviourist approach ignores important influences on behaviour such as mental processes like thought.

Question 13

• environmental determinism (ao3)

Answer 13

• behaviourism sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned
• it ignores the influence of free will on behaviour and skinner suggests that free will is an illusion.