Behaviourism Flashcards
What is the behaviourist approach
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable in terms of learning
What did the behavioursts fail to acknowledge?
*The ideas of the internal mental process
*They also thought that the brain was a black box
What are the assumptions of the behvaiourist appraoch
We are born as a blank slate and we learn everything from the environment—–> societal norms shape us
We learn through conditioning—->classical conditioning and operant conditioning
What do behaviourists believe
Behaviour is learnt through experience and interactions with the environment
Define classical conditioning
When an unconditioned response (salivating to food for example) can be triggered by a neutral stimulus through repeated pairing.
Eventually the neutral stimulus alone produces the conditioned response (salivating to the sound of a metronome)
What happens before conditioning (classical conditioning)
The uncontioned stimulus produces the unconditioned response.During conditioning the neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the Unconditioned stimulus producing an uncondtioned response
What happens after conditioning
(classical conditioning)
The neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus producing the conditioned response
What are the steps in classical conditioning
- Before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) produced an unconditioned response (salivation)
- During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus was repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus (a bell ringing), to produce the same unconditioned response ofsalivation
- An association was made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus
- After conditioning the neutral stimulus became the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response of salivation
When does extinction occur in psychology ?
When the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus so the conditioned response becomes extinct
When does spontaneous recovery occur
when the individual carries out the conditioned response some time after the extinction has occurred
When does Generalisation occur
when slight changes in the conditioned stimulus (such as different pitches of the bell used in Pavlovs experiment, still produces the same conditioned response
Define operant conditioning
When a creature performs a voluntary response and learns from the consequences of those actions
What is the effect of punishment in operant conditioning
Discourages behaviour so it decreases the likelihood of that behaviour occurring
What are the two types of reinforcement and what do they do
Negative
Positive
Positive reinforcement occurs when we carry out a behaviour to receive a reward
Negative reinforcement occurs when behaviour is carried out to avoid negative consequences
What was the skinners box experiment (just read this imo)
Skinner demonstarted using a rat the mechanisms of postive and negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement was shown when the rat prerssed down on the lever to receive food as a reward and due to this it learnt to repeat this action to increase their rewards
What did classical conditioning lead to with little albert (Negatives)
- A phobia of white rats
- His fear started to become Generalised to other white lfuffy objects
How are token economies an example of operant conditioing(an example of real life applications)
Inamtes who carry out socially desired tasks are rewarded with tokens which can be traded for privalleges such as extra tv time
Why is the behaviourist approach seen as a limited explanation for human behaviour
Human behaviour accounts for
* Emotions
* Motivations
* Reasoning skills
What are the negatives to the skinners box and Little albert (3)
- Skinners box caused considerable physical harm to the rats which breached ethical guidelines
- Watsons and Rayners experiment on little labert failed to protect him from psychological harm as well as not offering him the opportunity to withdraw
- Very unethical
Why are non humans able to replace humans in behaviourist experimental research
Because the basic laws governing learning are the same across both non humans and humans
What is the differnce between classical and operant ocnidtioning
Classical is an involuntary response:
* In Pavlovs research, the dog naturally drools to food, and the association that devlops between the neutral and unconditioned stimulus is automatic; the dog does not decide to drool to the metronome
Acquisition of response: classicla conditioning explains how automatic responses to new stimuli devlop through association. This is the initial learning phase, where two stimmuli are linked together to produce a new learned response
Operant is a voluntary response they prpduce behavipours with an undertansting that certain consequences may follow maintiance of response
Why did behaviourists reject internal mental processes
Because the mind cannot be directly observed
What is environmental determinism
Behaviour is the result of experience;behaviour can be predicted and controlled by manipulating the environment
Do both positive and negative reinforcement increase or decrease the likelihood of a behaviour occuring
increase
Give an example of negative reinforcement being used to increase the likelihood of a behaviour
If ur parents shout at you for not tidying your room you would do it so they stop shouting at you
What is behvaviour shaping
When animals are trained to perform complex behaviours through operant conditioning
First simple behaviours will be rewarded then complex behaviours will be rewarded
What are the pros of the Behaviourist approach (2)
Evaluation
- It is scientific- It studies objectively observable and measurable stimulus response mechanisms.
- Has a lot of practical applications such as effective counter conditioning treatments token economies and conditioning techniques used for classroom management—-> The fact that applications help reduce bad behaviour suggests that the principles of behaviourism is valid
- The experiment method was used
What are the cons of the Behaviourist approach (3)
Evaluation
- Most studies use animals and their findings may not be generalised to human behaviour as we are more developed than them
- Testing on animals is unethical and can be seen as manipulative
- Behaviourist approach can be seen as very reductionist as their attempt to explain behaviour does not include emotions or culture
