behaviourism

Question 1

when was behaviourism discovered?

Answer 1

1900s

Question 2

what is the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and learning

Question 3

who is the main leader of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 3

John Watson

Question 4

what did Watson believe about Wundt’s introspection?

Answer 4

believed it was unscientific and believed it involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure

Question 5

what 2 ways did behaviourists identify of how people learnt?

Answer 5

classical conditioning
operant conditioning

Question 6

what is a brief description of what classical conditioning involves?

Answer 6

learning through association

Question 7

what is a brief description of operant conditioning?

Answer 7

learning through reinforcement (rewards/ punishments)

Question 8

what is the phrase for the idea that we are born as a blank slate?

Answer 8

tabula rasa

Question 9

what are the three key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 9

1. all behaviour is learnt through experiences except for a few inbuilt reflexes
2. mental processes of the mind are not important for understanding behaviour
3. animals and humans learn in the same way- advantageous for researching on animals (we can do a lot more on animals (we can do a lot more to animals than humans- ethical guidelines, practicality, less likely to lie)

Question 10

what is classical conditioning?

Answer 10

-making an association between two stimuli
-one stimulus produces a reflex response (SR unit)
- the other is a neutral stimulus that produces no response

Question 11

how does classical conditioning work?

Answer 11

the two stimuli are paired and presented several times before removing the stimulus which causes the reflex response, leaving the other stimulus to now produce a conditioned response

Question 12

describe how Pavlov carried out classical conditioning?

Answer 12

before conditoning:
food (UCS) ——–> salivate (UCR)
bell (NS) ———-> no response

during conditioning :
food (UCS) + bell (NS) ——> salivate (UCR) x multiple

after conditioning;
bell (CS) ———-> salivate (CR)

Question 13

describe the Watson Little Albert study?

Answer 13

before :
loud noise ——–> fear
white rat ———-> no response

during:
loud noise + white rat ———> fear x multiple

after :
white rat ———> fear

Question 14

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 14

involves learning through the consequences of our actions (or reinforcement)

Question 15

why does repetition of behaviour change? (operant conditioning)

Answer 15

organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours which have consequences (good or bad). Repetition of behaviour depends on consequences (reinforced or punished)

Question 16

what is the difference between operant and classical conditioning?

Answer 16

while classical conditioning explains simple behaviour has to be paired with an SR unit, operant conditioning aims to explain more complex phenomena

Question 17

what is reinforcement?

Answer 17

a consequence that increases the likelihood of desirable behaviour being repeated (+ or -)

Question 18

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 18

a reward is given when a certain behaviour is performed

Question 19

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 19

occurs when an individual increases behaviour due to avoidance of the negative consequences

Question 20

what is punishment?

Answer 20

an unpleasant consequence that reduces the likelihood of the preceded undesirable behaviour occurring again

Question 21

outline the original method of Skinner’s positive reinforcement with the rats?

Answer 21

• skinner developed a special cage in order to investigate operant cond.
• rat moves around cage, and when he accidently presses the lever, a food pellet (the reinforcer) falls into the cage
  -in no time at all the hungry rats begin pressing the lever in order to obtain food
• in the food pellet stops, the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it (extinction)

Question 22

what are some strengths of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 22

1. real-life application
2. scientific credibility

Question 23

what are limitations of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 23

1. issues with animals
2. mechanistic view of behaviour
3. lack of free will

Question 24

explain how real-life application is a strength of behaviourism?

Answer 24

-classical and operant conditioning have been used to treat phobias through exposure therapies
-behaviourism has contributed to the field of psychology
-it is therefore a credible approach and can be used to explain behaviour

Question 25

how is mechanistic view of behaviour a limitation of behaviourism?

Answer 25

-it only measures observable behaviour rather than looking inside our mind at internal mental processes
-behaviourist approach therefore is only able to explain relatively simple behaviours that are learnt through association and reinforcement, rather than a wider range of human behaviours
-incomplete explanation of human behaviour

Question 26

in what 2 ways was behaviourism scientific?

Answer 26

1. replicability- repeated to get consistent results, it is repeatable because it focuses on observable behaviour
2. objective because it collected empirical evidence of observation

Question 27

in what way was behaviourism falsifiable?

Answer 27

behaviourists such as Pavlov conduct experiments in high levels of control and objectivity, allowing theory of classical conditioning to be tested and replicated
more trust worthy approach therefore

Question 28

how does the behaviourist approach have a limitation due to issues with animals?

Answer 28

behaviourists assume animals and humans will give the same responses because they don’t view the mind as important- BUT humans are much more complex than animals

therefore, research may not generalise to humans so the approach lacks validity and cannot fully explain human behaviour

Question 29

what does the behaviourist approach believe about free will ? (limitation)

Answer 29

we have no free will and are simply S-R beings
since they have no interest in the mind, they believe there is no thought between the stimulus and response

this view goes against humans natural feeling of free will so makes it an unpopular approach

Question 30

what was Pavlov able to show?

Answer 30

How a neutral stimulus, in his case the bell, can come to elicit a new learned response (conditioned response) through association