behaviourism Flashcards
what are the methods used by behaviourist approach
Methods used by the Behaviourist Approach
Behaviourist psychologists use the scientific method, and study only things that could be directly observed and measured i.e. behaviour and the environmental conditions that produce it.
In their controlled laboratory experiments, behaviourist often use animals. A lab experiment can be defined as an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the independent variable to see the effect on the dependant variable, whilst maintaining strict control of the extraneous variables.
Behaviourists accept Darwin’s theory of evolution - which states human beings have evolved from lower animals. As a result, behaviourists see the basic processes of learning as being the same for all species.
Consequently, animals can replace humans as experimental subjects/participants. Behaviourists have studied rats, cats, pigeons and dogs to investigate how learning occurs.
describe pavlovs experiment and what he found
Step 1: Pavlov presented the dog with food. This triggered salivation in the dog. Pavlov called food an unconditioned stimulus which produced an unconditioned response i.e.: the dog’s salivation is a reflex that has not been learned, and is a natural bodily reaction.
Step 2: Pavlov rang a bell, but the dog did not respond. Pavlov called the bell a neutral stimulus as it did not lead to salivation.
Step 3: Every time food was presented to the dog, the bell was rung at the same time to create an association between the bell and food. This learning stage was repeated every time the dog was fed.
Step 4: Eventually the dog learnt to salivate to the sound of the bell alone. This is a conditioned response as it is the result of learning to associate one stimuli (a bell) with another (food). The bell is no longer neutral but a conditioned stimulus because the dog now salivates to the sound of the bell.
Pavlov also discovered several other points about the process:
Timing - Pavlov found that the association only occurs if the unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus are presented at the same time, or around the same time as each other. If the time between presentations is too great then there will be no association made.
Stimulus generalisation - Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned, they would also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.
Extinction: I the example of Pavlov’s dogs (see later pg) if the bell (conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly sounded without the food, salivation (conditioned response) slowly disappears.
describe little albert’s experiment
Aim: Watson and Rayner conducted a study to demonstrate that phobias can be learnt through classical conditioning.
Procedure: A 9-month old boy called Little Albert was presented with a white rat. His reaction to the rat was noted. Next, Albert was again presented with the rat, however, this time a very loud noise was made by striking a steel bar with a hammer. This was repeated a number of times. Eventually the white rat was put in front of Little Albert, but in the absence of the loud noise
Findings: Initially, Little Albert was unafraid of the rat, however, after it was paired with the loud noise, Little Albert developed a fear response. Even when the loud noise stopped, little Albert remained frightened of the rat.
Conclusion: Fear can be conditioned in a young child. 5 days later Watson and Rayner found that Little Albert had generalised his fear to any small white object, such as a small rabbit and a white dog.
describe skinners research in operant conditioning
Skinner developed the Skinner box in order to test the effects of rewards on behaviour. A hungry rat was placed in the box.
The box contained a lever and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.
After a few trials, the rats quickly learned to press the lever to gain the food reward. The consequence of receiving food ensured that the rat would repeat the action again and again.
Dupenta
describe the positive and negative reinforcement in skinners experiment
- Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed. For example, the lever pressing behaviour of the rats in the Skinner box was positively reinforced with food pellets. In attachment, the mother rewards the babies crying with food. - Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement occurs when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant. For example, in the topic of attachment, the mother feeds the baby milk to avoid it crying. - Punishment
Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it. It is an unpleasant consequence that decreases the behaviour that it follows. Skinner investigated the effects of punishment by introducing an electrified grid floor to the Skinner box so that pressing the lever resulted in a brief electric shock. Unsurprisingly, the rats quickly learnt
A03
👎the behaviourist approach can be accused of being deterministic (behaviour is determined by specific factor) . this is because it sees all behaviour being controlled by past experiences that have been conditioned. skinner suggests that past conditioning controls our behaviour. this is a weakness because it suggests people aren’t responsible for their behaviour.
👍 the behaviourist approach is accused of being broken down into simple processes. for example it reduces all complex behaviour down to one cause which is conditioning. this approach ignores other contributions like the cognitive process of neurochenitry.
👍watson and rayner
little albert only had a reponse with the white rat after being paired with a loud bang . this demonstrates little albert learnt through classical conditioning with association with a loud bang. this is a strength because there’s supporting research which adds validity to the behaviourist approach.
👍- application the principles have been applied to a broad range of real world behaviour and problems. for example token economies and therapy based on classical conditioning which works by eliminating learned anxious response by associating with the feared object or situation. this is a strength because it has a high success rate of treating phobic patients.
👍 methods - used lab experiments which reduce extraneous variables and establish cause and effect . this is a strength because it helps the development of psychology as a scientific discipline
