Behaviourism Flashcards
Assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured
- favour lab experiments
- Not concerned with investigating mental processes of the mind (Watson rejected introspection).
- Darwin suggested that all species are the same, this means that behaviourist research can replace humans with animals.
- Identify two forms of learning: operant and classical conditioning
Classical Conditioning - Pavlov’s research
Learning through association, Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new learned response through association.
Before conditioning: Neutral stimulus(bell) = no conditioned response(no salvation) Unconditioned stimulus(food) = no conditioned response (salivation)
During:
Unconditioned stimulus & unconditioned response(food and bell) = unconditioned response (salivation)
After: Conditioned stimulus(bell) = conditioned response(salivation)
Operant Conditioning - Skinner’s research
Three types of consequences of behaviour:
Positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when s certain behaviour is performed
Negative reinforcement: avoiding something unpleasant
Punishment: is the unpleasant consequence of a behaviour.
Positive and negative reinforcement increase the likely hood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishment decreases the likely hood of a behaviour being repeated.
Evaluation of behaviourist approach
Scientific credibility: highly controlled lab setting, influential in the development of psychology as scientific. Giving it credibility and status.
Real-life application: applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems.
Mechanistic view of behaviour: humans and animals are seen as passive and machine like responders with little or no conscious. Other approaches emphasise the importance of metal events during learning.