behaviourism

Question 1

What is behaviourism also known as?

Answer 1

The learning theory

Question 2

who developed the learning theory?

Answer 2

John Watson

Question 3

what are the 3 main assumptions of behaviourism?

Answer 3

nearly all behaviour is learnt
Animals and humans learn in the same ways
the ‘mind’ is irrelevant

Question 4

an assumption of the behaviourist approach is that nearly all behaviour is learnt what does this mean?

Answer 4

the only exceptions are a few inborn reflexes

however evidence now shows that genetics can influence psychological features

Question 5

Animals and humans learn in the same ways. explain this?

Answer 5

humans can do much more complex things than animals but the principles by which we learn are the same. so we learn to drive a car in the same principles a cat learns to use a cat flap.

Question 6

the ‘mind’ is irrelevant explain this?

Answer 6

we can’t directly observe and measure a person’s thinking so we can only obtain measurable data

Question 7

who developed classical conditioning?

Answer 7

ivan pavlov

Question 8

what was invan Pavlov’s experiment?

Answer 8

1. Whenever pavlov gave his dog’s some food he would also ring a bell after repeating this several times he tried ringing the bell without giving the dogs any food.- the bell alone caused salivation
2. when dogs see food they salivate this is an automatic unlearned response - a reflex
   the food is an unconditioned stimulus and salivation is an unconditioned response
3. the bell had become a conditioned stimulus and salivation had become a conditioned response

Question 9

what are the principles of classical conditioning?

Answer 9

generalisation
discrimination
extinction
spontaneous recovery 
higher order conditioning

Question 10

who studied how animals can learn from the consequences of their actions?

Answer 10

B.F skinner

Question 11

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 11

This is when something desirable is obtained in a response to do something

Question 12

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 12

this is when something ‘undesirable’ is removed when something happens

Question 13

what is an example of positive reinforcement?

Answer 13

giving a chocolate bar to a well behaved child to encourage future good behaviour

Question 14

what is an example of negative reinforcement?

Answer 14

being told by the teacher that you will have no extra homework if you pass the test

Question 15

what are strengths of classical conditioning?

Answer 15

it helps an individual protect themselves
it has produced a high success rate in behaviour modification
it can be used in everyday life

Question 16

what are the weaknesses of classical conditioning?

Answer 16

it does not help create new behaviours
it is difficult to understand
it can trigger the development of phobias in humans

Question 17

behaviourists are often criticised for focusing research on animals, plenty of research has been done on humans which shows us?

Answer 17

our genes influence our behaviour
we can learn in ways other than conditioning
mental, cognitive processes are relevant to understanding behaviour