Behaviourism

Question 1

The behaviourist approach is only interested in studying what type of actions?

Answer 1

Actions that can be observed and measured.

Question 2

Early behaviourists rejected the idea of introspection, name a famous behaviourist.

Answer 2

John B. Watson (1913)

Question 3

What are the features of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 3

Conditioning:

• Classical (pavlov).
• Operant (skinner).

Question 4

What is the assumption for the approach?

Answer 4

All behaviour is learnt from the environment and previous experiences and when we are born are minds are a blank slate ‘tabula navo’.

Question 5

What is ‘tabula navo’?

Answer 5

Behaviourists believed that our minds are a blank slate when we are born and we learn as we age.

Question 6

What is conditioning?

Answer 6

the response to a stimulus response.

Question 7

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 7

Learning through association of stimuli.

Question 8

What is an example of classical conditioning?

Answer 8

Pavlov’s dogs.

or Little Albert.

Question 9

What is little Albert an example of, back up your point.

Answer 9

Classical conditioning.
 NS: Rat
 UCS: Loud sound
 UCR: Fear
 CS: Rat
 CR: Fear

Question 10

Describe how pavlov’s dogs became conditioned?

Answer 10

NS = Bell
UCS = Food
UCR = Salivation
CS = Bell
CR = Salivation

Question 11

Describe how a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus.

Answer 11

• An unconditioned stimulus will produce an unconditioned response. (UCS -> UCR).
• A neutral stimulus is paried with the unconditioned stimulus to produce the unconditioned response. (NS + UCS = UCR).
• Eventually the conditioned response will produce the desired response (CS = CR).

Question 12

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 12

Learning through consequences of previous actions.

Question 13

What are the three consequences used in operant conditioning?

Answer 13

• Positive reinforcement.
• Negative reinforcement.
• Punishment.

Question 14

What is punishment?

Answer 14

The opposite of reinforcement, it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response. It is a negative consequence that decreases the behaviour that it follows.

Question 15

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 15

It rewards desired behaviours with the intention of reinforcing stimuli.

Question 16

What is the negative reinforcement?

Answer 16

It rewards desired behaviours by removing an unpleasant stimulus to remove discomfort.

Question 17

What is a practical application of the approach?

Answer 17

Token economys

Question 18

What is a token economy?

Answer 18

A contingency system based on positive reinforcement for good behaviours, tokens are collected and exchanged for objects and privileges.

Question 19

What type of conditioning is used in a token economy?

Answer 19

Operant conditioning and more specifically positive reinforcement in the form of tokens.

Question 20

What type of consequence is likely to increase the chance of repeated behaviour?

Answer 20

Reinforcement (positive and negative).

Question 21

What type of consequence is likely to decrease the chance of repeated behaviour?

Answer 21

Punishment.

Question 22

What is the main experiment for operant conditioning?

Answer 22

B.F Skinner (1953) - Skinner’s box.

Question 23

What is commonly known as the operant conditioning chamber?

Answer 23

Skinner’s box.

Question 24

What animals were used in Skinner’s box?

Answer 24

Rats and pigeons mainly.

Question 25

How was Skinner’s box used to show positive reinforcement?

Answer 25

Every time a rat would activate a lever, it would receive a piece of food (reward). From then on the rat would continue to perform the behaviour.

Question 26

How was Skinner’s box used to show negative reinforcement?

Answer 26

The rats were given an unpleasant stimulus of an electric shocking floor, every time the rat would activate a lever, it would deactivate the electricity and therefore remove the discomfort. From then on the rat would continue to perform the behaviour.

Question 27

What are real life applications for each of the conditioning types?

Answer 27

Classical = Phobia treatments.
Operant = Token economy.

Question 28

The approach has a mechanistic view, what does this mean?

Answer 28

This means humans have no consideration or thinking, we respond to a stimulus like a computer program. It means we have no conscious insight into our behaviour.

Question 29

Where is the approach on the scale:

Reductionist Holism

Answer 29

Reductionist as it is a very simplistic explanation, however it doesn’t take other factors into account such as cognitive processes.

Question 30

Where is the approach on the scale:

Nature Nurture

Answer 30

The approach is slightly nurture as it dictates behaviour is determined from previous experiences.

Question 31

Where is the approach on the scale:

Determinism Free will

Answer 31

It employs environmental determinism, where past experiances dictate actions, not free will though.

Question 32

Give a positive and negative about the research methods of the approach.

Answer 32

They have good scientific credibility, they focus on measurements of observable behaviour and replication.
However, they are over reliant on animal research which may not be applicable to humans, tests were unethical and the animals may have been extremely stressed due to the lab settings which may have skewed results.