Behaviourism Flashcards
What is behaviourism about
We are born to as ‘blank slates’ (tabula rasa),
All we have at birth is the capacity to learn and all behaviour is learned from the environment
Stimulus
Anything external or internal that brings about a response
Response
Any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
Reinforcement
Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.
Positive reinforcement
Giving a reward when someone does something to encourage them to repeat the behaviour more often
Negative reinforcement
increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by removing unpleasant consequences.
Classical conditioning
It is when you pair a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus.
When was the behaviourist approach founded and by whom
JB watson in 1915
Who are the important contributors to the behaviourist approach (classical conditioning, and operant conditioning
Ivan pavlov (classical conditioning) B.f. Skinner (operant conditioning)
Assumptions of the approach
Behaviourism is primarily concerned with obersevable behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Observable (I.e external) behaviour and be objectively and scientifically measured.
Psychology is a science so behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect.
Our mind is a blank slate when born.
There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. Therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans.
Behaviour is the result of stimulus - response (I.e. all behaviour, no matter how complex can be reduced to a simple stimulus - response association).
All behaviour is learnt from the environment. We learn new behaviour through the principles of classical or operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning explains the learning of voluntary behaviour through positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement occurs when a behaviour produces a consequence that is rewarding, whereas negative reinforcement. Both positive and negative reinforcement make a behaviour more likely to occur again.
3 types of learning
Classical conditioning- stimulus and response of reflexes, this is at explaining phobias.
Operant conditioning- behaviour is voluntary and considers punishments and rewards.
Social learning theory- we learn through watching and copying others especially role models and people we look up to.
Basic assumptions about behaviour
Behaviour is learned by the environment. If we manipulate the environment, we can shape and manipulate behaviour.
Behaviour is learned by the environment. If we manipulate the environment, we can shape and manipulate behaviour.
Pavlov demonstrated the importance of …
Learning by association.
What is classical conditioning all about
Learning is the process of associating a stimulus with a response.
This is learning by association and refers to conditioning of reflexes and involves associating a new stimulus with an innate bodily reflex
Classical conditioning involves pairing a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus.
How did Pavlov teach his dog to salivate when the bell rings
Before conditioning:
Food (unconditioned stimulus) caused (response) the dog to salivate (unconditioned response)
Bell (unconditioned stimulus) -> no salivation (no conditioned response)
During conditioning:
(Pairing)Bell + food -> salivation (unconditioned response)
After conditioning:
Bell (conditioned stimulus) -> salivation (conditioned response)
Extinction
Conditioned stimulus is continually presented without US, conditioned response then becomes weaker and eventually stops
Spontaneous recovery
Spontaneous recovery can be defined as the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or period of lessened response. If the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no longer associated, extinction will occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery.
How did Pavlov contribute on understanding human behaviour
Pavlov showed that learning could be investigated experimentally using non-human participants.
This provided laws of learning-classical conditioning.
This has provided therapies for conditions such as phobias and addictions. (Aversion therapy, SD and flooding).
Non-observable behaviour could not be studied in this way
Therapeutic techniques have been successful in eliminating maladaptive behaviours.
Difficulties in extrapolating from animals to humans.
Supporting human evidence - little Albert.
Issue of environment determinism of focus on free will.
What experiment did watson and rayner hold in 1920 and what were the results.
The little Albert experiment.
Aim: In this experiment, their aim was to investigate whether an emotional response, such as fear, could be conditioned in a human being.
Method/design: the participant was Albert (11 months old) and they placed a white rat in front of Albert but when Albert went to reach the rat, Watson would simultaneously strike a metal bar with a hammer, creating a loud noise. This was repeated for many weeks.
Results: watson and Rayner found that when the rat was presented alone, Albert became frightened and tried to get away from the rat.
Conclusion: Watson and rayner demonstrated that behaviour is learnt and that a phobia of rats could be conditioned in a human being.
Evaluation: the study raises huge ethical implications. Little Albert showed evidence of fear months after the experiment. The study is also flawed methodologically, Can we generalise the findings of one case study to use as an explanation for how we acquire a phobia.
Explain how little Albert was classically conditioned to be afraid of white rats.
Rat (Neutral stimulus) before conditioning
loud bang (ucs) -> fear and anxiety (UCR) before conditioning.
Rat (cs) and loud bang (ucs) -> fear (UCR) during conditioning
Rat (cs) -> fear (cr) after conditioning
Who came up with operant conditioning and what did they claim?
B.F Skinner claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment. This involves learning through the consequences (positive and negative) of behavioural responses.
Punishment def
Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant. E.g detention
What was ‘skinner’s box’ (pigeon)
Animal (rat or pigeon) learns to press a button or lever in order to get food.
If the animal moves close to the lever, then food appears in order to encourage pecking on the lever itself.
Animal has control over its environment.
Food is a positive consequence of behaviour and so the pecking is repeated.
What were the positive and negative reinforcements of Skinners box (rat)
Positive reinforcement: a hungry rat was placed in a Skinner box. The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat ,moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately after it did so, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.
Negative reinforcement: a rat was placed in a Skinner box and then was subjected to unpleasant electric shocks which caused it discomfort. As the rat moved about in the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately after it did so, the electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.
