behaviourist approach

Question 1

Assumptions: Behaviourism

Answer 1

> This approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not interested in studying mental processes of the mind. Early behaviourists, such as John B. Watson (1913) rejected introspection as it was too vague and untestable. Behaviourists tried to maintain more control in their studies so relied more on lab experiments to conduct their research.

> They believed that all species learn in a similar way, so in behaviourist research animals were often substituted for humans. Two important forms of learning were identified by behaviourists: Classical and Operant conditioning.

Question 2

Classical Conditioning

Answer 2

> classical conditioning is learning through association.
Classical conditioning was discovered by a Russian scientist, Ivan Pavlov, in the early 1900s. He noticed that when the dog in his laboratory heard footsteps of the researcher who brought him his food, they started to salivate (mouth-watering). Salivation is a reflex response that occurs when an animal smells food.
We are born with a few innate reflex behaviours to specific stimuli.
Behaviour that develops on top is the result of a mental association.
We are conditioned to pair stimuli together.
When we have done so, we will respond in the same way to the conditioned stimulus as we would (innately) do to the conditioned one.

Question 3

Operant Conditioning

Answer 3

> BF Skinner (1953) suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate in their environments. In operant conditioning there are three types of consequences of behaviour.

1. Positive reinforcement: This is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed; for example, praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class.
2. Negative reinforcement: Occurs when an animal or human avoids something unpleasant. When a student hands in an essay so as not to be told off, the avoidance of something unpleasant is the negative reinforcement. Similarly a rat pressing a lever to stop being electrocuted.
3. Punishment: This is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour, for example being shouted at by the teacher for talking during the lesson (finding a way to avoid that would be negative reinforcement).

Question 4

IDA

Answer 4

> Environmental Determinism: The behaviourist approach suggests that behaviour is determined by stimulus- response conditioning (e.g. classical/ operant conditioning).
Nurture: The behaviourist approach argues that human beings are born as a tabula rasa (blank slate) and behaviour is learned.
Environmental Reductionism: The behaviourist approach reduces behaviour to simple stimulus-response associations.
Nomothetic: The behaviourist approach creates general laws of behaviour (cause & effect, stimulus- response relationships) and uses laboratory experiments to generate quantitative data to make generalisations.
Scientific: The behaviourist approach utilises scientific methods to investigate key concepts like classical/ operant conditioning.