behaviourist approach Flashcards
who was it founded by
jb watson in 1915
why was pavlov important
for his thoery of clasical condtioning
why was skinner important
for his theory of operant conditioning
what is it all about
- we are born as “blank slates”
- all we have at birth is the capacity to learn
- all behaviour is learned from the environment
- focus of the approach: observable behaviour
assumptions
- behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. observable behaviour can be objectively and scientifically measured
- psychology is a science so behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
- when born our mind is a blank slate
- 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
- all behaviour is learnt from the environment. we learn new behaviour through the principles of classical or operant conditioning
what is operant conditioning
it 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 occurs when a behaviour removes an unpleasant consequence. both positive and negative reinforcement make a behaviour more likely to occur again
what is tabula rasa
you are born as a blank slate
stimulus
anything, internal or external, that brings about a response
response
any reaction in the presence of the stimulus
reinforcement
process by which a response is strengthened
what are the three types of learning
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
- social learning theory
what is UCS
unconditioned stimulus
what is UCR
unconditioned response
what is NS
neutral stimulus
what is CR
conditioned response
what is CS
conditioned stimulus
what is reflex
automatic response (uncontrolled)
assumptions
- behaviour is learned by the environment. if we manipulate the environment, we can shape and manipulate behaviour
ivan pavlov
was mucking about with dogs in his lab- accidental
and he demonstrated the importance of learning by association in his conditioning experiments
what is classical conditioning
-learning by association
-refers to the conditioning of reflexes and involves associating a new stimulus with an innate bodily reflex
- involves pairing a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus
pavlovas dogs
-first pavlov established that food caused the dog to salivate
- unconditioned stimulus (FOOD)
- unconditioned response (SALIVA)
- then pavlov established that a tone did not cause the dog to salivate
- he then presented the tone with the food. after a number of trials the dog is salivating in response to the food at this time
- unconditioned stimulus (FOOD) + neutral stimulus (BELL) = unconditioned response (SALIVA)
- after several pairings of the tone and food, pavlov found that the dog would salivate to the tone when it was presented alone
- conditioned stimulus (BELL) = conditioned response (SALIVA)
what did pavlov show
-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
contribution of pavlovs work
- 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 environmental determinism of focus on free will
little albert
watson and rayner would place 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 fro 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
- neutral stimulus (NS) no fear of rats (before conditioning)
- rat (NS) and loud bang (UCS) fear (UCR) (during conditioning)
- rat (CS) fear (CR) (evidence of conditioning)
operant conditioning
-b.f. skinner claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment- operant conditioning
- involves learning through the consequences (positive and negative) of behavioural responses
what is reinforcement
anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated
what is positive reinforcement
anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen
what is negative reinforcement
anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by removing unpleasant consequences
what is punishment
anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant
what do positive and negative reinforcers do
strengthen behaviour
skinner box
- animal rat or pigeon, learns to press a button or lever in order to get food
- if the animal moves close to the leaver, then food appears in order to encourage pecking on the leaver itself
- animal has control over its environment
- food is a positive consequence of behaviour and so the pecking is repeated
- positive reinforcement is the food pallet
- negative reinforcement is the electric shock
strengths of behaviour post approach
-very scientific with its experimental methodology
-helps to establish
-replicable
-mainly quantitative data-easy to analyse
useful applications to education
limitations
- much data has been obtained from species such as rats, dogs and pigeons
- many forms of learning cannot be satisfactorily explained by classical and operant conditioning- it sees people as passive in their learning with little conscious thoughts influencing their behaviour
- deterministic
- lack of ecological validity
- ethical issues
- lack of qualitative data
