Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What are the main assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
- All behaviour stems from interaction with stimuli within our environment.
- Behaviour is shaped through learning.
- Learning is the same for all species.
- Behaviour is explained through direct observation and measurement.
What approach does behaviourism connect with?
Social learning theory
Who was Skinner?
- Worked in the mid- 20th century.
- A ‘father figure of behaviourism’
- Skinner believed that we can both predict and control behaviour, and by manipulating an environment, you can manipulate behaviour.
- He developed operant conditioning.
What is operant conditioning?
A learning process in which the consequences which follow a response determine whether a behaviour will be repeated.
Behaviour will likely be repeated which has been reinforced/ tend not to be repeated with punishment.
Positive reinforcement
- Used in theory of operant conditioning.
- A response or behaviour is strengthened by rewards, leading to repetition of desired behaviour. (The reward is the reinforcing stimulus)
- Premack principle
What are the two types of reinforcer?
Primary reinforcer: Not learned and directly satisfies a need.
Secondary reinforcer: Does not directly satisfy an innate need but may be the means.
Negative reinforcement
The termination of an unpleasant state following a response.
This strengthens behaviour as it removes an unpleasant experience.
It is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to an individual, increasing the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.
Punishment
Punishment is designed to weaken or eliminate a response.
It can work by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus (e.g. shock) or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus to punish undesirable behaviour.
Five different schedules of reinforcement
- Continuous reinforcement: Positive reinforcement every time a specific behaviour occurs.
- Fixed ratio reinforcement: Behaviour reinforced after behaviour occurs a specified number of times.
- Fixed interval reinforcement: Reinforcement given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct response has been made.
- Variable ratio reinforcement: Behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times.
- Variable interval reinforcement: Providing one correct response has been made, reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time.
Skinner’s rat box experiment
- Carried out to identify how consequences of actions affected future behaviour.
- Hungry rats were placed in the Skinner box (small box with lever, dispenser, electric grid, warning light).
- Positive reinforcement: Initial random behaviour led the rats to learn that the lever represented means of obtaining a reinforcer (desirable stimulus- given a food pellet). Correlation ensured action would be repeated.
- Negative reinforcement: Rat subjected to unpleasant stimulus (aversive stimulus- electric current). Accidental lever pressing shut this off, repeated action ensured (to escape electric current). Light switched on just prior to current, therefore lever pressing after the light was negatively reinforced.
What is classical conditioning?
Behaviour is a result of associations between stimuli and responses.
Development of Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory
- Pavlov was conducting research on the digestion of dogs when he noticed that the dogs’ physical reactions to food subtly changed over time.
- The dogs began by only salivating when the food was placed in front of them. However, later they salivated slightly before their food arrived.
- Pavlov realized that they were salivating at the noises that were consistently present before the food arrived.
How did Pavlov test his theory?
- Pavlov’s dog experiment.
- Pavlov set up an experiment in which he rang a bell shortly before presenting food to the dogs. At first, the dogs elicited no response to the bells. However, eventually, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone.
Classical conditioning: Neutral stimulus
A stimulus that at first elicits no response.
Pavlov introduced the ringing of the bell as a neutral stimulus.
(Becomes the conditioned stimulus)
Classical conditioning: Unconditioned stimulus
A stimulus that leads to an automatic response.
In Pavlov’s experiment, the food was the unconditioned stimulus.
