behaviourist approach Flashcards
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, SLT
3 main assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- all behaviour is learned though experience and can be explained in terms of classical conditioning and operant conditioning
- only observble behaviour is relevant; references to mental processes are unnecessary
- human behaviour is qualitatively no different from non-human animal behaviour, both are built of stimulus - response links
what does behaviourist research typically involve?
studying learning in animals under laboratory conditions using experiental methods
why does behaviourist research typically involve animals?
behaviourists assume they learn in the same way as people and are more convenient to study
why do behaviourists favour laboratory settings?
they allow researchers to control the conditions under which learning occurs
why are experimental methods used?
they allow inferences to be drawn about cause and effect relationships between the variables studied
what 2 types of conditioning did behaviourists propose?
classical conditioning and operant conditioning
CLASSICAL CONDITIOING
what is classical conditioning?
learning by associating two stimuli
what type of responses does classical conditioning apply to?
reflex responses
when did Ivan Pavlov conduct his research?
1927
who was Ivan Pavlov
a physiologist interested in digestion in dogs. he developed a technique for collecting and measuring their saliva when he noticed they would salivate before they got their food and realised they associated food with another stimulus e.g., seeing the food
how did Ivan Pavlov investigate why this occured?
using classical conditioning to get the dogs to associate food, which naturally made the dogs salivate, with the sound of a bell, which did not
what happened before conditioning?
the food is an UCS and salivation is the UCR. the bell is a NS because it produces no response
what happened during conditioning?
Pavlov repeatedly paired the bell (NS) with the food (UCS) and the dog salivated (UCR). the dog initially salivated because the food was presented
what happened after conditioning?
the dogs salivated on hearing the bel. salivation was now a CR because it is being produced by the bell, the CS
5 principles of classical conditioning
- generalisation
- discrimination
- extinction
- spontaneous rercovery
- higher order conditioning
what is generalisation?
when stimuli similar to the original CS e.g., a bell with a different pitch, produced the CR e.g., salivation
what is discrimination?
when stimuli similar to the original CS doesn’t produce the CR. this can be achieved by withholding the UCS e.g., food, when the similar stimulus is used.
what is extinction?
when the CR e.g., salivation, isn’t produced as a result of the CS e.g., bell. this happens when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS e.g., food, following it
what is spontaneous recovery?
when a previously extinct CR is produced in response to the CS. this happens when the CS is presented again after a period of time during which it’s not been used
what is higher order conditioning?
when a new CS e.g., a light, produces the CR because the animal associates it with the original CS. this can be achieved by consistently presenting the new CS before the original CS.
2 strengths of Pavlov and classical conditioning
- Pavlov’s research of learning via stimulus - response has been successfully applied to humans. for example, Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned an 11-month-old boy ‘Little Albert’ to develop a phobia of a white rat. they did this by placing a white rat in front of him and when he reached out for it, a metal bar was struck loudly behind his head. this was repeated until he started to cry just by seeing a mouse as well as other white fluffy objects e.g., santa claus beard. these results support Pavlov’s idea of classical conditioning.
- Pavlov uses experiments to test his theory of classical conditioning. the insistence on objetivity, control over variables and precise measurement means that he can establish cause and effect; learning can be conditioned via stimulus and response. therefore, his reseach is viewed as scientific.
2 criticisms of Pavlov and classical conditioning
- Pavlov’s research was done on dogs. therefore, generalisations between humans and animals is difficult.
- classical conditioning is limited to explaining how reflex responses become associated with new stiuli. however, much human behaviour is voluntary, therefore it can’t be explained by classical conditioning.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
what is operant conditioning?
learning by reinforcement and punishment
who studied operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner (1938)
what did B.F Skinner study?
how animals can learn from the consequences of their actions
how did Skinner explain how consequences of behaviour affect future behaviour?
if behaviour has no consequence, the likelihood of that behaviour being repeted doesn’t change. if behaviour brings about an pleasant or unpleasant consequence, this can strengthen or weaken the behaviour
3 types of reinforcement /consequence
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
- punishment
what is positive reinforcement?
when a pleasant consequence encourages behaviour to be repeated e.g., training your dog to raise its paw with dog treats
what is negative reinforcement?
the removal of an unpleasant consequence which encourages behaviour to be repeated e.g., tidying your room to stop your parents nagging you
what is punishment?
when an unpleasant consequence decreases the likelihood that behaviour is repeated e.g., you touch a hot oven and learn not to do it again
what animals did Skinner study in 1938?
rats
what was Skinner’s method?
he created a ‘Skinner box’ which contained a variety of stimuli e.g., a speaker, lights, a floor which gave an electric shock and a food dispenser which released food when a lever was pressed. a hungry rat was placed in the box and the time taken for the rats to learn that pressing the lever would release food was recorded.
what was Skinner’s results?
at first, the rat ran around the cage until it accidentally hit the lever and was rewarded with food. the rat then learned the connection between the lever and food pellets, leading the rat to increase the pressing of the lever (positive reinforcement). the more the rat was put into the box, the quicker they got at learning where the lever was.
how did he experiment with negative reinforcement?
he experimented with unpleasant environmental stimuli such as a loud noise, which could be stopped by pressing the lever which increased lever pressing.
how did he experiment with the use of punishment?
he delivered an electric shock to the rat when it pressed the lever which led to a decrease in lever pressing
how did he demonstrate that learning can be extinguished?
if reinforcement is no longer provided when a lever is pressed, the rat unlearns the connection between lever pressing and reward, and stops pressing the lever
what was Skinner’s conclusion?
rats can learn behaviour through operant conditioning. a behaviour such as pressing a lever can be positively reinforced by receiving food
how did Skinner experiment using schedules of reinforcement?
he dispensed food to a predetermined set schedule. he used different ratio schedules e.g., a food pellet being dispensed evert 5th lever press.
what did Skinner find?
unpredictable reinforcement was more successful for conditioning behaviour than continuous rerinforcement
what is shaping?
a method of learning used to teach complex behaviours not part of an animal’s repertoire
what is the method of shaping?
a complex behaviour is broken down into a series of simple behaviours which are taught one by one using reinforcement and punishment and gradually combined to create the desired complex behaviour
2 strengths of Skinner and operant conditioning
- Skinner uses experiments to test his theory of classical conditioning. the insistence on objetivity, control over variables and precise measurement means that he can establish cause and effect; learning can be conditioned via stimulus and response. therefore, his reseach is viewed as scientific.
- Operant conditioning can explain the maintenance of phobias, for example, a person’s anxiety is reduced by avoiding the feared object meaning that avoidant behaviour becomes more likely due to negative reinforcement.
2 weaknesses of Skinner and operant conditioning
- whilst conditioning can be observed in rats and most species, human behaviour is driven by complex emotions and thought processes, therefore generalisations between animals and humans may be difficult.
- there are ethical issues in Skinner’s research. the animals involved were exposed to harmful conditions which may have affected how they reacted to the experimental situation, affecting the validity of the results.
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
who develop SLT?
Bandura
when did Bandura develop SLT?
1961
4 assumptions of SLT
- people are shaped by their environment through learning processes.
- classical and operant conditioning are important influences on human behaviour.
- believe in observational learning where people learn by observing others and therefore other people are important as an influence on behaviour.
- we can aquire new behaviours quickly and efficiently through observing others without the need for reinforcement or complex shaping. observation and imitation explain the learning of a wide range of human behaviours.
what is behaviour learnt through?
- modelling
- reinforcement
- vicarious reinforcement
- mediational processes
what is modelling?
observing and imitating another person (the model)
what is required in modelling?
identification with the model
what is identification?
where certain attractive qualities and characteristics are picked up on
what happens if you identify with the model?
you can copy and learn from their behaviour
what is the model likely to be?
someone who is significant to the observer e.g., a parent, celebrity, a peer
what is reinforcement?
positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to happen again in the future
what is vicarious reinforcement?
when seeing others being rewarded for a behaviour influences someone in whether they choose to imitate the behaviour
what are mediational processes?
mental processes that mediate/intervene in the learning process determining whether a new behaviour is learned
4 mediational processes
- attention
- retention
- reproduction
- motivation
what is attention?
in order to learn behaviur, the person must first pay attention to what a model is doing
what is retention?
they must then form a memory of the behaviour the model performed
what is reproduction?
in order to imitate the behaviour effectively, the observer needs to practice the behaviour they observed. this may depend on whether the observer has the skills to imitate the model
what is motivation?
the observer then evaluates the direct or indirect results of imitating the behaviour, if the behaviour results in a good reward, you’re more likely to imitate it
what did Bandura study in 1961
imitation of aggression
Bandura’s method
- 36 girls and 36 boys
- mean age of 4
- participants were matched on ratings of aggessive behaviour shown at their nurser school
- 3 conditions
- aggressive model condition - adult displayed physical and verbal aggressive acts towards a Bobo doll
- non-aggressive model condition - adult played peacefully with other toys and ignored the Bobo doll
- control condition - no model was observed
- children’s behaviour was observed for 20 minutes in a room containing aggressive toys and non-aggressive toys
Bandura’s results
- children exposed to aggressive models imitated a lot of their aggressive behaviour
- children in the non-aggressive and control conditions showed barely any aggressive behaviour
- aggressive behaviour was slightly higher in the control condition than in the non-aggressive condition
Bandura’s conclusion
aggressive behaviour is learned through imitation of others behaving aggressively
2 strengths of SLT and Bandura
- provides evidence for SLT. there was strict control of the variables, meaning that the results are likely to be reliable and replicable.
- research support - Patterson et al (1989) found that aggressive children are raised in homes of high levels of aggression and low levels of affection through self-report methods.
2 weaknesses of SLT and Bandura
- low ecologial validity as participants weren’t in a natural condition and children may have responded to demand characteristics.
- ethical issues in terms of protection from harm - children were exposed to frightening and novel aggression and children were encouraged to be aggressive, could lead to the exploitation of children
