BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH

Question 1

focus on observable behaviour only (not needed In 16 marker)

Answer 1

• the behaviourist approach is only concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. it is not concerned with mental processes of the mind.
• introception was rejected by behaviourists for being to vague and difficult to measure.

Question 2

controlled lab studies + use of non-human animals

Answer 2

• behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies to achieve this.
• behaviourists suggest the processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so animals can replace humans as experimental subjects

Question 3

by Ivan Pavlov

Answer 3

• conditioned dogs to salivate when a bell rings:
• before condition:
  ucs = food ucr= salivation, NS=bell
• during conditioning:
  bell and food occur at same time.
• after conditioning:
  CS=bell, CR=salivation
• pavlov showed how a neutal stimuli (bell) can become learned response (conditioned response) through association.

Question 4

Operant conditioning - bf skinner

Answer 4

• Skinners theory was that organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours
• these behaviours produce consequences - which can be positive of negative and can determine whether or not behaviour will be repeated

Question 5

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 5

If a behaviour results in a pleasant consequence the behaviour is likely to be repeated

Question 6

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 6

If a behaviour results in the removal of an unpleasant consequence then the behaviour is likely to be repeated

Question 7

Punishment

Answer 7

If a behaviour results in an unpleasant consequence then the behaviour is not likely to ever be repeated

Question 8

The skinner box experiment

Answer 8

• Presses a lever – food pellet = positive reinforcement
• Food pellet stops when still pressing lever – presses the lever a few times and then abandoned it = extinction
• Unpleasant stimuli (loud noises) – switched off by pressing the lever = negative reinforcement
• Punishment (electric shock) – decrease in lever pressing = rat learned not to press the lever = repeat behaviour

Question 9

principles have been used in real life situations

Answer 9

• Systematic desensitation is used to replace anxiety with relaxation by associating relaxation with a feared stimulus.
• Additionally, operant conditioning has led to token economy = psychiatric patients are given rewards for correct appropriate behaviour.
• Therefore, approach is correct as its been effective in real life situations.

Question 10

skinners box has controlled conditions to discover possible casual relationships between 2 variables

Answer 10

• the approach has focused on the careful measurements of observable behaviour within controlled lab experiments
• By manipulating consequences of behaviour (IV – reward/punishment) and accurately measure the effects of the rats’ behaviour (the DV).
• This established a cause and effect relationship and made his work high in validity.

Question 11

’preparedness’

Answer 11

• Seligman (1970). Animals more likely to learn associated that are significant in terms of survival.
• Unlikely to learn associated that are not significant in this respect.
• The original explanation does not acknowledge this, so it is limited

Question 12

enviromentally deterministic

Answer 12

• the approach sees all behaviour as determined by past exp that have been conditioned and ignores any influence of free will may have on behaviour
• skinner suggested that free will was an illusion when something happens we may thing ” i made the decision to do that” but our past conditioning determind the outcome.
• this is an extreme position and ignores the influence of consious decision making processes on bebaviour as suggest by the cognitive approach

Question 13

ethical issues

Answer 13

• procedures such as skinners box allowed behaviourists to maintain a high deegree of control over their experimental ‘subjects’
• however the animals were housed in harsh conditions and deliberatley kept below their natural weight so they were always hungry
• therefore there is a question of benefits versus costs - some would argue that there has been enormous benefits versus costs (e.g applucation to therapy) which offsets the harm the animals experienced