Behaviourist approach Flashcards
What are the views of the behaviourist approach? (AO1)
- focuses only on behaviour that can be measured and observed
- What is learnt can be unlearnt
- There is no genetic influence on behaviour
- All behaviour is learnt from experience
What is classical conditioning?
Learning new behaviour through ASSOCIATION between two stimuli.
Describe Pavlov’s research
Bell (NS) = No response
before: Food (UCS)= salivate (UCR)
during- repeated: Food (UCS) + Bell (NS)= Salivate (UCR)
after: Bell (CS)= salivate (CR)
Describe Thorndike’s research
Cat trapped inside puzzle box
Operates latches in order to escape, for the reward of food
Start: no evidence of insight, trial and error
End: the way out was ‘stamped into the mind’ as the cat had learnt the behaviour needed to escape
Describe how Skinner researched positive reinforcement
The rat was given food when it pressed the lever
Describe how skinner researched negative reinforcement
The electric shock stopped when the rat pressed the lever
Describe how skinner researched punishment
The rat got an electric shock when it pressed the lever
Define positive reinforcement
Encouraging behaviour to be repeated, by using positive consequences/ rewards
Define negative reinforcement
Encouraging behaviour to be repeated, by avoiding the negative consequences of the actions
Define punishment
Decreases the likelihood of behaviour to be repeated by giving a negative consequence.
Give a strength of the behaviourist approach
Use of well- controlled research
Measures observable behaviour in a lab environment
Breaks behaviour into stimulus- response units and studies casual relationships
So have scientific credibility
What is a counter- argument for ‘use of well controlled research’ strength of the behaviourist approach
It may oversimplify learning
ignores other influences on behaviour eg. thought
Other approaches (eg. SLT) incorporate mental processes
Which suggests learning is more complex than what we can just observe
Give a limitation of the behaviourist approach
environmental determinism
Behaviour is influenced by past experiences but doesn’t consider the effect of free will
skinner suggested free will was an illusion and only our past conditioning determines our behaviour
so it ignores the processes of unconscious decision-making
Give another limitation of the behaviourist approach
Ethical issues
Procedures such as skinner’s box allowed control over their experimental ‘subjects’
Animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and were kept underweight so they remained hungry
Debate of whether application to therapy was worth the harm the animals experienced.
