Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What are the assumptions of the BA?
The assumptions are that the approach is only interested in studying behaviour which can be observed and measured, it does not investigate mental processes of the mind as these were seen as irrelevant.
Who rejected introspection and why?
Watson rejected it as he believed it involved too many vague and difficult concepts which were hard to measure and maintain control and objectivity, lab studies were best way to achieve this.
What do behaviourists believe?
All behaviour is learnt, a babies mind is a blank slate written on by experience. Darwin suggested basic processes of learning are same across species
What are the AO1 points for BA?
- Classical conditioning- Pavlov
- Operant conditioning- Skinner
What is classical conditioning and how was it researched?
- CC is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Pavlov.
- He showed how dogs can be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, if sound repeatedly presented at same time as when given food. They associated bell (Stimulus) with the food (stimulus) to create conditioned response (salivation) from neutral S
What is operant conditioning?
Skinner suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment, OC is shaped by its consequences.
What are the three parts of OC?
- Positive reinforcement- receiving a reward when certain behaviour is performed
- Negative reinforcement- avoiding something unpleasant for a positive experience
- Punishment- unpleasant consequence of behaviour
What are brief evaluations? (BA)
- Well controlled research [CA: oversimplified learning process]
- Real world application
-Environmental determinism
What are the strengths of the behaviour approach?
- Based on well-controlled research, behaviourists focus on measurement of observable behaviour in highly controlled lab settings. Break behaviour down into stimulus- response units to limit EV’s to establish cause and effect relationship. Scientific credibility is achieved. HOWEVER, may have oversimplified learning process to simple component ignoring other influences such as human thought, SLT and CA draw attention to mental processes. Suggesting learning much more complex then observable behaviour, private mental processes are essential.
- Application to real world behaviours and problems. OC is the basis of token economy system such as prisons and psych wards. Working by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens exchanged for privileges. Increasing BA value because has widespread application.
What are the limitations of BA?
- Environmental determinism as BA sees it as behaviour conditioned by past conditioning experiences. Skinner suggested everything we do is a sum total of our reinforcement history , ignoring influence of free will on our behaviour. This is an extreme position as ignores influence of conscious decision-making. Processes on behaviour.
