behaviourist approach Flashcards
3 main assumptions
1) we are born as a blank slate (tabula rasa) behaviour is learned from our environment, nothing is innate
2) there is little difference between the learning in humans and animals
3) behaviourism focuses on observable behaviour instead of internal events as it can be objectively and scientifically measured
how do behaviourists believe newborns are born?
completely neutral, with only the most basic of responses (crying, pain, hunger etc) and will be moulded by the environment
why was behaviourism developed?
psychologists argued that introspection & its subjectivity led to a lack of general principles & made it unscientific
definition of classical conditioning
learning through association - an existing involuntary reflex is associated with a new stimulus
definition of operant conditioning
learning through the consequences of our actions
positive reinforcement
when a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence (reward) and is more likely to be repeated
negative reinforcement
a behaviour results in an unpleasant consequence being removed to bring an organism back to a pleasant state, results in the behaviour being more likely to be repeated
punishment
a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence and is then less likely to be repeated
how was classical conditioning first demonstrated
pavlov
(he observed that his dogs salivated when his assistants opened the doors to their cages and inferred that they must have learned to associate the opening of the doors with food, he tested this by associating the ringing of a bell with the food so that the dogs would salivate when they heard the bell)
pavlov’s dog experiment
-the dog would be strapped in a harness with an apparatus that allowed precise measurement of the amount of saliva it produced
-a bell would be rung and the amount of saliva measured
-food would be presented and the amount of saliva measured
-then the bell and food would be presented at the same time and the amount of saliva measured.
-this would be repeated then the bell would be rung without presentation of the food, and the amount of saliva would be measured to test the strength of the conditioned response that had been learned
neutral stimulus (NS)
an event that doesn’t produce a response
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
an event that produces an unlearned reflex response
conditioned stimulus (CS)
an event that produces a learned response
unconditioned response (UCR)
an reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned response (CR)
a learned behaviour that an
organism produces when exposed to a conditioned stimulus
process of classical conditioning- pavlovs dogs
-dog is presented with a bell (NS) which produces no response
-dog is presented with food (UCS) , which produces salivation (UCR)
-dog is presented with the bell (NS) and food ( UCS) at the same time, producing salivation (UCR)
-dog now salivates (CR) when only the bell is present (CS)
identify NS, UCS, UCR, CS, CR:
sarah has always felt calm and relaxed when listening to classical music. lately, she’s been lighting a candle just before she listens to classical music. now she doesn’t even need the classical music to feel relaxed, as this happens as soon as she lights the candle.
UCS (music) → UCR (relaxation)
NS (candle) → no response
NS (candle) + UCS (music) → UCR (relaxation)
CS (candle) → CR (relaxation)
identify NS, UCS, UCR, CS, CR:
mike receives frequent injections of drugs, which are administered in a small examination room at a clinic. the drug itself causes increased heart rate but after several trips to the clinic, simply being in a small room causes an increased heart rate
UCS (drug injection) → UCR (increased heart rate)
NS (small room) → no response
NS (small room) + UCS (drug injection) → UCR (increased heart rate)
CS (small room) → CR (increased heart rate)
AO2:
robert has developed a phobia of going to school. he was recently bullied by another boy in his class which caused robert a lot of anxiety. despite the issue being resolved months ago by the teachers, robert’s mum is having a difficult time getting robert to school and gets very anxious at the thought of going to school
how can classical conditioning explain robert’s phobia. use key terminology.
school (NS) → no response
bullying (UCS) → anxiety (UCR)
school (NS) + bullying (UCS) → anxiety (UCR)
school (CS) → anxiety (CR)
little albert case - study key points:
(+ who conducted it)
Watson & Rayner
little albert wasn’t scared of any animals before the experiment, he was only scared of loud noises. he was classically conditioned to be scared of fuzzy/furry things, even santa claus
rat (NS) → no response
loud bang (UCS) → fear (UCR)
rat (NS) + loud bang ( UCS) → fear (UCR)
rat (CS) → fear (CR)
how classical conditioning applies to human behaviour:
-the acquisition of phobias there is association of a traumatic experience with a previously neutral stimulus
-the treatment of phobias systematic desensitisation aims to extinguish the association between the stimulus (CS) and the conditioned response (fear)
how to remember the definition of classical conditioning
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
ASSOCIATION
meaning of operant conditioning
-a new voluntary behaviour is associated with a consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
how was operant conditioning demonstrated?
-skinner created an experimental tool (the skinner box) that allowed complete control of the organism’s environment
-skinner investigated how the type of reinforcement or punishment given and the rate of reinforcement or punishment affected the rate of learning
layout of skinner’s box
-a rat or pigeon would be put into the skinner box in which temperature, light and noise could be kept constant.
-a lever and a container that could deliver a food pellet to the animal when the lever was pressed (on the wall)
how would an animal likely press a lever in the skinners box at first?
the rat is likely to wander around the box aimlessly until it accidentally presses the lever and receives a food pellet
what would skinner measure about lever presses and why?
-kkinner would measure how frequently the animal pressed the lever over time.
-the frequency should indicate the strength of the conditioning of the behaviour
example of positive reinforcement in the skinners box:
every time the rat presses the lever, it receives a food pellet → rat presses lever more often
example of negative reinforcement in the skinners box:
electric shock turned off if rat presses lever → rat presses lever more often
example of punishment in the skinners box:
rat’s heat turned off when lever is pressed → rat avoids the lever
partial reinforcement
-the response is reinforced only part of the time
-learned behaviours are acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement, but the response is more resistant to extinction
four schedules of partial reinforcement:
-fixed-ratio schedules
-variable-ratio
-fixed-interval
-variable-interval
fixed-ratio schedules
response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses
example: delivering a food pellet to a rat after it presses a bar five times
variable-ratio schedules
-occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
-creates a high steady rate of responding.
examples:
-gambling
-lottery
-delivering food pellets to a rat after one bar press, again after four bar presses, and a third pellet after two bar presses
fixed-interval schedules
-first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed
example:
reinforcing a rat with a pellet for the first bar press after a 30 second interval
variable-interval schedules
-occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed
example
delivering a food pellet to a rat after the first bar press following a one minute interval, another pellet for the first response following a five minute interval, and a third food pellet for the first response following a three minute interval
ao3 - strengths & limitations
strengths
-real life applications
-scientific
limitations
-oversimplified learning process
-relies on animals
-environmentally deterministic
ao3 / strength - real life, practical applications
P - real life, practical applications
E - the principles of conditioning have been applied to many real-world behaviours and problems / operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems in institutions (prisons and psychiatric wards), these work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
L - gives the approach more credibility and it has been useful for the wider population
ao3 / strength - scientific methods
P - uses scientific methods of research
E - the approach use experimental approaches; such as objectivity and replication / in the case of pavlov and skinner’s research, specific conditions and variables could be manipulated in order to assess the main assumptions of classical conditioning and operant conditioning
L - the principals of the behaviourist approach have been measured in a scientific and objective way (not influenced by human bias) → great credibility and status as a scientific discipline
ao3 / limitation - oversimplified learning process
P - behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process
E - by reducing behaviour to such simple
components ~ eg: associations between stimuli and reinforcements (reductionism), behaviourists may have ignored an important influence on
learning – human thought and emotion / social learning theory & the
cognitive approach have drawn attention to the mental processes involved in learning
L - suggests that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and that private mental processes are also essential
ao3 / limitation - uses animals within its research
P - uses animals within its research
E - for example, studies have focused on dogs and rat, pigeon behaviour / animals are seen as passive responders to the environment with little to no conscious insight into their behaviour / humans are
different cognitively and physiologically and play a more active role in their own learning, therefore humans might behave differently from animals
L - the laws and principles derived
from these experiments might apply more to animals than to humans and don’t generalise to humans
ao3 / limitation - approach is environmentally deterministic
P - the behaviourist approach is environmentally deterministic
E - this approach sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences, for example this
approach assumes if we give a pupil a prize for good behaviour, they will automatically be good in order
to get the prize in future / this theory does not consider that people may or may not be influenced by a reward and will choose freely whether or not to be good/bad
L - this approach ignores the idea that humans have (free will) or that we make conscious decisions
how operant conditioning applies to humans:
-phobias are maintained through negative reinforcement, avoidance is reinforced
-token economy in treatment of offenders and in institutions
