behaviourist approach

Question 1

What stance do Behaviourists take in terms of determinism?

Answer 1

Behaviourism takes a deterministic stance, arguing that behaviour is learnt from and controlled by forces in the environment meaning we do not have free will or choice.

Question 2

Can you fully explain the concept of ‘Classical Conditioning’?

Answer 2

1. Classical conditioning is learning by associating different stimuli with one response.
2. This relies on behaviour an animal already possesses such as reflexes.
3. An unconditioned stimulus results in an unconditioned response, which is out of the animal’s control.
4. When this is paired with a neutral stimulus, we learn to associate them.
5. This neutral stimulus can come to elicit a conditioned response through association.

Question 3

What is Operant Conditioning?

Answer 3

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated can change depending on its consequences.

Question 4

What is Positive Reinforcement?

Answer 4

Positive reinforcement is a desirable consequence such as a reward when a certain behaviour is performed. For example, praise from the teacher for getting high marks on an assessment. This increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 5

What is Negative Reinforcement?

Answer 5

Negative reinforcement is when an unpleasant consequence is avoided. For instance, a student may revise at home in order to avoid getting a bad result in their test. This increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 6

What is Punishment?

Answer 6

Punishment is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour. For example, this may be getting shouted at by the teacher for talking numerous times in class. Punishments decrease the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.

Question 7

How does the Skinner Box Experiment provide evidence for the existence of ‘Operant Conditioning’ where behaviour can be shaped?

Answer 7

• A hungry rat was placed in a cage.
• Every time he activated the lever a food pellet fell in the food dispenser (positive reinforcement). The rats quickly learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.
• This suggests that positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.
• This experiment was an example of the shaping of behaviour, as Skinner reinforced successive approximations to get to the final target behaviour.

Question 8

Can you fully outline Pavlov’s Dog Experiment?

Answer 8

• Pavlov managed to condition dogs to salivate when they heard a bell.
• At first when the dogs were presented the food they salivated. The food was the unconditioned stimulus and the salivation was the unconditioned response.
• He then introduced a neutral stimulus which was the bell.
• Eventually the dogs salivated when no food was given and just the bell was sounded. The bell was then the conditioned stimulus and the salivation was the conditioned response.