Behaviourist approach Flashcards
Who came up with the behaviourist approach?
Watson
What behaviour does the approach study?
Behaviour that can be observed and measured (sees mental processes as irrelevant)
Did Watson accept introspection?
No- ignored it as he thought the concepts were too vague and hard to measure.
What studies and research do behaviourists use- why?
Lab studies- as controlled and objective.
Animal research is used as a basis of understanding human behaviour.
Assumption: all behaviour is learned from…
the environment (education, peers, upbringing etc)
What reference is used to describe how everyone is born?
Everyone is born a ‘blank slate’
What are the behaviourists 2 forms of learning?
Classical conditioning (CC) and Operant conditioning (OC)
Who’s research was the operant conditioning?
Skinners
OC- learning via…
consequences
OC- what is positive reinforcement?
performing a behaviour to experience positive consequences e.g. praise, treat etc
OC- what is negative reinforcement?
performing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences (avoidance behaviour shown) e.g. doing HW so you don’t get a detention, not going to sea so you don’t drown
OC- what is a punishment?
an unpleasant consequence of behaviour e.g. getting told off by teacher, not being able to attend a party
OC- Does positive and negative reinforcement increase or decrease the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated?
increases
OC- Does punishment increase or decrease the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated?
decreases
OC- what box did Skinner use in his experiment?
Skinners box
OC- what did Skinner do for positive reinforcement?
placed a hungry rat in a box, if rat pressed a lever they got food (reward). After few times rat learnt that pressing the lever would mean they would get food.
OC- what did Skinner do for negative reinforcement?
rat put in box and received an electric shock until they pressed the lever. Rats then quickly pressed lever to avoid the electric shock.
OC- ethical concerns of the experiment?
Yes- animals were harmed etc.
who’s research was classical conditioning?
Pavlov’s (1927)
CC- learning via….
association
what is CC?
when a neutral stimulus is substituted for the original unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
what was Pavlov’s research (what happened, what did he do?)
- dogs can be conditioned to salivate to sound of a bell if repeatedly presented at same time as they were given food.
- dogs associated the sound of the bell (stimulus) with food= salivation response every time they heard the bell.
what is extinction?
gradual weakening of a conditioned response causing the behaviour to stop or go extinct over time.
what was the UCS, UCR, NS, NR, NS, CS, CR in Pavlov’s research?
UCS (food) —> UCR (salivation)
NS (bell) —> NR
NS (bell) + UCS (food) —> UCR (salivation)
CS (bell) —> CR (salivation)
eval- point 1
scientific= increased reliability. Research was well controlled in a lab setting, extraneous variables removed –> cause and effect relationships could be established. Focuses on observable behaviour.
eval- point 2
oversimplifies learning processes. Ignores mental processes. Suggesting learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone.
eval- point 3
real world application- OC= token economy in prisons and psychiatric wards (appropriate behaviour is awarded with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges). CC= used to treat phobias.
eval- point 4
environmental determinism- Skinner suggests our past conditioning history determines our outcome= ignores free will on our behaviour and conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.
eval- point 5
uses animal research- animals are less complex/don’t have as sophisticated cognitive levels as humans.
little albert study (OC)
Originally, Albert showed no fear of the white rat (CS) and played quite happily with it. However, after several pairing of the loud noise (UCS) and the white rat (CS), he displayed fear (UCR) in response to just the white rat.
Little Albert had learnt to fear and avoid white rats without the loud noise being present. He had been conditioned to associate white rats with fear. But Little Albert generalised this fear to other white fluffy things including Dr Watson wearing a white beard!
