Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
the behaviourist approach
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believes that human behaviour can be explained in terms of conditioning and learning — there’s no need to consider thoughts or feelings
rejects the vagueness of introspection, focusing instead on observable events (e.g. responses to stimuli)
all behaviour is learned through classical and operant conditioning….
classical conditioning — learning through association
operant conditioning — learning through reinforcement
classical conditioning
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learning through association
discovered and investigated by Pavlov
classical conditioning: Pavlov’s study
3
he was investigating the salivary reflex in dogs when he noticed that the dogs not only salivated at food, they also reacted to stimuli such as the food bowl or the person feeding them (i.e. stimuli that coincided with the presentation of food)
led him to explore the conditions under which this learning is most likely to occur
key terms in Pavlov’s study... • UCS - food • UCR - salivation • NS - bell • CR - salivation
classical conditioning: briefly outline the main stages involved in classical conditioning
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UCS = UCR NS = no response
UCS + NS = UCR
NS — CS
CS = CR
classical conditioning: before conditioning
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UCS automatically produces the UCR, it is an innate and natural response
NS does not produce any response at this stage
classical conditioning: during conditioning
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UCS is consistently paired with the NS to produce the UCR
NS is eventually associated with the UCS
classical conditioning: after conditioning
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the NS becomes the CS and is able to produce the same response in the absence of the UCS
this response is now called the CR
classical conditioning: important features
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stimulus generalisation — once conditioned, an animal will also respond to other stimuli that is similar to the CS
timing — if the NS occurs after the UCS or the time interval between the NS and UCS is too great, then conditioning does not take place as the NS is not associated with the UCS and cannot be used to predict it
extinction — the CR does not become permanently established as a response, after a few presentations of the CS in the absence of the UCS, the CS loses its ability to produce the CR
spontaneous recovery — after extinction, if the CS and UCS are paired together again, the link between them is formed much more quickly
operant conditioning
4
learning through reinforcement
investigated by Skinner
organisms produce behaviours which in turn produce consequences for the organism
some of these consequences may be positive and deserialise while others are negative and undesirable — the nature of the consequence affects whether or not the organism is likely to repeat that behaviour, this is known as reinforcement
operant conditioning: reinforcement
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reinforcement = something that strengthens and reinforces a behaviour, making it more likely to recur
2 main types of reinforcement: positive and negative
positive reinforcement = behaviour produces a consequence that it pleasant and satisfying for the organism (e.g. food to a hungry animal or praise to a child), so the organism is likely to repeat that behaviour in the future
negative reinforcement = behaviour removes something unpleasant and restores the organism to its preaversive state (e.g. hitting the off button on an alarm stops the unpleasant singing and restores the restful, pre-alarm state)
operant conditioning: important features
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SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT — a continuous reinforcement schedule is most effective in establishing a particular response
although a partial reinforcement schedule (e.g. reinforcing it every 5 minutes) is more effective in maintaining that response and avoiding extinction
PUNISHMENT — a behaviour produces a consequence that is unpleasant and undesirable for the organism, thus decreasing the likelihood of that behaviour recurring
punishment can be positive (adding something unpleasant e.g. slapping a naughty child) or negative (taking away something pleasant e.g. grounding a teenager)
operant conditioning: Skinner’s study
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Skinner investigated operant conditioning in rats
he developed a special cage called the ‘Skinner box’
the rat moves around the cage and when it presses the lever, a food pellet falls into the cage (this acts as the reinforcer)
the rat then begins to press the lever to gain more food
if the food pellets stop, the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it (extinction)
x4 evaluation points
strengths of CC: practical applications
limitations of CC: does not apply to every organism
strengths of OC: experimental method
limitations of OC: animal study
evaluation
STRENGTHS OF CC: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
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classical conditioning has led to the development of treatments for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias
for example, systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on classical conditioning that eliminates the learned anxious response (the CR) that is associated with the feared object or situation (the CS)
attempts to replace the learned response of anxiety with another learned response of relaxation — known as counter conditioning
the patient learns to associate the feared stimulus with relaxation and no longer feels anxious in its presence
this has been found to be effective for a range of phobias including arachnophobia (a phobia of spiders) and aerophobia (a fear of flying)
this suggests that the approach can be usefully applied to real life
evaluation
LIMITATIONS OF CC: DOES NOT APPLY TO EVERY ORGANISM
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different species face different challenges to survive so have different capabilities to learn through the process of classical conditioning
subsequently, relationships between the CS and UCS tend to be more difficult to establish for some species than for others
Seligman proposed the concept of preparedness to explain this — organisms are prepared to learn associations that are important for survival (e.g. a dog will quickly learn to associate the smell of meat with the presence of food)
but some organisms are not prepared to learn associations that are not vital to survival
this demonstrates that the process of CC may not be as simple as it first appears and that it may not apply to every organism
