Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
- They believe that we are born as a “Blank slate”, or a “tubula rosa”
- They believe that much of our behaviour is learned through experiences such as association and reinforcement
- They focus on observable events and reject things like introspection.
What is classical conditioning?
- All animals are born with natural reflexes, where a response is produced automatically when exposed to a stimulus.
- When this stimulus is predictably and continuously associated with another stimulus, the same response is produced by the new stimulus; the response is then labelled as a conditioned response (learnt response.)
When was the first test into classical conditioning and who was it by?
This process was first tested in 1927, in a lab by a Russian psychologist called Ivan Pavlov
What was the key thing that Pavlov noticed, which began the experiment?
He noted that dogs would not just salivate when food was presented but also in response to other events that coincided with the presentation of food, such as seeing the person who fed them
How did Pavlov test his theory?
He introduced a new stimulus, a bell sound- whenever the dogs were fed, to see if eventually they would salivate to the noise of it
Neutral stimulus
A stimulus that doesn’t create an automatic response
Unconditioned stimulus
A stimulus which automatically causes a response, e.g. food being presented to a dog causes salivation
Unconditioned response
A natural response to an unconditioned stimulus, one that is an automatic reflex.
Conditioned stimulus
what the neutral stimulus becomes when it is associated w
conditioned response
A response which is learnt
How would you describe the research methods used in the behaviourist approach?
use experimental method (with animals as subjects) looking for quantifiable behaviour. Behaviour that can be observed and measured
Describe the process of classical conditioning
UCS-> UR
NS-> no response
US+NS->UR (repeated pairings of these means eventually the neutral stimulus becomes…)
CS-> CR
What is classical conditioning ?
Learning through association
What is operant conditioning?
A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained
Who conducted the research into operant conditioning?
Skinner
What are the three types of consequences of behaviour ?
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
What is positive reinforcement ?
Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
What is negative reinforcement?
Occurs when an animal or human avoids something unpleasant
What is a punishment?
Is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour
What is the Skinner box ?
Skinner conducted an experiment with rats, every time it activated a lever within the box it was rewarded with food. From then on, it would continue to perform the behaviour. He also introduced one with a lever that gave an electric shock
What is the difference between negative reinforcement and a punishment ?
Negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour repeating whereas a punishment decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
What are the strengths of this approach?
Scientific credibility, by focusing on observable behaviour within highly controlled conditions do research was objective as could be replicated.
It also has real life application so operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems which is implemented in schools and prisons
What is a weakness of this approach?
It has a mechanist view of behaviour, ignores the importance of mental events
Cannot extrapolate findings to humans and animals have little or no conscious insight
Ignores any element of free will
Describe classical conditioning in terms of pavlovs dog.
UCS -> UCR
(food) (Salivation)
NS. -> no response
(Bell) (No CR)
UCS + NS -> UCS
(Bell + food) (Salivation)
CS. ->. CR
(Bell) (Salivation)
