Behaviourist Approach

Question 1

What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

• 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.)

Question 3

When was the first test into classical conditioning and who was it by?

Answer 3

This process was first tested in 1927, in a lab by a Russian psychologist called Ivan Pavlov

Question 4

What was the key thing that Pavlov noticed, which began the experiment?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

How did Pavlov test his theory?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Neutral stimulus

Answer 6

A stimulus that doesn’t create an automatic response

Question 7

Unconditioned stimulus

Answer 7

A stimulus which automatically causes a response, e.g. food being presented to a dog causes salivation

Question 8

Unconditioned response

Answer 8

A natural response to an unconditioned stimulus, one that is an automatic reflex.

Question 9

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 9

what the neutral stimulus becomes when it is associated w

Question 10

conditioned response

Answer 10

A response which is learnt

Question 11

How would you describe the research methods used in the behaviourist approach?

Answer 11

use experimental method (with animals as subjects) looking for quantifiable behaviour. Behaviour that can be observed and measured

Question 12

Describe the process of classical conditioning

Answer 12

UCS-> UR
NS-> no response
US+NS->UR (repeated pairings of these means eventually the neutral stimulus becomes…)
CS-> CR

Question 13

What is classical conditioning ?

Answer 13

Learning through association

Question 14

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 14

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained

Question 15

Who conducted the research into operant conditioning?

Answer 15

Skinner

Question 16

What are the three types of consequences of behaviour ?

Answer 16

Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment

Question 17

What is positive reinforcement ?

Answer 17

Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed

Question 18

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 18

Occurs when an animal or human avoids something unpleasant

Question 19

What is a punishment?

Answer 19

Is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour

Question 20

What is the Skinner box ?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What is the difference between negative reinforcement and a punishment ?

Answer 21

Negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour repeating whereas a punishment decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Question 22

What are the strengths of this approach?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is a weakness of this approach?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Describe classical conditioning in terms of pavlovs dog.

Answer 24

UCS -> UCR
(food) (Salivation)

NS. -> no response
(Bell) (No CR)

UCS + NS -> UCS
(Bell + food) (Salivation)

CS. ->. CR
(Bell) (Salivation)