Behaviourist Approach AO1 Flashcards
Give one assumption of the behaviourist approach
Humans are born as a blank slate
What is classical conditioning learnt through?
Stimulus and response associations
Who explained the behaviourist feature of classical conditioning?
Pavlov
How is behaviour learnt through stimulus response associations?
- a neutral stimulus is paired with an UCS that produces an UCR
- if the pairing is repeated then the individual will learn to associate the NS with the UCS
- the NS becomes a CS which creates the CR
What was the UCS in Pavlov’s study?
Food
What was the UCR in Pavlov’s study?
Salivation
What was the NS in Pavlov’s study?
the bell
What happened during Pavlov’s experiment?
-The dogs were presented with food
- the dogs were presented with food again
-this time Pavlov rang a bell at the same time
- he repeated this association many times
- the dogs learnt to associate the food with the noise of the bell
- the bell became the CS which would cause the CR of salivation every time the dog heard t
Who explained the behaviourist feature of operant conditioning?
Skinner
What is operant conditioning learnt through?
Rewards and punishment (consequences)
What did skinner explain?
How behaviour is influenced by the consequences of our own actions
What did skinner focus on?
He focused on the importance of reinforcement in increasing a behaviour and punishment in stopping behaviour.
What is positive reinforcement?
When a reward is given for a behaviour, this behaviour is encouraged/reinforced so the behaviour is repeated to gain the same reward
How is positive reinforcement shown in skinner’s research?
every time the rat pressed the lever the rat was rewarded with food
What is negative reinforcement?
Performing a behaviour to remove/avoid an unpleasant consequence so the behaviour is repeated to avoid the unpleasant consequence again
