Behaviourist approaches Flashcards
When did behaviourism arise, and why?
Behaviourism arose in the early 20th century as a reaction to the scientific deficiencies of psychoanalysis
what did behaviourism advocate the study of?
behaviourism advocated the study of objectively observable behaviour and the external events that maintain it
How do environmental conditions affect the acquisition, modification & elimination of response patterns?
- The study of subjective experience is not scientifically acceptable
- No need to explore of change the psyche on inner world
what is Radical behaviorism?
a psychological concept that dives into how our environmental factors influence our state of mind
what does maladaptive behaviour stem from
- failure to learn adaptive responses
- the learning of maladaptive responses
what does behavioural therapy involve?
it involves unlearning undesirable behaviours and emotional responses and learning desirable ones
features and goals of behaviour therapy
features: directive, symptom-focussed
goal: behaviour change, not insight or catharsis
what was Walden Two (book by Skinner) about?
a novel about a utopian community based on the principles of behaviour theory
what is classical conditioning
theory that states that behaviours are learned by connecting a neutral stimulus with a positive one. (i.e. dogs hearing a bell (neutral) and expecting food (positive)
who was Ivan Pavlov?
a Russian physiologist who investigated the ways in which eating excited salivary, gastric and pancreatic secretions
what can physiological and emotional responses be?
many physiological and emotional responses can be conditioned e.g. those related to fear, anxiety or sexual arousal and those stimulated by drugs
Needles: associations (children vs drugs)
children may acquire a fear of needles through the pairing of this initially neutral stimulus with pain, whereas drug conditioned stimuli can become attention-grabbing and produce a variety of physiological and psychological responses (that may feel good)
fetishes: displacement vs conditioning
Freud: fetishistic object as symbolic subsitute for the mother’s missing penis
Conditiong: sexual deviations are the result of an accidental pairing of an abnormal stimulus with sexual arousal or ejaculation
Treatment: exposure therapy
patient is confronted with fear-producing stimulus in a therapeutic manner
what are the three types of exposure therapy?
in vivo, imaginal and virtual reality exposure
what is in vivo exposure?
directly facing a feared object or situation in real life
what is imaginal exposure?
vividly imagining the feared object or situation
what is virtual reality exposure?
in some cases, virtual reality technology can be useful i.e. someone with a fear of flying might take a virtual flight not a real life one
treatment: aversion therapy
use of punishment to modify undesirable behaviours e.g. placing unpleasant-tasting substances on fingernails to discourage nail-chewing
what is conversion therapy?
the treatment of homosexuals by behaviour modification techniques to suppress someone’s orientation or gender
what is operant conditioning?
behaviours that are controlled by their punishments/consequences
operant conditioning: reinforcement
promotes behaviour
- positive = the delivery of a rewarding stimulus
- negative = the removal of an aversive stimulus
operant conditioning: punishment
decreases behaviour
operant conditioning: extiinction
withholding of reinforcement will eventually halt the behaviour
what was Mowrer’s (1947) two factor theory of phobia acquisition/maintenence
1) Classical conditioning: rat paired with loud noise -> conditioned
fear.
2) Operant conditioning: individual avoids rats.
1) Prevents extinction (rat is not experienced in
absence of fearful stimulus).
2) Produces relief, thus avoidance is reinforced.
treatment: systematic use of reinforcement (CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS)
identification and removal of reinforcers of maladaptive behaviours (e.g. drinking environments may reinforce smoking)
Treatment: Systematic Use of Reinforcement (TOKEN ECONOMIES)
developed for use with chronic psychiatric inpatients. Desired behaviours rewarded with tokens that can be used to be purchase rewards
Treatment: Systematic Use of Reinforcement (BEHAVIOURAL ACTIVATION)
brief, structured form of therapy for depression. Patient encouraged to engage in positively reinforcing activities
observational learning/modeling
Bandura: responses can be acquired without elicit experience of UCS or reinforcers. Which greatly expands the opportunities to learn (mal)adaptive behaviours
what was the Bandura Bobo doll study?
children who saw an adult rewarded (punished) for aggression showed more (less) imitative aggression in subsequent free play
