Behaviourist - Assumptions

Question 1

the behaviourist approach assumes that we are

Answer 1

born neutral, with no inherent personality. it is the environment which shapes who you are

Question 2

the behaviourist approach believes that

Answer 2

human behaviour should be studied scientifically. according to this approach, thoughts and feelings may exist, but because they are unobservable and unmeasurable, they are not worthy of study

Question 3

the only thing we can study with any sort of scientific objectivity is

Answer 3

behaviour itself, hence the name of behaviourism. this is why behaviourists prefer to use controlled observations as their method of research

Question 4

behaviourists believe that (1)

Answer 4

all behaviour comes from an individual’s interactions with their environment. we are born blank, and all that we are is conditioned into us from birth

Question 5

behaviourists believe that (2)

Answer 5

all behaviour can be reduced down to stimulus-response relationships

Question 6

a stimulus is

Answer 6

any external event that we respond to

Question 7

a response is

Answer 7

a behaviour produced in response to a stimulus. behaviourists believe that stimulus-response relationships are the building blocks of all behaviour

Question 8

the three assumptions of the behaviourist approach are:

Answer 8

1) humans are born like a blank slate
2) behaviour is learned through conditioning
3) humans and animals learn in similar ways

Question 9

tabula rasa is latin for

Answer 9

blank slate

Question 10

according to this approach, we are not born with

Answer 10

in-built mental content; internal events such as thinking and emotion do not drive our behaviour

Question 11

behaviourists believe that behaviour is learned from

Answer 11

interactions with our environment. as such, we do not think about our behaviour, we respond passively to environmental stimuli

Question 12

where does the behaviourist approach sit on the nature/nurture debate and why

Answer 12

very much on the nurture side of the debate as all behaviour comes from the environment, no room for biology or anything innate

Question 13

where does the psychodynamic approach sit on the nature/nurture debate and why

Answer 13

closer to the determinism side because of the influence from people and places

Question 14

what is environmental determinism

Answer 14

our behaviour is determined and shaped by the environment in which we grow
this means that people do not have any free will over their own behaviour as it has been shaped by the environment and experiences

Question 15

there are two main mechanism through which behaviour is learned:

Answer 15

classical conditioning and operant conditioning

Question 16

classical conditioning is leaning through

Answer 16

association, a good way to remember this is ass

Question 17

classical conditioning occurs when

Answer 17

an association is made between a previously unlearned response and a neutral stimulus. if the two are paired enough times, eventually the neutral stimulus will produce the unlearned response

Question 18

evidence for classical conditioning comes from the work of

Answer 18

ivan pavlov (1849-1946). he was the first person to investigate classical conditioning and discovered it by accident when performing unrelated experiments on dogs

Question 19

what did pavlov notice which lead him to discover classical conditioning

Answer 19

the dogs would start salivating as soon as the lab assistant would walk in the room to feed them

Question 20

before conditioning

Answer 20

ucs (food) - naturally - ucr (salivation)

ns (metronome) - no response

Question 21

during condition (association)

Answer 21

ns (metronome) + ucs (food) - ucr (salivation)

Question 22

after conditioning (learned)

Answer 22

cs (metronome) - cr (salivation)

Question 23

operant conditioning involves learning through

Answer 23

reinforcement. it is more voluntary than the learning seen in classical conditioning

Question 24

the idea of operant conditioning is that

Answer 24

when people behave in a particular way and are rewarded for it, they will repeat it
if they are punished for the behaviour, they will stop doing it

Question 25

how is operant conditioning different to classical conditioning

Answer 25

the consequence comes after the response rather than the stimulus coming before the response

Question 26

who was most of the research for operant conditioning done by

Answer 26

bf skinner. he performed many experiments with animals such as rats and pigeons.

Question 27

why do behaviourists carry out a lot of research on animals

Answer 27

they assume that what applies to animals can be generalised to humans. also, a lot of the research could not be carried out on humans for ethical and practical reasons

Question 28

what did the skinner box contain

Answer 28

a lever for an animal such as a rat or pigeon to press for food to be delivered. it also had a speaker and lights that could be used to trigger a behaviour and a shock generator was connected to the floor to deliver an electric shock in response to a behaviour

Question 29

what was the idea behind the skinner box

Answer 29

to create an environment in which the experimenter has complete control over everything the animal inside experienced. by altering the environment, desired behaviour could be conditioned in the animal. positive reinforcement is used

Question 30

how does the pigeon learn to play ping pong

Answer 30

15% below bodyweight
food is positive reinforcer

Question 31

how does the pigeon learn to read

Answer 31

shaping

Question 32

positive reinforcement

Answer 32

where something desirable is given in order that a behaviour will be repeated (giving food)

Question 33

negative reinforcement

Answer 33

where something undesirable is taken away in order that a behaviour will be repeated (giving pain meds)

Question 34

positive punishment

Answer 34

where something undesirable is given in order that a behaviour will not be repeated (slapping them)

Question 35

negative punishment

Answer 35

where something desirable is taken away in order that a behaviour will not be repeated (taking away a bone)

Question 36

behaviourists believe that there are no differences in the way

Answer 36

an animal learns and the way a human learns. both humans and animals are products of their environment, and for both of them, all their behaviour is determined by stimulus-response relationships

Question 37

one consequence of the behaviourist assumption is that we can

Answer 37

investigate the effect of conditioning on animals in the laboratory and then easily apply the results to humans. we can only generalise as humans are more complex