Behaviourist (Pavlov) Flashcards
What is behaviourism
Also known as Black Box Psychology, measures behaviour that can be observed.
Doesn’t measure thoughts or feelings
Mostly conducted in labs or on animals
What is hard determinism
Ignores the role of free will and would propose that we have no conscious control
What is environmental determinism
Behaviour that is caused by features of our environment that we cannot control
What are the basic assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- all behaviour is learned
- only study behaviour that is observable and measurable
- most research is conducted in scientific lab studies
- research conducted on animals is valid as they share the same principles of learning
- we are born blank slates- no genetic influence on behaviour
What is classical conditioning
Learning happening by association between a previously neutral stimulus and a reflex response
What did Pavlov do
Conducted an experiment on dogs.
When he first rang a bell, the dog had no response
He then gave the dogs food after ringing the bell
Eventually the dog would salivate when hearing the bell
What was the bell at first
Neutral Stimulus
What was the food
Unconditioned Stimulus
What was the bell later
Conditioned Stimulus
What was salivating at food
Reflex responce
What was salivating on bell
Conditioned response
What is stimulus generalisation
When a response that has been associated with one stimulus occurs for another stimulus that is similar in some way
What is stimulus discrimination
Involves the ability to distinguish between one stimulus and similar stimuli
What is spontaneous recovery
When a behaviour recovers unexpectedly after a period of extinction or lessening of behaviour when stimulus is present
What is extinction
Process of reducing or eliminating a learned behaviour by withholding the reinforcing consequences that previously maintained it
