Behaviourist perspective Flashcards
What is a perspective?
- A perspective is a viewpoint
- Viewpoints have developed as the subject has grown and they show how different groups of psychologists have gone about studying human behaviour
- Perspectives are more ‘schools of thought’ or ‘movements’ than simply different approaches in psychology. Each perspective is characteristically different and has its own assumptions, S + W
What is the behaviourist perspective?
- The behaviourist perspective can be known as ‘learning theory’
- It is the study of how we learn behaviour
- Behaviourists claim that everything we do can, and should be regarded as behaviours that can be studied and explained through observable events, without the need to consider mental processes.
- Goes against Psychodynamic movement, which is unscientific and too subjective.
How did the Behaviourist perspective come about?
• It emerged in the early 19th century, through the work of Ivan Pavlov, John Watson and B.F Skinner
What are some assumptions of the behaviourist perspective?
- All behaviour is learned from our experiences and interactions with our environment
- Everything we do (acting, thinking, feel + more) can, and should be regarded as behaviours that can be explained through observable events.
- The mind is irrelevant
- Behaviour can be shaped (changed) through reinforcement strategies (e.g, rewards)
What was the most significant contribution of behavioursm?
- Learning theory
- In particular, the concept of conditioning (learning through association) There are 2 types:
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
- Classical conditioning is learning through association
* Two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a human or an animal
Who discovered classical conditioning?
• Pavlov, a Russian Psychologist
What was the most famous example of classical conditioning?
- Pavlov’s experiment with dogs, who salivated in response to a bell tone
- Pavlov showed that when a bell was sounded each time the dog was fed, the dog learned to associate the sound with the presentation of the food.
What did John Watson propose/believe?
- John Watson proposed that the process of classical conditioning (based on Pavlov’s observations) was able to explain all aspects of human psychology
- Everything from speech to emotional responses was simply patterns of stimulus and response.
- Watson denied completely, the existence of the mind or consciousness. Watson believed that all individual differences in behaviour were due to experiences of learning
What was the aim of the Little Albert study? (Watson + Rayner, 1928)
To find out if classical conditioning works on humans.
Specifically, to find out if a fear response can be conditioned into a 9 month old baby boy.
Also, to see if the fear response will be generalised to other animals and objects and how long the conditioning lasts
What was the IV of the Little Albert study? (Watson + Rayner, 1928)
1) before-conditioning compared to after-conditioning
2) being presented with the white rat compared to being presented with other white, fluffy animals or objects.
What was the DV of the Little Albert study? (Watson + Rayner, 1928)
The DV was the number of fearful behaviours Albert shows when presented with the stimuli
What experimental design was used in the Little Albert study? ( W + R, 1928)
Repeated measures design
- Studies baby Albert before and after his conditioning
- Studies Albert with rat and other stimuli. Albert experiences every condition
Describe the sample from the Little Albert Study
- One baby boy, Albert B
- 9 months at the start of the study
- 11 months when the conditioning began
Describe the procedure from the Little Albert study (9 months)
- At 9 months - Albert was tested with a white rat, rabbit, cotton wool and other stimuli to see if he had a fearful reaction. He didn’t so they were NEUTRAL STIMULI (NS)
- Researchers checked his fear response by banging an iron bar. Albert cried at the loud noise. noise was an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the crying was an unconditioned response (UCR)
Describe the procedure from the Little Albert study (11 months)
• 11 moths - Albert was conditioned, he was shown the rat 3 times. Each time the rat was paired with striking the iron bar. Albert started to whimper. 1 week later, Albert was conditioned again. Rat - presented 3 times, paired with the noise
Results from the Little Albert study (Watson and Rayner, 1928)
- When the rat was later presented alone, Albert whimpered.
- The rat was paired with the noise again another 2 times.
- When the rat was presented alone another time, Albert cried.
- This suggests that now the neutral stimuli is now a conditioned stimulus (CS), and Albert’s crying is now a conditioned response (CR)
What were the conclusions made from the Little Albert study? (Watson, Rayner, 1928)
• Watson + Rayner concluded that they had successfully conditioned Albert to fear the white rat and that his fear response generalised to other white, furry thing, and it transferred to other situations
What is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning is the process of learning through consequences.
Who introduced operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner
• Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a ‘Skinner box.’
What was a Skinner box?
- A Skinner box, (operant conditioning chamber), is a device used to objectively record an animal’s behaviour in a compressed time frame
- An animal can be rewarded or punished for engaging in certain behaviours, such as lever pressing (rats) or key pecking (pigeons)
What is positive reinforcement?
- Positive reinforcement is a term used by Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning.
- In P reinforcement, a response or behaviour is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behaviour. the reward is a reinforcing stimuli
What does positive reinforcement do for behaviour
- Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an individual find rewarding.
- More likely to repeat this behaviour in the future
What is negative reinforcement?
• N reinforcement is the termination of an unpleasant state following a response. This is known as n reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person.
