behaviourist perspective Flashcards
Principles of the behaviourist perspective
All people are born tabula rasa (blank states)
All behaviours are learned from the environment
Classical conditioning
Learning by association
Pavolvs dogs (classical conditioning)
-he noticed his dogs would salivate every time they saw food
-he rang a bell every time they were given food
-he did this repeatedly to create an association between food and a bell
-soon the dogs will salivate at the sound of a bell
-they have learnt through association
Aversion therapy (classical conditioning
-Causes a patient to reduce or avoid undesirable behaviour pattern by conditioning them to associate the behaviour with an undesirable stimulus
-used to treat alcohol addiction
Operant conditioning
Learning from the consequences of a behaviour
Positive reinforcement
Adding something good at the end of an action
Negative reinforcement
Taking away something bad
Positive punishments
Adding something bad
Negative punishment
Taking away something good
Social learning theory
Learning through observation and imitation
How can learning theory be used to explain how a child learns to speak?
-Observation of their parents speaking
-the child replicates this language using mouth movements and sound
Strengths of the behaviourist perspective
-research likely to be useful
-research is scientific
Weaknesses of behaviourist perspective
-ignores the role of nature/genetics
-often breaks ethics
