behaviourist perspective Flashcards
what does the behaviourist perspective suggest
the behaviourist perspective suggests that we are born blank and learn everything through experience. they are only interested in behaviour we can directly observe
we learn things through classical and operant conditioning and the social learning theory
what is classical conditioning
classical conditioning is learning through association
a person will learn to associate an unconditioned stimulus to a neutral stimulus so overtime it becomes a conditioned stimulus which induces a conditioned response
e.g little albert study
what is operant conditioning
operant conditioning is learning through reinforcement and punishment
positive reinforcement- anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of behaviour being repeated by using pleasant consequences
negative reinforcement- anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of behaviour by removing or avoiding a negative/ unwanted stimulus
punishment- anything that has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of behaviour being repeated by using unpleasant consequences
describe the social learning theory
behaviour of a role model is observed by the observer.
the observer is then vicariously reinforced when they see their role model being rewarded for their behaviour.
behaviour is then imitated by the observer and directly reinforced when they are rewarded in the same way as their role model
over time, behaviour becomes internalised, so part of who the observer is.
describe watson and rayners study (little albert)
albert was a 9 month old boy tested on by watson and rayner
they introduced him to a number of stimuli to see how he reacted to them. among those that did not evoke a reaction from albert was a white rat. however he cried when the researchers made a loud bang
little albert was presented with the white rat (neutral stimulus) which caused no response. he was then presented the rat (NS) paired with a loud bang (unconditioned stimulus) which caused him to cry. after a few times of doing this, albert was presented with just the white rat (conditioned stimulus) which caused him to cry (conditioned response)
