h Flashcards
Outline classical conditioning as an explanation for behaviour. (4 marks)
learning by association
first demonstrated by Pavlov
he showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly presented as the same time as the dogs were given food.
they leaden to associate the sound of the bell (stimulus) with the food (another stimulus) producing the salivation response every time they heard the sound.
thus Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus (bell in this case)a can come elicit to a new learned response (conditioned response) through association.
Outline operant conditioning as an explanation for behaviour. (4 marks)
learning by consequence
proposed by Skinner who suggested learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment.
different types of reinforcement/consequence
Positive reinforcement - reward, pleasant stimulus for certain behaviour.
Negative reinforcement - prevents/stops and unpleasant stimulus
both PR and NR increase likelihood of behaviour being repeated.
Punishment - unpleasant consequence. decreases the likelihood of being repeated
Outline and evaluate Pavlov’s research. (8 marks)
learning by association
learning by association
he showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly presented as the same time as the dogs were given food.
they leaden to associate the sound of the bell (stimulus) with the food (another stimulus) producing the salivation response every time they heard the sound.
t
hus Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus (bell in this case)a can come elicit to a new learned response (conditioned response) through association.
AO3
high amount of control. every element of the env was controlled so the only thing altered was the IV. increased the internal validity, able to draw causal conc, high in reliability.
Supporting evidence Watson and Rayner. Little Albert shown white rat with loud noise, after continuous parings cc to experience fear.
demonstrating learning occurs through association, phobias acquired through cc.
W and R crib for biased sample.
Only little Albert, unusual, responded different.
findings lack population validity, weakens supporting evidence as support for classical conditioning.
Outline and evaluate Skinner’s research. (8 marks)
examined operant conditioning (learning by consequence) in rats and pigeons. The animal would move around the Skinner box, and when it pressed the lever (by accident), it would be rewarded with a food pellet. The animal would learn, through positive reinforcement, that each time it pressed the lever, it would be rewarded with food. Consequently, because the animal was rewarded for its behaviour, it would continue to press the lever and demonstrate the new behaviour. However, Skinner also found that if the rewarded was stopped and the animal pressed the lever and was not rewarded with food, it’s behaviour would quickly stop and this is known as extinction.
Outline two limitations of the behaviourist approach
ethical issues - i.e in skinners the rats were under high amounts of stress, this could have affected their behaviour.
main study flawed. unreliable.
environmentally deterministic - sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences, animals passive and machine like - little to no conscious insight into behaviour unlike set. contradict behaviour approach as humans play more active role in own learning.
Outline Pavlov’s research into classical conditioning and describe how classical conditioning might explain a child’s fear of school. (Total 8 marks)
- Detail of Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments into salivation reflex in dogs
- Knowledge of Pavlovian concepts in the context of Pavlov’s experiments: unconditioned stimulus; conditioned stimulus; unconditioned response; conditioned response
- Detail of Pavlovian theory - learning by association; temporal association/contiguity
Possible Application:
* School is initially a neutral stimulus
* A fear-arousing event (the unconditioned stimulus) occurs whilst the child is at school eg being bullied in the playground
* Initially the child experiences fear which is an unconditioned response to the fear-arousing event (eg bullying)
* The fear-arousing event and school are paired together in time (are contiguous)
* Eventually the school becomes a conditioned stimulus which will elicit fear (now a conditioned response) even when the original fear-arousing event is not present
Credit any sensible application explaining fear of school in Pavlovian terms.
Full credit may be given for an appropriately labelled diagram with some verbal description of the process.
Give two reasons why Behaviourists do not collect qualitative data in their investigations. (Total 2 marks
One mark for each reason applied to the behaviourist approach.
For two valid points only -allow 1 mark.
Likely answers will probably include: subjectivity of qualitative data / open to interpretation; cannot be replicated; not open to quantification and statistical analysis; specific so not amenable to generalization; not associated with the scientific approach.
Credit relevant comparison to quantitative data collection.
negatives of classical conditioning
classical conditioning ignores the role of biology in behaviour instead it suggests everything stems from stimulus and response
doers not account for the role of cognitions in behaviour as this is not observable
