Intro into learning psychology Flashcards
what is learning ?
the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study experience or being taught
what is the learning approach also known as ?
behaviorist approach
who thought of behaviorism ?
John B Watson
what are the main ideas behind behaviorism ?
only observable behaviors are worthy of research since other persons mood or thoughts are too subjective
what is the main behaviourist assumption ?
all behavior is learnt and shaped by the environment
what is the main comparison between cognitive and learning approach ?
the learning approach sees mental processes and genetics as unimportant and focused on observable behaviors
how do behaviourists view mental processes and unconscious forces
as unscientific
untestable
what did pavlov experiment
classical conditioning
what did pavlov discover ?
that dogs would salivate at the sound of a tone that had been previously associated with the presentation of food
what did pavlov establish all learning and responses were due to ?
classical conditioning
what did watson research ?
how events that people and other organisms experienced in their environment could produced specific behaviors
give an overview of watsons experiment and what he discovered
he found out that by systematically exposing a child to fearful stimuli in the presence of objects that did not elicit fear caused the child to respond with fearful behavior to the presence of the stimulus
what did Skinner research ?
operant conditioning and shaping
what is operant conditioning ?
how learning was affected by stimuli presented after an act was performed
he found that certain stimuli caused the organism to repeat an act more frequently
what did skinner refer stimuli which caused organisms to repeat an act more frequently to ?
reinforcers which shaped behavior
how did skinner apply his research ?
to train pigeons and other animals
developed theories about how to best teach children
how to create peaceful and productive societies
what does born as a blank slate mean ?
everything we learn and our behavior is shaped by our environment rather than biological causes
nurture over nature
what does mind is a black box mean ?
we cannot access our mind investigations should focus on observable behaviors that are objective
why do behaviourists only study observable behaviour ?
theories must be supported by emphatically data which can be obtained by careful and controlled measurement of behaviour
what do behaviourists think about animals and humans ?
they work in similar ways
research can be carried out on animals and humans as the laws of behaviors are the same so results are reliable
what do behaviourists believe about psychology being a science ?
watson views it as being a purely objective branch of natural science
what does behaviour from conditioning mean ?
behaviour is the result of a stimulus response association
we learn new behaviors through classical or operant conditioning
