Issues & Debates Flashcards
1
Q
Practical issues- General
A
Bandura
Becker
Observations
Content Analysis
2
Q
Practical issues- Watson & Rayner
A
- Small sample
- ‘stoic and unemotional’ so may not be representative
- Lab setting
- Low in mundane realism/ecological validity
- Small child unlikely to be DCs
- Replicable i.e. striking the bar right amount of times
- Checked conditioning in a separate room to try and rule out room as an EV
- Tested for phobias before conditioning (cause and effect)
3
Q
Developement over time- General
A
- Pavlov CC Watson & Rayner
- Watson & Rayner Phobias treatments
- Systematic desensitisation VR therapy
- CC Aversion therapy
- CC OC
- Skinner OC
- OC ABA/Token economies
- Bandura (1961) SLT
- Bandura (1965) introduced Vicarious reinforcement
- Bandura (1961) 1963 (TV) TV violence Becker
4
Q
Developement over time- Watson & Rayner
A
- Pavlov CC Watson & Rayner
- Watson & Rayner Phobias treatments
- Systematic desensitisation VR therapy
- CC Aversion therapy
- CC explanation of phobias still a key one
5
Q
Nature/Nurture- General
A
- Pavlov shows that animals learn through CC (like humans do too) therefore nature
- The UCS UCR relationship is a natural reaction and therefore due to nature
- Learning theory is all about learning from the environment which shows the effects of nurture
- CC- associating two environmental stimuli (nurture)
- OC- the effect of reinforcement (nurture)
- The ‘reward’ gained through reinforcement might be linked to the dopamine in the brain showing nature could be a role
- SLT- the effects of role models and observation (nurture)
- Vicarious reinforcement is nurture from watching others being rewarded
- SLT uses attention (to the environment)
- Flooding and systematic desensitisation work using environmental stimuli
- Flooding works because the sympathetic nervous system cannot remain in the alarm state and therefore shows the impact of nature
- Becker shows that body image can be learned through media (nurture)
- Bandura & the influence of media are nurture
- This is however ignoring the biological explanations of aggression etc
- Drug addiction- could be nurture reward (OC), role models (SLT) and association (CC)
6
Q
Nature/Nurture- Watson & Rayner
A
- Pavlov shows that animals learn through CC (like humans do too) therefore nature
- The UCS UCR relationship is a natural reaction and therefore due to nature
- Learning theory is all about learning from the environment which shows the effects of nurture
- CC- associating two environmental stimuli (nurture)
- Flooding and systematic desensitisation work using environmental stimuli
- Flooding works because the sympathetic nervous system cannot remain in the alarm state and therefore shows the impact of nature
- Learning phobia and evolution
7
Q
Reductionism- General
A
- Social learning theory studies parts of learning by looking at motivation, attention, and reproduction and so on.
- Classical conditioning sees behaviour/learning as being caused by association only
- Sees behaviour as being able to be broken down to a simple formula
- Ignores biological causes of behaviour
- Sees humans and animals as being the same ignoring massive cognitive differences between them
- Reductionism applies when studying learning because of the scientific way it is studied, using experiments and controls. To do this, parts must be focused on.
- Reductionism also applies to learning theories because they look only at behaviour and not the ‘black box’ in between, which is where information processing takes place
- Bandura (e.g. 1961, 1963, 1965) showed how aggression can be modelled through observation and used experimental method, so this is evidence that learning theories are reductionist in how they study behaviour.
- This ignores the complexity of human behaviour acquisition, such as the role of emotions and thinking.
- Behaviourism ignores the role of cognition in human behaviour acquisition, which means that what makes up a whole person is not touched by reducing learning to parts.
- However, if it is learning that is studied, that is in itself just part of human behaviour, and so it might be acceptable to use a reductionist approach. Separating material for study, as learning theories do, is in itself reductionist.
- Becker et al. (2002) in Fiji used questionnaires and selfreport data before and after TV was introduced, then drew conclusions about the girls’ focus on weight issues and dieting. This is reductionist as other factors might also be there as it was years between their two sets of data and there would be changes other than the introduction of TV in that time. Reductionism can give useful data by isolating areas for study but can miss a wider view of human behaviour.
8
Q
Reductionism- Watson & Rayner
A
- Classical conditioning sees behaviour/learning as being caused by association only
- Sees behaviour as being able to be broken down to a simple formula
- Ignores biological causes of behaviour
- Sees humans and animals as being the same ignoring massive cognitive differences between them
- Reductionism applies when studying learning because of the scientific way it is studied, using experiments and controls. To do this, parts must be focused on.
- Reductionism also applies to learning theories because they look only at behaviour and not the ‘black box’ in between, which is where information processing takes place
- However, if it is learning that is studied, that is in itself just part of human behaviour, and so it might be acceptable to use a reductionist approach. Separating material for study, as learning theories do, is in itself reductionist.
- Was set in a lab setting eliminating EVs etc which could impact on behaviour
9
Q
Psychology as a science- General
A
- Lab experiments and observations are generally going to reach these criteria (but depends on type of observation)
- The point of Learning is to be scientific and measure only behaviour not cognitive thoughts etc
- Empirical- measuring behaviour i.e. fear response, aggressive behaviour etc
- Objective- Yes because measuring behaviour…except in Becker which is all about self-image/uses questionnaires
- Falsifiable- yes all theories and studies i.e. Bandura could be proven wrong if the people’s behaviour didn’t change/they didn’t learn
- Reductionist- Ignores biology, turns complex behaviours into formulas i.e. CC, rules i.e. Operant and SLT
- Phobias ignore evolutionary basis of some phobias
- Hypothesis testing- all of the theories are testing hypotheses
- Controls- Matched pairs in Bandura, Repeated measures in Watson & Rayner
- Reliable/replicable- Yup controlled and standardised procedures like Bandura can be easily repeated (Bandura found similar results across all his studies)
- Internal Validity- Bandra reduced DCs, Matched pairs, Watson and Rayner checked for situational variables by doing the study in another room
- Animal studies- high in control, reliability, more able to eliminate EVs etc
- Becker is a field experiment which used interviews and questionnaires so has less control, more EVs (such as consumerism rather than TV), harder to repeat (since naturally occurring), was reductionist- only TV as a factor, is falsifiable, is empirical HOWEVER asking about body image might not be
10
Q
Psychology as a science- Watson & Rayner
A
- Lab experiment method
- Empirical- measuring behaviour i.e. fear or not
- Objective- probably, measuring behaviour rather than subjective opinion r
- Falsifiable- Yes he could have been fine after conditioning
- Reductionist- Ignores possible factors, reduces fear down to just conditioning
- Hypothesis testing- Yes about the effects of conditioning on phobias
- Controls- Checked for pre-existing fears, taken to another room
- Reliable/replicable- Standardised procedure
- Internal Validity- Checked for pre-existing fears, taken to another room etc
11
Q
Ethics- General
A
- Consent (informed)- Bandura used children (consent from nursery),
- Deception- No deception involved (they didn’t actively lie)
- Confidentiality- not really an issue in experiment but we don’t know who they were
- Debrief- Not known but unlikely
- Withdrawal- Not known but unlikely given the procedure/duration
- Protection from harm- children were exposed to aggressive models which could have been upsetting and could have increased their aggression
- Animal studies like Pavlov, Skinner’s rats etc could be harmful and they’d have to make sure they obeyed the rules about caring for animals and having them destroyed….but we do this research on animals because it would be unethical on humans
12
Q
Ethics- Watson & Rayner
A
- Consent (informed)- Watson and Rayner also used children (consent from Mother but not fully informed)
- Deception- No deception involved (they didn’t actively lie)
- Confidentiality- Little Albert was a Pseudonym (we still aren’t 100% who he is)
- Debrief- No, he was removed before this could happen
- Withdrawal- He clearly wanted to withdraw (by crawling away), mother actually withdrew him from the study
- Protection from harm- Albert was clearly upset by the study, this could have been long term damage because he was withdrawn from the study
13
Q
Social control- General
A
- CC- Can be used to make people make associations i.e. media could use it to increase prejudice/propaganda
- CC- Aversion therapy for homosexuality and alcoholism
- OC- rewards and punishments can be applied directly to alter the behaviour of people against their will
- Schools (and prisons and mental health hospitals) can use strategies such as token economy programmes to change the behaviour of pupils in schools which helps society to some extent.
- SLT/Bandura/Becker- Watershed/advertising rules/ age restrictions i.e. banning cigarette adverts
- SLT/Bandura/Becker- altering role models to change desired behaviours
- Bandura work mainly on children in set situations however so might not be as much of an issue
- Systematic desensitisation has been a useful strategy for the use with phobias, for example Capafons et al. (1998) for fear of flying.
- Much of the research on animals might not apply to humans so little chance of social control…however most theories have been shown to apply therefore it is clearly a concern
14
Q
Social control- Watson & Rayner
A
- As Watson and Rayner (1920) found a child could be conditioned to fear various stimuli, this could be used to condition society to buy products / link to advertising
- Advertising or public health messages can be considered a form of classical conditioning through association of a product to positive outcomes
- Aversion therapy is a treatment which uses classical conditioning principles to attempt to socially control/minimise drug use
- Phobias can be treated using systematic desensitisation which is a form of control using relaxation techniques (less than relaxation drugs?)
- People normally opt for these treatments so not socially controlling
- Only one 11 month old male was tested in Watson and Rayner (1920) which is not representative of the general population so any treatments that are developed from this research may not be helpful for a lot of people
- Little Albert’s mother withdrew him from the study so his fear of rats (or other stimuli) cannot be tested to see if it can be extinguished so negative forms of social control could be long lasting
15
Q
Usefullness- General
A
- Classical conditioning has been useful for things like aversion therapy (homosexuality and alcohol addiction)
- However, aversion therapy for homosexuality is extremely unethical and shows issues of social control
- CC can explain where phobias come from
- CC useful for advertising by having people associate two things together i.e. good hair and a happy social life
- However, based on animal research by Pavlov…Watson & Rayner however show it does work on humans
- Learning theories have helped to develop techniques that can shape behaviour in schools. (rewards and punishments)
- Learning theories have created an understanding of phobias and how to treat them using classical conditioning techniques.
- OC has proven useful for ABA with children with autism
- Schools can use strategies such as token economy programmes to change the behaviour of pupils in schools which helps society to some extent….or prisons, or hospitals
- Systematic desensitisation has been a useful strategy for the use with phobias, for example Capafons et al. (1998) for fear of flying.
- SLT is useful for educators increasing positive behaviour from students (praising those following the rules, learning how to structure answers by watching others)
- SLT useful for advertising
- Knowledge of SLT (and Bandura and Becker) useful for regulating what people can see (banning airbrushing, banning cigarette adverts, age restrictions, watershed etc)
- Often relies on Lab settings like Little Albert, Pavlov and Bandura and so low in ecological validity/Mundane realism
