L2 - The Behaviourist Approach - Classical Conditioning & Pavlov’s Research

Question 1

Behavioural approach

Answer 1

• a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observed in terms of learning

Question 2

Behavioural approach assumptions

Answer 2

• all behaviours can be learnt - humans and animals can do this via classical & operant conditioning
• all behaviours should be studied scientifically in a lab setting - approach was driving force of psych as a science
• it emerged at the 20th century
• Watson (behaviourist) rejected introspection (Wundt) as it was too vague and difficult to measure
• whereas behaviourism maintains more control & objectivity within research & relies on lab experiments

Question 3

Who studied classical conditioning

Answer 3

Ivan Pavlov (1904)

Question 4

What is classical conditioning

Answer 4

• Learning by association - a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus
• the neutral stimulus will eventually produce the same response that was produced by the unconditioned response alone

Question 5

How does classical conditioning work

Answer 5

• learning method that builds association between two different stimuli
• dogs can be conditions to salivate to the sound of a bell if presented repeatedly at the same time as food
• both would be paired/associated together to cause a learning response so that the dog would learn to associate sound of bell with food and will then salivate
• at the end of the conditioning process the dog will learn to salivate when they hear the sound of the bell (alone)

Question 6

Before classical conditioning

Answer 6

• food (unconditioned stimulus) produces unconditioned response of dog (salivating)
• bell (neutral stimulus) is rung - dog doesn’t salivate (no conditioned response is observed)

Question 7

During classical conditioning

Answer 7

• unconditioned stimulus (food) is repeatedly paired with the neutral stimulus (bell ringing) to produce salivation (unconditioned response)
• this is classical conditioning which shows how learning takes place

Question 8

After classical conditioning

Answer 8

• we can present the bell alone (conditioned stimulus) & the dog will start to salivate (conditioned response)
• learning taken place due to classical conditions & association has been established between bell and salivation

Question 9

Principles of classical conditioning

Answer 9

• generalisation
• discrimination
• extinction

Question 10

Generalisation

Answer 10

• similar stimuli (e.g. doorbell) will cause conditioned response (salivation)

Question 11

Discrimination

Answer 11

• similar stimuli to original conditioned stimulus won’t produce the conditioned response (salivation)
• can be done by withholding the unconditioned stimulus (food)

Question 12

Extinction

Answer 12

• conditioned response (salivation) isn’t produced because of the bell being rung
• occurs when the conditioned stimulus (bell) is presented without the unconditioned stimulus of food

Question 13

Evaluation of classical conditioning

Answer 13

strengths
Easily testable
Can be applied
weaknesses
Doesn’t explain adults
Free will
Biological approach
Deterministic
Criticism
strength/weakness
Research evidence

Question 14

Easily testable

Answer 14

• There is research evidence to support the idea of classical conditioning being able to explain the development of learning and phobias
• comes from Pavlov and his research on dogs, as well as the Little Albert study by Watson and Rayner
• However, we must be cautious when using the research findings from Little Albert because the study was conducted in a laboratory setting and we might find that different results might be gained from a different setting
• Therefore the findings might be quite weak and might lack ecological validity when considering how important and effective classical conditioning actually is

Question 15

Doesn’t explain adults

Answer 15

• Classical conditioning is successful in explaining how learning can occur in animals and young children
• However classical conditioning might not be very strong in explaining how adults learn new behaviours
• Therefore classical conditioning is limited to only explaining learning in young children and animals only

Question 16

Critisism

Answer 16

• psychologist Menzies criticises the behavioural model, especially the idea of classical conditioning
• He studied people that had a phobia of water (hydrophobia), and he found that only 2% of his sample had encountered a negative experience with water (due to classical conditioning & learning)
• so 98% of sample had water phobia but never had a negative experience involving water, means they hadn’t learnt to become frightened of water
• so did these people get their phobia of water if they had not learnt it?
• Other findings include 50% of people who have a dog phobia have never had a bad experience involving a dog, so therefore learning cannot be a factor in causing the development of the phobia

Question 17

Easily tested

Answer 17

• it is a model that can be easily tested and measured in a scientific way by using observations in a laboratory
• The behavioural model relies on observing behaviour that can be directly seen and measured in a highly controlled setting
• This helps aid objectivity and replication

Question 18

Free will

Answer 18

• The behaviourial model can be criticised because it views humans and animals as passive recipients who have machine like responses to stimuli in the environment
• Animals and humans can easily learn new behaviours unquestionably and apparently have little or no conscious thought at all
• This minimises their free will

Question 19

Application of classical conditioning

Answer 19

• A strength of Pavlov’s research is that it has helped apply classical conditioning to treatments of psychological disorders
  E.g. classical conditioning has helped form treatments such as flooding and systematic desensitisation which are based on the components of classical conditioning and association

Question 20

Biological approach critisises

Answer 20

• The behavioural model would be criticised by the biological approach in Psychology
• The behavioural model would ignore the role of genes, hormones, evolution and neural mechanisms that are responsible for behaviour.
• very strong research evidence from a range of psychologists that behaviour is caused and determined by genes, a key example is schizophrenia, whereby genetics have been identified as the main cause of the illness (this has been identified by gene mapping)
• The biological approach would criticise the behavioural approach and state how it is very unlikely that someone could learn to be schizophrenic (via classical conditioning)
• Therefore other models in psychology should also be considered when looking at how behaviours develop

Question 21

Deterministic

Answer 21

• A disadvantage of classical conditioning is that is can be viewed as being deterministic because it ignores the role of free will in people’s behavioural responses
• Classical conditioning anticipates an individual will respond to a conditioned stimulus with no variation, which is not accurate
• People are not passive states and they do have some control over how they might respond to an association between two stimuli
• This can lead to explanations for behaviour that are incomplete and inconsistent.