L3 - The Behaviourist Approach - Operant Conditioning & Skinner’s Research Flashcards
1
Q
Operant conditioning
A
- A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped & maintained by consequences
- consequences include punishment, positive & negative reinforcement
2
Q
Positive reinforcement
A
- recieve something positive (reward) when carrying out a behaviour
E.g. sticker for good quality h/w, means we will continue to do the same to get the reward
3
Q
Negative reinforcement
A
- preform a behaviour to avoid something unpleasant & therefore behaviour continues in future
E.g. doing h/w to avoid detention, so always aim to complete h/w
4
Q
Who studied operant conditioning
A
Skinner (1953) using skinner box
5
Q
Punishment
A
- unpleasant consequence caused by certain behaviours
E.g. teacher shouts as you haven’t done h/w
Solution would be to do h/w to avoid shouting (negative reinforcement)
6
Q
Operant conditioning (AO1) - work of skinner
A
- This method of learning focuses on behaviour producing consequences such as punishment, positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement
- skinner researched using pigeons & rats in a ‘skinner box’ - cage with loud speakers, lights, leavers, door & floor which could be electrified
- One hungry rat at a time would be placed in the skinner box and would be allowed to freely run round
- The rat might accidentally press the lever and the rat would be rewarded by a food pellet which would drop into the skinner box (positive reinforcement)
- The rat would continue to press the lever in order to receive a food pellet in the future, and the rat soon learns that pressing the lever leads to a reward
- when attempted with a full rat, didn’t press lever/explore, just fell asleep
- The rat could also learn that by pressing the lever they could avoid something unpleasant
E.g is that by pressing the lever the rat could avoid receiving an electric shock (conducted via the floor). This is an example of negative reinforcement
7
Q
Principles of operant conditioning
A
- Extinction means that when the rat presses the lever but no longer receives a reward (food pellet); the rat soon learns that pressing the lever leads to no rewards. The rat will therefore stop pressing the lever as it has learnt that it leads to no more rewards.
- Spontaneous recovery - Following extinction, if the rat presses the lever and does then suddenly receive a food pellet, the rat will very quickly learn that pressing the lever results in a food pellet.
- The rat will learn this link very quickly and “spontaneously recover” what he had previously learnt
- Schedules of reinforcement: This means that there are different methods of reinforcement that might occur
8
Q
Schedules of reinforcement
A
- Continuous reinforcement - every time the rat presses the lever they will always receive a food pellet
- fixed interval - rat presses lever & only receives a food pellet during a fixed time only e.g. every 30 seconds
- Fixed ratio - The rat must press the lever for a fixed number of times and then it will receive the food pellet
9
Q
Evaluation of operant conditioning
A
strengths
- research evidence
- experimental method
- nurture side
weaknesses
- free will
- ethical issues
- biological approach
10
Q
Research evidence
A
- There is research evidence to support the idea of operant conditioning in the real world
- Token economy is used in institutions such as prisons and hospitals and acts as a form of behaviour modification
- Token economy works by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens which can be exchanged for privileges
- Research conducted by Paul and Lentz used token economy to treat patients who had schizophrenia, and it was found that their behaviour became more appropriate
11
Q
Free will
A
- Skinner’s research involving the Skinner box can be criticised
- Skinner ignores the concept of free will
- He suggests that past experiences involving operant conditioning will affect future behaviour, and people/animals have no control over their actions or the behaviours they show
- This is a deterministic view of behaviour which does not account for free will and the fact that a human/animal has a choice over how they behave.
12
Q
Ethical issues
A
- The Skinner box has been criticised in terms of ethical issues
- Rats and pigeons were often placed in the Skinner box in stressful and aversive conditions which could have a negative effect upon the psychological and physical health of the animals
- There is also the issue about generalising the results gained from rats and pigeons to humans
- Animals are very different to humans, and therefore the results that Skinner gained from his experiments might not be applicable to humans
13
Q
Experimental method
A
- A strength of the research conducted by Skinner using the Skinner box is that he relied on the experimental method
- He used highly controlled conditions to discover the relationship between variables so that he could establish a cause and effect relationship, e.g. pressing the lever causes the rat to learn food will arrive (reward)
14
Q
Nurture
A
- The research by Skinner is on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate
- This would state that learning occurs due to environmental factors and external stimuli rather than due to nature and biology
- Therefore by manipulating factors in the environment this can have an effect on learning and behaviour, and is supported by nurture
15
Q
Biological approach critisises
A
- Operant conditioning is rooted in the behaviourist approach in Psychology and would ignore the biological approach
- The biological approach would argue against the behavioural approach and would state that behaviour cannot be learnt, but instead behaviour is heavily influenced by the role of genes, hormones and biochemical/neural mechanisms
- Therefore other approaches in psychology must also be considered when examining the influences upon behaviour, and operant conditioning/learning cannot explain all behaviours e.g. do people learn how to be aggressive, or could it be caused by genes and hormones? (testosterone)
