Learning Approach - Behaviourist approach

Question 1

basic assumptions of the behaviourist approach

Answer 1

• At birth, a child is a blank slate (tabula rasa) and human behaviour is learned from the environment via experiences in life.
• Psychologists should therefore investigate how we learn. The behaviourist approach suggests that learning involves an association between a stimulus and a response (S-R). Even complex behaviour can be reduced to simple S-R associations/links. The behaviourist approach proposes different ways of learning. These include classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
• Psychologists should adopt an objective and scientific approach to understand behaviour. Only behaviour that can be observed should be studied. Mental processes within the mind cannot be observed and are not required to explain behaviour. Common research methods used include laboratory experiments.
• Behaviourists assume that the basic processes that influence learning in animals are the same as those in humans, therefore research often involves studying animals and generalising the findings to humans.

Question 2

Classical conditioning

Answer 2

Classical conditioning is learning through association. We are born to respond to some stimuli in particular ways. For example, we have an inborn tendency to respond to a loud noise with fear. The loud noise is known as the unconditioned stimulus and fear is known as the unconditioned response. This stimulus-response link does not have to be learned.

Through our experiences, we learn other stimulus-response links. If an unconditioned stimulus is presented at the same time as a neutral stimulus then the neutral stimulus will eventually produce the same response as that initially produced by unconditioned stimulus. For example, if we experience a loud noise at the same time as seeing a balloon we learn to associate balloons with loud noises and respond to balloons with fear. This is how a phobia might develop.

Question 3

Pavlovs research

Answer 3

Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936) first demonstrated classical conditioning as a way of learning behaviour. He demonstrated that dogs could learn to salivate at the sound of a bell.

• Dogs have a reflex response to produce saliva (unconditioned response) when they see food (unconditioned stimulus). They do not need to learn to do this.
• Pavlov rang a bell (neutral stimulus) each time he gave the dogs food. He did this repeatedly.
• The dogs then began to salivate (conditioned response) just when they heard the bell (conditioned stimulus) even if no food was there.
• They had learned to associate the sound of a bell with food and so responded in the same way to the bell as they automatically did to food.

Question 4

Operant conditioning

Answer 4

Operant conditioning is learning from the consequences of our behaviour. In 1953 B. F. Skinner suggested that we learn certain behaviour because of what happens to us when we produce that behaviour

This process is the same in humans and animals.

Question 5

Positive reinforcement

Answer 5

if we get rewarded for doing something with something we like such as praise, attention, money or chocolate then we are more likely to keep behaving that way.

Question 6

Negative reinforcement

Answer 6

if we do something that means we can avoid something unpleasant happening to us then we are more likely to keep behaving that way.

Question 7

Skinners research

Answer 7

Skinner carried out a lot of research with animals such as rats and pigeons using what became known as the Skinner box and demonstrated the principles of learning through operant conditioning.
The rat would press a lever initially by chance and receive a reward of a food pellet. This positive reinforcement made the rat learn to keep pressing the lever.
In some variations, a light signalled that an electric shock was about to come through the floor. Pressing the lever meant that the rat could turn off the electric current. This negative reinforcement made the rat learn to do this to avoid the painful sensation.

Question 8

Evaluation of the Behaviourist approach, strength

Answer 8

• There is supporting evidence from research studies that support the ideas of the behaviourist approach. Skinner’s research showed that positive and negative reinforcement can bring about the learning of behaviour through operant conditioning. Pavlov’s research showed that classical conditioning does result in learning a new response to a neutral stimulus.
• The behaviourist approach was very influential in establishing psychology as being a scientific subject in comparison to the earlier focus on introspection. By emphasising the use of controlled laboratory settings and making objective measurements of directly observable behaviour it made a valuable contribution to the emergence of psychology as a science.

Question 9

Evaluation of the Behaviourist approach, criticism

Answer 9

• A criticism of the behaviourist approach is that it assumes that people respond in a simplistic and rather mechanical manner based solely upon the experiences they have had. It assumes that humans have little or no conscious awareness or insight into their behaviour. The behaviourist explanations of learning might be more applicable to animal behaviour as other approaches in psychology attribute considerable importance to the role of mental processing in human behaviour
• The behaviourist approach considers that humans have no free will in how they behave. It is a determinist explanation of behaviour that says we do what we do simply because of what we have learned from experiences in our environment or from interactions with other people. Many psychologists think that humans do have the capacity to act freely in response to conscious decisions so think the behaviourist approach is not a good way of explaining behaviour.

Question 10

Evaluation of the Behaviourist approach, practical application

Answer 10

• The approach has many practical applications in that its ideas can be applied in various real-world settings to beneficial effects. For example, the principles of operant conditioning have been used in prisons and psychiatric hospitals in what are called token economies. People gain tokens for producing desired behaviour and then exchange the tokens for treats and privileges. Classical conditioning has generated a therapy for phobias called systematic desensitisation where someone with a phobia learns to associate the object they fear with feeling calm and relaxed.