Learning Approach: The Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What do behaviourists focus on?
observable behaviour, rather than unobservable thoughts or emotions
They believe all behaviour is learned
What principles do behaviourists follow?
Darwinian principles of innate instincts- as shared by all species, so free to generalise from animal experiences to human
What kind of research do behaviourists conduct?
Laboratory-based experiments with a high degree of control- objective measurements
What are the two theories of behaviourists?
Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning
Explain the concept of classical conditioning including Pavlov’s research.
Learning through association
US - UCR
NS - NR
NS + UCS - UCR
CS - CR
e.g Pavlov’s dog (food and bell)
Explaing the concept of operant conditioning including Skinner’s research
Learning through consequence
Skinner’s boxes:
Rats activated a lever and were rewarded with food pellet. Also used an unpleasan stimulus to show how a shock encourages the rat to perform a certain behaviour
What is meant by positive reinforcement?
receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
What is meant by negative reinforcement?
When an animal/human avoids something unpleasant
What is meant by the term punishment?
An unpleasant consequence of behaviour
Supporting evidence of the behaviourist approach (+)
All supporting evidence (i.e Pavlov and Skinner’s research) was conducted in highly-controlled laboratory settings
This removed all extraneous variables
Therefore the research has validity
Cricisms of the supporting evidence (-)
Skinner’s research involved using rats
Rats don’t have the same cognitive complexity as humans and so cant generalise
This is therefore less valid
How can this approach be applied to the real world?
Operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used in institutions such as prisons and psych wards
Benefits to society morally and economically
Is this theory reductionistic?
Yes
Human experience is more complex than just observable behaviour
It is oversimplistic to not take into account the thoughts and emotions
