Learning Theories

Question 1

Classical conditioning X5 AO1

Answer 1

Learning by association
It is the response is a reflex action to the stimulus

Before
UCS = UCR
NS = no response

During
UCS+NS= UCR

After
CS= CR

Question 2

Evidence for classical conditioning and practical issues

Answer 2

Watson and Rayner:
11 month old boy was conditioned by classical conditioning to have a phobia of white rats that was then generalized to all fluffy things. This was done by pairing the white rabbit (NS) with a loud noise (UCS).

However a practical issue with this study is that it was a single participant experiment on a baby, the baby could be more malleable to create a fear in him than the general population so may not be appropriate to use as evidence for classical conditioning.

Pavlov:
Having initially investigated into digestion of dogs and finding that the dogs associated the laboratory technician with food and would start salivating when they herd her.
Pavlov did a second experiment which involved ringing a bell (NS) before food (UCS) was given to the dogs to condition the dog to start salivating when the bell rang (CR). They found that the response could be generalized to similar toned bells. It could also become extinct if it was rung and no food was presented after time. Once the behaviour had been extinguished the ringing of the bell could cause spontaneous recovery

A practical issue is that it is done on dogs therefore it may not be appropriate to generalise to humans who have a different brain structure.

Question 3

Application of classical conditioning (including phobias)

Answer 3

Systematic desensitisation:
Is the gradual reduced anxiety caused by a phobia using classical conditioning. It helps by creating a new response towards the phobia with relaxation rather than anxiety. It is done by creating a anxiety hierarchy then relaxation followed by gradual exposure.

It is supposed by Capafons study which found that SD is highly effective for fear of flying with a 90% success rate.
No evidence of spontaneous recovery.

Question 4

Strengths and shortcomings of classical conditioning

Answer 4

The theory can be considered reductionist e.g. the focus on humans being simple respondants of stimulus which lead to response associations is somewhat limited.

Humans may be more complex and factors between stimulus –response is somewhat ignored.

That said, isolating complex behaviour allowed for research into classical conditioning to be carried out such as Little Albert and this has given scientific credibility to the theory.

The role of individual differences is largely ignored e.g. some people may be more easily manipulated in terms of learning mechanisms.

Question 5

Classical conditioning alternative

Answer 5

Evolution by natural selection as the behaviour may not be due to association but due to evolution for survival.

Question 6

Operarnt conditioning X5 AO1

Answer 6

Learning by consequence

where a new behaviour is created or an existing behaviour removed as a result of selective use of rewards
and punishments. Behaviour is shaped by successive reinforcements until the animal/human is doing precisely what is
wanted.

Positive reinforcement to increase behaviour something good is given (rewards, food)

Negative reinforcement to increase behaviour something bad is taken away and so positive behavior increases. (electric shock)

These reinforcemens can be continuos but run the risk of reinforcement satisfaction. Or partial reinforcement (fixed intervals, variable intervals, fixed ratio, variable ratio)

Negative Punishment to decrease behaviour something bad is given (smack, detention)

Positive punishment to decrease behaviour something good is taken away (Xbox)

Question 7

Operarnt conditioning evidence

Answer 7

Skinner

Rats and pigeons were placed in the “Skinner’s box” and where they learned to do certain behaviours such as press a leaver.

Skinner found that the behaviour could be taught by 
positive reinforcement (rat pressed lever and got food pelet). 
Negative reinforcement (electric shock intill lever pressed) 
Possitive punishment (rat pressing lever get shock)
Negative punishment (rat pressed lever and food pelet no longer given) 

Skinner also found that in partial reinforcement
Fixed interval there was a dramatic drop in response after reinforcement which then increased near the time the reinforcement was going to get offered.
Variable intervals gave a reasonably steady behaviour
Fixed ratio caused extinction very quickly
Variable ratio worked well

Practical issue with Skinner is that due to it being done on animals such as rats it may not be appropriate to generalise for the wider population due to differences in brain size and structure.

Question 8

Operant conditioning application

Answer 8

Used in school and education setting to help encourage good behaviour by using a points system, where children are rewarded with stickers when they show the desired behaviour. (Positive reinforcement)

Question 9

Strengths and weaknesses of operant conditioning

Answer 9

Reductionist to assume everyone responds to consequence and that behaviour is environmentally determined.

That said, the theory rests on scientific methodology there for the impact of consequence on learning is measured objectively.

individual differences are largely ignored e.g. some people may learn more easily through consequences whilst others may not. Some individuals are intrinsically motivated
and therefore respond less to consequences such as reward.

Question 10

Operant conditioning alternative

Answer 10

Biological

Some behaviours may be biologically driven e.g. behaviours such as phobias are not learnt through consequence but through evolution.

Question 11

Social learning theories 5x AO1

Answer 11

Learning by observation (thinking is indualistic unlike OC &CC)

We learn from people we look up to and identify with. The individual observes a behaviour being performed by a model (another person) and notes the consequences of their actions.
The observer then imitates or models (copies) the behaviour that they have seen (the likelihood of the behaviour observed being imitated depends on the consequences of the activity for the model.)
If the model was rewarded for their actions, then the likelihood of imitation is increased. Whereas, if they are punished for a behaviour then reproduction is unlikely.

• Attention
• Retention
• Motivation
• Reproduce

the perceived relationship between the model and the observer will increase imitation e.g. If the model is the same gender, age, is powerful or has a high status position.

Observers are more likely to imitate a model if they have relatively low self-esteem and high dependency on
those around them which is why SLT is a more powerful explanation for children’s behaviour.

Question 12

Evidence for social learning theories

Answer 12

Bandra:
3 Experiments

1) same sex model compared to a model of the opposite sex.
He found that children in control showed less aggression than those with a model. Male model was copied more.

2) aggressive Vs non violent model by a human model, filmed human model and cartoon model.
Found that the aggressive groups differed significantly from the control. However there is not much difference between real and filmed modeled.

3) vicarious reinforcement through a model being punished for physical and verbal aggression. Found that rewards lead to more imitation of aggressive behaviour in boys and girls.

All supports SLT

Practical issue as it only contained child participants so not appropriate to generalise to adults due to their malleablity.

Question 13

Application of social learning theories

Answer 13

Disproves Frueds concept on how watching violence makes you less violent.
And gives understanding of gender development and gender roles in society.

Question 14

Strengths and weaknesses of social learning theories

Answer 14

Reductionist to assume that everyone will learn through observation and imitation.
That said, the theory rests on scientific methodology therefore the impact of consequence on learning is measured objectively.

individual differences are largely ignored e.g. some people may learn more easily through imitation whilst others may demonstrate the free will to have autonomy in their
behaviour.

Question 15

Alternative to social learning theories

Answer 15

Evolution by natural selection

Some behaviours may be biologically driven e.g. behaviours such as phobias are not learnt through consequence but through evolution.

The theory is also limited because it can not explain how novel behaviours arise without imitation.

Question 16

How does classical conditioning explain phobias

Answer 16

Classical conditioning an association with an existing UCS is needed e.g. pain is a natural response to a naturally occurring stimulus e.g. being bitten.

Pain (UCS) = Anxiety (UCR)
Pain (UCS) + Dog (NS) =Anxiety (UCR)
Dog (CS) =Anxiety (CR)

If that anxiety response generalises from that particular dog to all dogs, then the result would be that the
person became anxious every time they saw a dog. In other words, they would have developed a phobia.

Question 17

Evidence of classical conditioning explaining phobias

Answer 17

Watson and Raynor
demonstrated that a baby can develop a phobia when a (NS) is paired with something that causes a (UCR)
which leads to a phobia of the (CS)
This provides credibility to the fact that phobias are actually learnt.

practical issues with the use of one child. Therefore, it may be that it may be more difficult for adults to develop a phobia through association.

Pavlov
Showed how dogs would start salivating (UCR) to the footsteps or presences of the lab technician or with a bell which they associated food with. (CR). Therefore phobias could also be learnt through association of a NS and UCR.

A practical issue with this is that it only uses dogs and therefore cannot be generalised to human adults.

Question 18

Application of classical conditioning (Phobias)

Answer 18

Treatment of phobias such as systematic desensitisation

Question 19

Strengths and weaknesses of classical conditioning as an explanation of phobias

Answer 19

The theory can be considered reductionist as it explains phobias in terms of nurture and ignores nature.

It also ignores individual differences, not all individuals will learn through association and may have more free
will in staving off a phobia. This may occur because they have an internal locus of control.

That said, it may be seen as a more positive theory than operant conditioning in explaining phobias e.g. it can explain how phobias are in fact acquired rather than simply maintained.

It can also explain novel phobias better than social learning theory because it can explain how we can associate fear with any stimuli presented to us.

Question 20

Classical conditioning alternative explanation of phobias

Answer 20

Evolution by natural selection

Some phobias may not be learnt e.g. There may be evolved mechanisms involved in the generation of
phobias e.g. people have consistent phobias across the world e.g. snakes, rats and spiders which has an
evolutionary advantage

Question 21

Operant conditioning as an explanation of phobias

Answer 21

form of learning in which behaviour is repeated if it is rewarded.

Whilst CC is important for explaining how phobias are acquired OC is important in explaining how they are
maintained.
Reduction of anxiety reinforces the avoidance behaviour which increases the likelihood of doing it again, and as such, the cycle continues.

This acts as a (negative) reinforcer e.g. so the more the person avoids lifts and uses the stairs the more all lifts
are avoided in the future.

Other people may well give you attention in response to a phobic stimulus and this can act as positive reinforcement and keeps the behaviour going.

Question 22

Operant conditioning evidence as an explanation of phobias

Answer 22

skinner
demonstrated that behaviour could be learnt through consequence. This provides credibility to the idea that phobias can in fact be learnt.

That said, much of the research was carried out on animals and therefore humans may have complex cognition
e.g. they may for example have more freewill in not acquiring behaviour as a result of consequence. Therefore there could be other cognitive processes involved in the development of phobias.

Question 23

Operant conditioning application in regards to phobias

Answer 23

Especially in education setting the use of token economy as a method to modify phobic responses to stimui using primary and secondary reinforcers such as stickers

Question 24

Strengths and weaknesses of using operant conditioning to explain phobias

Answer 24

The explanation of phobias in this way is limited as it looks at how phobias are maintained.
Unlike classical conditioning it does not explain how phobias are learnt in the first place.

That said, it is better than social learning theory at explaining the maintenance of novel phobias that cannot be imitated.

Question 25

Operant conditioning alternative explanation as an explanation of phobias

Answer 25

Evolution by natural selection

Some phobias may not be learnt e.g. There may be evolved mechanisms involved in the generation of
phobias.

people have consistent phobias across the world e.g. snakes, rats and spiders which has an evolutionary advantage.

Question 26

Social learning theories as an explanation of phobias

Answer 26

Learning occurs from observing others in particular the consequences of behaviour such as Arachnophobia

Observation: Sally watches her an older brother, Jack, respond to finding a spider in his bed. Jack runs out of
the bedroom and screams in fear. This leads to a mental representation of the fear

Vicarious reinforcement: the parents then try to make the older sibling feel better by comforting him.

Imitation: sometime later Sally finds a spider in her bed. She repeats the behaviour witnessed earlier, screams,
shouts and shakes.

Reinforcement: Sally’s parents provide comfort – although rewarding to get her parent’s attention it also
reinforces the fear.

Question 27

Social learning theories evidence as an explanation of phobias

Answer 27

There is evidence to support the acquisition of behaviour through imitation e.g. Bandura found that behaviour can be modeled as long as the person watching the model has attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.

This gives credibility to the notion that behaviours can be acquired through imitation and modelling a role model.

However, the Bandura study may well not apply directly in a real life situation such as phobia generation because
the study was conducted in a very contrived setting, other factors may lead to phobia generation and therefore, Bandura may not be a valid representation of a phobia generation.

Question 28

Application of social learning theories when explaining phobias

Answer 28

Modelling positive behaviour in relation to a phobic stimulus e.g. if a person observes positive behaviour in relation to a phobic stimulus then the phobia may diminish.

Question 29

Strengths and weaknesses of using social learning theories as an explanation of phobias

Answer 29

The theory is somewhat reductionist as it suggests that phobias are learnt and is environmentally determined.

The theory cannot explain why some phobias are consistent across the world. This may be a result of evolution

However, it can be said to be better than operant conditioning as an explanation of phobias because it shows how phobias are acquired rather than just supporting the maintenance of the phobias.

That said, it is difficult to explain how novel behaviours are imitated when they have not been seen e.g. it is not
common to see and imitate a phobia of buttons and so the theory can be limited in explaining phobias

Question 30

Alternative explanation of social learning theories as an explanation of a phobia

Answer 30

Evolution by natural selection

Some phobias may not be learnt e.g. There may be evolved mechanisms involved in the generation of
phobias e.g. people have consistent phobias across the world e.g. snakes, rats and spiders which has an
evolutionary advantage.

Question 31

Evaluation of systematic desensitisation as a method to treat phobias (APEE)

Answer 31

A=
This therapy may only be appropriate for those phobias that are learnt and not evolved and so therefore new
healthy associations cannot be made.
That said, it can be appropriate for specific phobias that have been learnt e.g. a fear of flying.

P=
The therapy can be considered as practical e.g. it gives a clear rationale so the client can use it in their own
setting and therefore the healthy associations are more likely to be maintained.
That said, relaxation may only occur in the setting where the therapy is present and therefore may well not
be practical. It may not be a valid treatment outside the therapy setting.

E=
The therapy is considered as more ethical than flooding, as it does not confront the phobic stimulus straight
away.
That said, focusing on a phobia during systematic desensitisation may be cause psychological harm. However,
the benefits of the treatment may well outweigh the costs.

E=
The therapy is supported by research evidence showing its effectiveness e.g. Capafons found that
Therefore showing that systematic desensitisation is a valid treatment method.
That said, it may only be effective for phobias that are in fact tangible such as fear of flying.

Question 32

Flooding as a treatment of phobias

Answer 32

Flooding is also based on the idea that what is learnt via association can be unlearnt but is an example of
exposure therapy.
The idea is that fear response or association is replaced with a healthy response.
It is based on biological mechanisms, in that it suggests that we can only experience fear for a certain amount
of time whilst we are in flight mode and this will in time subdue.

So the person will be exposed to their fear stimulus straight away and then begin to calm and then create a
calm association to the stimulus.

Question 33

Evaluation of Flooding as a treatment of phobias

Answer 33

A= It can be used for a range of phobic stimulus, including those with complex origins such as PTSD as the
associations with noise etc. that leads to a phobic response can be targeted.
That said, the phobic stimulus like systematic desensitisation still needs to be tangible in order for the
association to be broken.

P =
The treatment may not be as practical as systematic desensitisation because it could lead to spontaneous
recovery when back in a normal environment. Flooding does not provide relaxation strategies which can be used outside the therapy setting.

E=
In contrast to systematic desensitisation it may be seen as more unethical as people are put into a state of
alarm and are not therefore protected from harm. That said, the benefits of the therapy may outweigh the costs for the client.

E=
There is research to support the notion that flooding is an effective tool for combating phobias e.g. Mott
found that when treating PTSD , focusing on the trauma may be harmful, however, in 20 veterans 85% had a reduction in their fear symptoms.
However, it may not be therapy itself, but hearing other veterans may provide a normalising effect so it does not measure the effectiveness of flooding itself effectively.

That said, Willis and Edwards (1959) tested female participants who showed a fear of mice and it was found that systematic desensitisation was effective but flooding had the same impact as having no therapy at all.

Question 34

6 types of observations

Answer 34

naturalistic

structured

participant

non-participant

covert

overt

Question 35

naturalistic observation AO1 and strengths and weaknesses

Answer 35

Naturalistic observations:
in a natural or unstructured way where the researcher does not control any variables and it takes place in a natural environment.

S= as its in a naturalistic setting it has mundain realism as because of this any conclusions made can be generalised.

W= it has high chance of behaviour being due to demand characteristics, as well as this cause and effect can not be established.

Question 36

structured observations plus strengths and weaknesses

Answer 36

structured observations:
may involve a one way mirror to observe a behaviour that may not be often seen in a natural setting.
e.g. BANDURA

S= ability to see behaviour not often observable and have the ability to record or have multiple researchers to agree on the behaviour being shown therefore giving higher internal reliability. as well as cause and effect being established

W= as the observations take place in an artificial setting therefore it lacks mundane realism.

Question 37

participant observations plus strengths and weaknesses

Answer 37

the observer becomes part of the situation which is being studied. this may be carried out without the participants knowledge (covert) or because the researcher is part of the group being studied.

S= oberver can more effectivly recall infomation and pick up on the detail of the study giving a more holistic view.

W= they may forget spesific details as they cant be reported immediatly, therefore some behaviours could be missed and casuse and effect cant be established.

Question 38

non participant observations plus strengths and weaknesses

Answer 38

the observer is independent of the situation being studied and is not involved with the participant or the behavior being studied.

S= can record everything that happens and therefore a more in depth view of the behaviour can be studied. Also has less researcher bias.

W= they may not be a thorough writing everything down as they are not emotionally invested in the outcome of the study or connected to the scene.

Question 39

covert observations plus strengths and weakness

Answer 39

the participants do not know that an observation is taking place for example if children is a class room were being observed only the teacher may know.

S= no demand characteristics from participants as well as the fact that answers are more likely to be honest (however could still be down to social desirability)

W= you can not immediately write down findings so key details could be missed. There is also ethical issues with deception.

Question 40

overt observations plus strengths and weakness

Answer 40

the participant knows they are being studied and observed as well as the researchers having been identified.

S= no deception issues and full right to withdraw. it may also give the participant more confident knowing who is incharge.

W= results can be due to demand characteristics and social desirability so are not valid.

Question 41

content analysis

Answer 41

collects qualitative data from other texts or tallies ect.

data is collected on the number of times a specific category is present in the content of the material being studied.

S= easy and quick

W= very open to researcher bias

Question 42

Animal research

Answer 42

SKINNER, PAVLOV

Government Animals act (1986) and the BPS guidelines
Replace,
Refinement
Reduction

as well as confinement, restraint stress and harm as useful measures.

S= allows for research to be done that may not be ethical to do on humans such as removing parts of brain to see effect and work on treatments.
you can also control their environment so cause and effect may not be effective

W= can be expensive with caring for animals especially over time while animals develop
it is harder to gain there level of pain and distress compared to humans.

Question 43

Watson and Rayner GRAVE

Answer 43

Phobia could be acquired through classical conditioning, on an 11 month old boy.

G=
Low generalisability as it is only has one participant and it is a baby that may be more maluable
R=
Low reliability as it can’t be replicated on the little boy as his mum removed him from the study, it also can’t be redone today due to the ethical guidelines that have since been put in place
A=
It could lead to a treatment of phobias through systematic desensitisation, as it is based on classical conditioning which can explain how they are developed.
V=
It is a controlled laboratory experiment with high levels of control
E=
Albert could not consent, he didn’t personally have the right to withdraw (although consent was given to his mum and he was withdrawn from the study)
A pseudonym was used. He was allowed to play breaks.

Question 44

Capafons GRAVE

Answer 44

Study of systematic desensitisation of flying

G=
The participants were volunteers who had a fear of flying. This means that the use on other phobias may not be as positive.
The self selecting nature of the sample could compromise the study as the participants may respond to demand characteristics.
That said, the researchers were focussed on whether the treatment could be used on a fear of
flying and so could be applied to the target population.

R=
There were a number of controls e.g. the matching of participants for those in the treatment and control group. Therefore, they could replicate the study to see the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation across other studies.
measures of self report could be inconsistent in terms of how the participants answered the questions. More than one measure was used for the phobia and its reduction e.g. so therefore this data could be triangulated to see consistency between measures.

A=
Provides more evidence for the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation. It also supports the
notion that can break phobic associations that were acquired through classical conditionining.

V=
External:
high controls. This means that the they had measures to ensure that it was the treatment that led to the
reduction in fear. Therefore cause and effect could be established.
However, there coud be individual differences that compromise the positive findings of the
study therefore, the findings may not be valid for all participants.
internal validity:
weakness due to the use of rating scales and how individuals understood the rating scales. This means that there could be some subjectivity in terms of the findings.

E=
It could be argued that focussing on a phobia could cause distress.
That said, the participants were volunteers who were on a waiting list.

Question 45

Animal study GRAVE

Answer 45

Pavlov,
Learning by association (CC)

G =
Issue that dogs were used because they have similar salivation responses as humans. Pavlov suggested that this salivation response meant that it was justifiable to use dogs in this way.
Humans have different cognitive processing and therefore it
may be difficult to generalise the findings of animal’s research on conditioning to humans.
Humans may not respond in a stimulus –response fashion as they may have more freewill than humans.

R =
The study used a consistent procedure e.g. the timings of the food and the metronome. This allowed for
Pavlov to test to test re test retest reliability as he did continually find that conditioned stimulus would lead to the conditioned response time and time again.

A=
Whilst the use of animals is questionable. It could be argued that Pavlov’s findings have led to useful
treatments such as systematic desensitisation. Therefore demonstrating some credibility to Pavlov’s research its
application to human conditioning.

V= The study could be said to have issues with validity e.g. the situation was not particularly natural for the dogs as they were in a chamber with no other stimuli present. This suggests that the study lacks ecological validity.
strong internal validity as the experiments were controlled which ment that Pavlov could establish cause and effect using objective and credible methods. He could, could therefore infer that the conditional stimulus led to the conditioned response.

E=
The costs and benefits of this research is a sources of controversy. E.g.Bateson
The usefulness of findings in terms of Pavlov’s research in terms of it leading to successful treatments may
actually be greater than the cost to the animal.
That said, it could be argued the accommodation of chambers and isolation of the dogs may well not be justified

Question 46

Observational research study GRAVE

Answer 46

Bandra
Learning by Attention, Retention, Replication and Motivation

G =
The study used children at an easy age of influence e.g. 3-6 yrs. Therefore, the study can be applied to children of the same age as the target population.
However, it cannot be known if an adult would be as easy to influence in each of the three studies due to children being more maluable.
The children all came from the same nursery school through opportunity sampling. Therefore, the rate of
influence of role models in children in nursery may be different to those who are not.
It may also be that children in the U.S. culture may/ may not be easier to influence than those in non-western
cultures and therefore the findings are somewhat ethnocentric.

R=
Bandura’s research has strong controls. Therefore, the setting for participant was the same ensuring internal reliability
However, this persistent focus on ensuring reliability could compromise the data as other novel behaviours
outside the categories may be ignored and therefore may be reductionist.
That said, the inter-rater reliability of the study was strong and at all times.

A=
The watershed e.g not allowing violent content on the T.V. in the U.K.

V =
It can be said that the setting has some validity e.g. the nursery was realistic as it was set up like real nursery rooms and therefore the children would be similar to an everyday setting. That said, the act of watching an adult punching a bobo doll may not be valid.
However, the internal validity of the study was strong because it was highly controlled e.g. care was taken to get
the children in a similar emotional state. This means that cause and effect conclusions could be drawn from the study.

E =
The study can be criticized on ethical grounds as it could be argued that the children could be forced to watch aggression. Therefore, they may not have been protected from harm. That said, the scientific knowledge gained from the study may well be greater than the costs to the children

Question 47

Systematic desensitisation A01

Answer 47

Systematic desensitization begins with a client and therapist undertaking a functional analysis where the triggers of the phobia and discussed for any intervention takes place.

The therapist will teach the client relaxation techniques such as breathing skills muscle relaxation and calming the heart rate.

The client and therapist would construct a fear hierarchy that ranks the fear stimuli from least fearful to most fearful.

Therapist will gradually expose the client to each level of the hierarchy where the client will use the relaxation techniques when presented with the fearful stimulus