Lesson 2: Behaviourist Approach (Classical Conditioning)

Question 1

Classical conditioning

Answer 1

• The behaviourist approach suggests that all behaviour is learnt rather than being innate or inherited from parents.
• Classical conditioning refers to learning through association.
• A stimulus produces the same response as another stimulus because they have been presented consistently at the same time.

Question 2

Pavlov (1927)

Answer 2

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian psychologist; he is credited with discovering the process of classical conditioning. He was investigating the salivating reflex in dogs when he noticed that dogs would not only salivate when food was placed in their mouths, but also when certain stimuli appeared, such as their dog bowl or the person who usually fed them. This led Pavlov to explore how the dogs had learnt that these stimuli meant food was on the way. He decided to see if he could teach the dogs to salivate when he rang a bell.

1. Before Conditioning - Food was an unconditioned stimulus that produced the reflex of salivating, which is an unconditioned response. The bell was a neutral stimulus that produced no conditioned response.
2. During Conditioning - The unconditioned stimulus (food) was repeatedly paired with the neutral stimulus (bell). Eventually the dog associated the bell with food.
3. After Conditioning - The bell was a conditioned stimulus that produced salivating in the dogs as a conditioned response.

Question 3

Positives of classical conditioning

Answer 3

• there is research evidence to support the idea of classical conditioning – the little Albert study by Watson and Rayner
• the behavioural model can easily be tested and measured in a scientific way that helps aid, objectivity and replication
• it has helped the treatment of psychological disorders – flooding and systematic desensitisation

Question 4

Negative of classical conditioning

Answer 4

• classical conditioning is successful in explaining how learning can occur in animals and young children, but not in how adults learn new behaviours
• it can be criticised by the biological approach as it ignores the roles of genes, hormones evolution, and neurotransmitters