Section 5 : The Approaches In Psychology - Behaviourism Flashcards

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1
Q

What is behaviourism also known as

A

Learning theory

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2
Q

Where did behaviourism start

A

In America

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3
Q

When did behaviourism start

A

Early 1900s

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4
Q

Behaviourism started through the ideas of who

A

John Watson

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5
Q

What did Watson feel about the origins of psychology

A

He felt that earlier psychological research wasn’t as scientific as it should be

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6
Q

what are the three assumptions of behvaviourism

A
  • nearly all behaviour is learnt
  • animals and humans learn in the same way
  • the mind is ‘irrelevant’
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7
Q

what is meant by the assumption ‘nearly all behaviour is learnt’

A

that learning ,and not genetics, is the cause of the majority of behaviours

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8
Q

what is meant by the assumption ‘animals and humans learn in the same ways’

A

humans can do much more complex things than animals but the principles by which we learn is the same

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9
Q

what is meant by the assumption ‘the mind is irrelevant’

A

we cannot observe and measure someone’s thinking so behaviourists obtain measurable data by studying behvaiour

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10
Q

what did the behaviourists propose

A

two types of conditioning

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11
Q

what are the two types of conditioning

A

classical
operant

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12
Q

what was Ivan Pavlov’s research about

A

studied how dogs salivation helped them digest food

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13
Q

what did Pavlov notice about what the dogs would do

A

he noticed they would salivate before they got food

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14
Q

what did pavlov realise because the dogs salivated before they got food

A

he realised that the dogs had associated food with another stimulus

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15
Q

what was the method of Pavlov’s experiment

A

-whenever he would give the dogs some food he would also ring a bell
-after repeating several times Pavlov then tried to ring the bell without giving the dogs food

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16
Q

what was the result of Pavlovs experiment

A

the bell alone caused salivation

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17
Q

what is the conclusions we can make about Pavlovs experiement

A

when dogs see food they salivate - this is an automatic unlearned response - a refelx

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18
Q

what is a reflex

A

an automatic unlearned response

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19
Q

what is a UCS

A

unconditioned stimulus

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20
Q

what is a UCR

A

unconditioned response

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21
Q

in pavlovs experiment what was the UCS and UCR

A

UCS - the food
UCR - salivation

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22
Q

what is a CS

A

a conditioned stimulus

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23
Q

in Pavlov’s experiment what was the CS

A

the bell

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24
Q

what is a CR

A

a conditioned response

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25
Q

what had become the CR in Pavlov’s experiment

A

the salivation

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26
Q

what are the five principles when dealing with classic conditioning

A

generalisation
discrimination
extinction
spontaneous recovery
higher order conditioning

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27
Q

what does generalisation mean

A

when stimuli similar to the original CS produce the CR

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28
Q

what does discrimination mean

A

when stimuli similar to the original CS don’t produce the CR. can be achieved by withholding the UCS when the similar stimulus is used

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29
Q

what does extinction mean

A

when the CR isn’t produced as a result of the CS. this happens when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS following it

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30
Q

what does spontaneous recovery mean

A

when a previous extinct CR is produced in response to the CS. this happens when the CS is presented again after a period of time during which it has not be used

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31
Q

what does higher order conditioning mean

A

when a new CS produces the CR because the animal associates it with the original CS. this can be achieved by consistently presenting the new CS before the original CS

32
Q

what does classical conditioning apply to

A

reflexive responses

33
Q

who studied how animals can learn from the consequences of their actions

A

B.F. Skinner

34
Q

what can the consequences of B.F. Skinners study be classified as

A

positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement

35
Q

what is positive reinforcement

A

when something desirable is obtained in response to doing something

36
Q

what is negative reinforcement

A

when something undesirable is removed when something happens

37
Q

what was the method of Skinner 1938

A
  • Skinner created a Skinner box
    -placed one rat at a time in the skinner box
    -each box contained a variety of different stimuli
    -hungry rat was placed in skinner box
    -the time taken for the rats to learn that pressing the lever would release the food was recorded
38
Q

what were the stimuli used in skinner 1938

A

-a speaker
-lights
-floor which gave electric shock
-food dispenser which released food when lever was pressed

39
Q

what were the results of skinner 1938

A

-Initially the rat would run around the cage until it accidentally pressed the lever and it was rewarded with food
-the more the rat was put back in the box the quicker they got at learning where the lever was

40
Q

what was the conclusion of skinner 1938

A

-rats can learn behaviour through operant conditioning
-behaviour such as pressing a lever can be positively reinforced by receiving food

41
Q

give the evaluations of skinner 1938

A

-hugely influential on idea of behavioural psychology
-experiment used animals meaning results might not be generalisable to humans
-sample size was also small reducing reliability of his results

42
Q

what are the weaknesses of conditioning

A

-cant explain all human behaviour
-most conditioning research has involved animals meaning results cant be generalised
-different species have different capacities for learning by conditioning
-genetics seem to influence and limit what different species can learn by conditioning
-experiments on animals can be seen as unethical

43
Q

who conducted the ‘little albert’ study

A

Watson and Rayner

44
Q

when was watson and rayner

A

1920

45
Q

what was the method of little albert

A

-participant 11 month old baby
-showed no fear of white fluffy objects
-researchers tried to create a conditioned response to these objects
-a white rat was placed in front of little albert
-as he reached out for it, a metal bar was struck loudly behind his head

46
Q

what were the results of little albert

A

-when little albert was shown a rat he would start to cry
-this extended to other white fluffy objects such as white Santa Claus beard

47
Q

what was the conclusion of little albert

A

a fear response to white fluffy objects had been conditioned in little albert showing that abnormal behaviour can be learned

48
Q

give the evaluations of little albert

A

-very unethical
-not everyone goes onto develop a fear or phobia after a negative situation
-lab study so lacks ecological validity
-supports pavlovs idea of classicla conditioning

49
Q

why have behaviourists been criticised

A

because there is research which shows things like:
-our genes can influence our behaviour
-w can learn in ways other than conditioning
-mental, cognitive process are relevant to understanding behaviour

50
Q

what theory expands on behaviourists theories

A

social learning theory

51
Q

who developed the social learning theory

A

Bandura

52
Q

what does the social learning theory state/suggest

A

-it agrees with the idea that people can learn by conditioning but also claims that people learn a lot from role models
-some cognitive

53
Q

The social learning theory proposes that several process take place for learning to happen what are they

A

Modelling
Reinforcement
Vicarious Reinforcement

54
Q

What is modelling

A

This involves observing and imitating another person. It requires identification with the model. If you identify with the model you can copy and learn from their behaviour

55
Q

What is meant by identification in modelling

A

Where certain attractive qualities and characteristics are picked up on

56
Q

What is meant by reinforcement

A

Positive and negative reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to happen again in the future

57
Q

What is vicarious reinforcement

A

Seeing others being rewarded for a behaviour influences someone in whether they choose to imitate the behaviour

58
Q

The SLT is also mediated through cognitive processes what are they

A

Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation

59
Q

What is meant the cognitive process: attention

A

To learn a behaviour you have to pay attention - once you notice your role model you have to give your full attention to their behaviour

60
Q

What is meant the cognitive process: Retention

A

You need to be able to remember what you observed to be able to model it

61
Q

What is meant the cognitive process: reproduction

A

You judge whether you have the ability to reproduce behaviour - if you think you can you’re far more likely to do it

62
Q

What is meant the cognitive process: motivation

A

You evaluate the direct or indirect results of imitating the behaviour

63
Q

The social learning theory is….

A

Reductionist

64
Q

What does it mean for the SLT to be reductionist

A

It explains things through a very basic cause and effect mechanism. It ignores any biological explanation

65
Q

Who studied migration of aggression

A

Bandura

66
Q

What was the method Bandura used

A

-36 girls and boys with a mean age if 52mnths
-matched participants design
-three conditions
- children’s behaviour was then observed for 20mins in a room containing aggressive toys and non aggressive toys

67
Q

What was the first condition in Bandura 1961

A

Children observed aggressive adult models playing with a bobo doll E.g. hitting doll with mallet

68
Q

What was the second condition of Bandura 1961

A

The children observed non aggressive models playing with other toys and ignoring the bobo doll

69
Q

What was the third condition of Bandura 1961

A

It was a control condition in which children had no exposure to the models

70
Q

What was the results of Bandura 1961

A

-Children exposed to aggressive behaviour models imitated a lot of aggressive behaviour
-Children in the non aggressive and control conditions showed barely any aggressive behaviour
-Aggressive behaviour was slightly higher in the control condition than in the non aggressive condition

71
Q

What is the conclusion of Bandur 1961

A

Aggressive behaviour is learned through imitation of others behaving aggressively

72
Q

Give the evaluations of Bandura 1961

A

-Study provide evidence for social learning theory
-Strict control of variable - reliable results and can be replicated
-Low ecological validity
-Difficult to generalise - limited sample was studied
-Potential ethical problem - encouraged aggressive behaviour

73
Q

What did bandura’s study show

A

That reinforcement isn’t needed for learning, we can learn by observing

74
Q

What could be said about Bandura 1961

A

Bobo dolls are made for aggressive play, as well as this children were shown how play with the doll so this study may actually be a test of obedience

75
Q

What is difficult to conclude about Bandura 1961

A

Difficult to conclude that observational learning has taken place. Sometimes behaviours can be repeated a long time after they’ve been observed