the behavioral approach

Question 1

what are the main assumptions (4)

Answer 1

humans learn maladaptive behavior from their environment (classical and operant conditioning)

only observable behavior is important- patients history don’t matter

thoughts and feelings are not relevant as there is no conscious activity involved in learning

anything learnt can be unlearnt

Question 2

what is this approach best for

Answer 2

explaining and treating disorders that are to do with external factors such as phobias

Question 3

who came up with classical conditioning and what is it

Answer 3

pavlov (1890s)
learning by association

Question 4

what is an unconditioned stimulus

Answer 4

an innate trigger that creates an unpleasant physical response such as nausea

Question 5

order of classical conditioning (use whiteboard if want)

Answer 5

ns-> no response
ucs e.g food-> ucr e.g saliva
ucs e.g food+ns e.g bell-> ucr
cr e.g bell-> cr e.g saliva

Question 6

describe the neutral stimulus role

Answer 6

elicts no response by itself but combined with unconditioned stimulus you will learn to fear it as you experienced these both at the same time producing an unconditioned response

Question 7

pavlovs dogs experiement procedure steps (6)

Answer 7

The dog is given food as usual (unconditioned stimulus)

The dog salivates when it sees and smells the food (unconditioned response)

A bell (ns) is sounded every time the food is presented (the pairing of neutral and unconditioned stimuli)

After repeated pairings of the dog salivates when it hears the bell the bell has become the conditioned stimulus

The dog salivating to the sound of the bell has become the conditioned response

The dog would continue to salivate to the bell however when Pavlov stopped pairing the bell and the food he found that the conditioned response decreased and gradually disappeared (known as ‘extinction’)

Question 8

what is operant conditioning and who studied it

Answer 8

leaning through consequences - assumes beh will be repeated through positive consequences and may not be repeated through negative consequences
skinner (1898)

Question 9

what is positive reinforcement

Answer 9

performing a behaviour to experience the positive consequences e.g. completing homework in order to gain praise from the teacher

Question 10

what is negative reinforcement

Answer 10

discontinuing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences e.g. completing homework to prevent being given a detention

Question 11

what is the consequence called

Answer 11

a reinforcer

Question 12

steps of skinners experiments procedure (4)

Answer 12

A rat is placed in a specially designed box (known as a ‘Skinner box’) (1 per box)

The box contains a lever which the rat can press
When the rat presses the lever a food pellet (the reward) is dispensed

The rat learns to press the lever via ratios e.g. every 10th press dispenses food or intervals e.g. food is dispensed after every 5 minutes (known as ‘schedules of reinforcement’)

Rats were placed in these boxes consecutively and would learn how to release food by pressing a lever (reward = positive reinforcement)
The rats also learned to avoid the electric shock (punishment) by pressing the lever when the light came on (avoiding punishment = negative reinforcement)

Question 13

evaluation links to issues and debates

Answer 13

Both forms of conditioning (and behaviourism generally) are highly deterministic as they assume that a specific reponse will follow a specific stimulus (CC) or that only behaviours which bring rewards are likely to be repeated (OC). There is little room for free will in conditioning; the assumption is that people are controlled by environmental forces and have little autonomy over their own destiny.

Both forms of conditioning (and behaviourism generally) are reductionist as they do not consider the role of other significant influences on behavior such as genes, personality, culture.

Question 14

what did watson claim and what is another name for this

Answer 14

Everyone is born as a ‘blank slate’- All behaviour is learned from the environment e.g. upbringing, neighborhood, peers, education
TABULA RASA

Question 15

what does it say about studying behaviours (5)

Answer 15

Only observable behaviours can be measured and investigated (which rules out the study of memory, for example)

Using lab-based, scientific methods is the best way to study behaviour

Animal research may be used as a basis for understanding human behaviour

Repeated behaviours become internalised and automatic e.g. hearing the bell ring for the end of lesson triggers packing away and moving to the next lesson without any real thought involved

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning underpin the principles of behaviourism

Question 16

strengths of this approach (2)

Answer 16

Behaviourism takes a nomothetic (studying people in large groups) approach which is a strength as it seeks to establish general laws of behavior which can be applied universally

real life application and helps people to learn to manage their fear and anxiety, and eventually overcome their phobia by gradually exposing the person to the thing that triggers their phobia, in a safe and controlled way

Question 17

who conducted little albert

Answer 17

watson and rayner

Question 17

weaknesses of this approach (2)

Answer 17

The behaviorist approach is overly simplistic, offering a reductionist view of behavior which ignores key factors such as biology- this suggets we arent born on a ‘blank slate’

Skinner’s box
caused considerable physical harm to the rats, breaching the BPS ethical guideline of
protection from harm. Watson and Rayner’s classical conditioning experiments on Little
Albert failed to protect him from psychological harm, as well as not offering him the
opportunity to withdraw. Therefore, much behaviorist research, at least by modern
standards, would be viewed as unethical

Question 18

what happened in the experiment on little albert

Answer 18

conditioned a 9-month-old infant named “Albert” to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise. Albert later showed fear responses to the rat. The experiment demonstrated that classical conditioning works in human beings. He also feared anything white and fluffy
He had been conditioned to associate white rats with fear.

Question 19

who came up with the behaciourist approach

Answer 19

Watson and skinner- 1913