The Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What was the behaviourist attitude towards introspection?
rejected the vagueness of introspection, focusing instead on observable events, i.e. stimuli and responses and the conditions under which learning would be most likely to occur.
How did behaviourist believe human behaviour could be explained?
through the basic form of learning known as conditioning
What is conditioning?
the formation of learned associations between stimulii in the environment and an organism’s responses
Give an example of a natural reflex?
salivation
Who is credited for discovering the process of classical conditioning?
Pavlov
How did Pavlov discover the process of classical conditioning?
whilst he was investigating the salivary reflex in dogs he noticed that the animals not only salivated when food was placed in their mouths, but also reacted to stimuli that coincided with the presentation of food, such as the presence of a food bowl or the person who fed them.
This led him to then explore the conditions under which this type of learning was most likely to occur
What is the natural stimulus in any reflex referred to?
the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
What is the natural response to the natural stimulus called?
the unconditioned response (UCR)
Outline Pavlov’s experiment
- The dog would be strapped in a harness with an apparatus that allowed precise measurement of the amount of saliva it produced.
- A bell would be rung and the amount of saliva measured.
- Food would be presented and the amount of saliva measured.
- Then the bell and food would be presented at the same time and the amount of saliva measured.
- This would be repeated a set number of times, then the bell would be rung without presentation of the food, and the amount of saliva would be measured to test the strength of the conditioned response that had been learned.
What is the neutral stimulus?
An event that does not produce a response
What is the unconditioned stimulus?
An event that produces an innate, unlearned reflex response
What is the conditioned stimulus?
An event that produces a learned response
What is the unconditioned response?
An innate, unlearned reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to an unconditioned stimulus
What is the conditioned response?
A learned physical reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to a conditioned stimulus
In Pavlov’s experiment, what was the neutral stimulus?
the bell
In Pavlov’s experiment, what was the unconditioned stimulus?
the food
In Pavlov’s experiment, what was the unconditioned response?
the salivating
What factors affect classical conditioning?
- timing
- extinction
- spontaneous recovery
- stimulus generalisation
How does timing affect classical conditioning?
if the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS (e.g. if it occurs after the UCS or the time interval between the two is too great), then conditioning does not take place
How does extinction affect classical conditioning?
Pavlov discovered that unlike the UCR, the CR does not become permanently established as a response. After a few presentations of the CS in the absence of the UCS, it loses its ability to produce the CR
How does spontaneous recovery affect classical conditioning?
following extinction, if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again, the link between them is made much more quickly
How does stimulus generalisation affect classical conditioning?
Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned, they will also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the CS
Who is credited for discovering the process of operant conditioning?
Skinner
What is Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning?
learning through reinforcement or punishment. If a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence then that behaviour is more likely to occur again in the future
What influences whether or not an organism repeats a particular behaviour?
depends on whether the consequences are reinforced
Why did Skinner develop the ‘Skinner box’?
to investigate operant conditioning in rats
What happened in Skinner’s box?
- the rat moves ariounf the cage, and when it accidentally presses the lever, a food pellet (the reinforcer) falls into the cage
- in no time at all the hungry rat begins pressing the lever in order to obtain food
- if the food pellets stop, the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it (extinction).
In Skinner’s box, what was the reinforcer?
the food pellet
What does reinforcement mean?
something in the environment that strengthens a particular behavior and so makes it more likely to reoccur
What are the 2 main types of reinforcer?
positive and negative reinforcers
When does positive reinforcement occur?
when behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying or pleasent for the organism, making them more likely to repeat this behaviour in the future
Give 2 examples of positive reinforcement
- food to a hungry animal
2. praising a child after they do something good
How do negative reinforcers work?
because they remove something unpleasant and so restore to organism to its ‘pre-aversive’ state.
Give an example of a negative reinforcer
the act of hitting the ‘off’ button on an alarm clock allows a person to escape the unpleasant ringing and restores the restful pre-alarm state
What is punishment?
refers to the circumstance whereby a behaviour is followed by a consequence that is undesirable or unpleasant for the organism, and therefore decreases the likelihood of a behaviour reoccurring
Do reinforces increase/decrease the likelihood of a behaviour reoccurring?
INCREASE
Does punishment increase/decrease the likelihood of a behaviour reoccurring?
DECREASE
What are the 5 PEEL evaluation paragraphs for the behaviorist approach?
- classical conditioning has been applied to therapy
- classical conditioning is only appropriate for some learning
- operant conditioning based on experimental work
- overreliance on non-human animals in research
- a limited perspective on behavior
What is the PEEL paragraph for the behaviourist approach evaluation point; classical conditioning has been applied to therapy?
P - classical conditioning has been applied in the development of treatments for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias
E - systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on classical conditioning. It works by eliminating the learned anxious response (CR) that i associated with a feared object or situation (the CS).
E - it is then possible to eliminate one learned response (anxiety) by replacing it with another (relaxation) so the patient is no longer anxious in the presence of the feared object or situation
L - this classical conditioning-based approach has been found to be effective for a range of phobias such as fear of spiders and fear of flying
What is the PEEL paragraph for the behaviourist approach evaluation point; classical conditioning is only appropriate for some learning
P - because different species face different challenges to survive, some relationships between CS and UCS are more difficult (and others easier) to establish
E - Seligman (1970) proposed the concept of preparedness to explain this. Animals are prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival needs (e.g. associating the smell of meat with the presence of food), yet unprepared to learn associations that are not significant in this respect (e.g. associating the sound of a bell with food)
L - this suggests that classical conditioning may be more appropriate in the learning of specific types of association (i.e. those important to survival), something that is linked to a species’ evolutionary history
What is the PEEL paragraph for the behaviourist approach evaluation point; operant conditioning based on experimental work?
P - a particular strength of Skinner’s research was his reliance on the experimental method, using controlled condition to discover a possible casual relationship between variables
E - Skinner’s reliance on the Skinner box was a good example of this approach in practice.
E - by manipulating the consequences of behaviour (the independent variable), he was able to accurately measure the effects on the rat’s behaviour (the dependent variable)
L - this allowed him to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the consequences of a behaviour (i.e. positive or negative) and the future frequency of its occurrence
What is the PEEL paragraph for the behaviourist approach evaluation point; over-reliance on non-human animals in research?
P - Skinner’s research has recieved some criticism because his experiments involved the study of non-human animals rather than humans
E - critics claim that his reliance on rats and pigeons means that Skinner’s studies can’t tell us about human behaviour.
E - they claim that, unlike non-human animals, human beings have free will rather than having their behaviour determined by positive and negative reinforcement
L - however, Skinner argued that free will is merely an illusion and what we believe are behaviours chosen through free will are actually the product of external influences that ‘guide’ our behaviour on a daily basis
What is the PEEL paragraph for the behaviourist approach evaluation point; a limited perspective on behaviour?
P - behaviourists have been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation such as those that emphasise the importance of cognitive factors or emotional states
E - treating human beings as a product of their conditioning alone ean that we ignore the evidence for the role of these other factors in shaping behaviour
E - however, Skinner rejected this claim, arguing that these internal states are scientifically untestable
L - Skinner argued that even complex behaviours, such our interactions with the opposite sex or pathological behaviour, could be better understood by studying the reinforcement history of the individual
