The Behaviourist approach

Question 1

what are the two types of conditioning

Answer 1

classical (Pavlov dog, learning by association) and operant (Skinner rat)

Question 2

positive + negative reinforcement

Answer 2

anything that strengthens a response and increases the likelihood that it will occur again in the future

Question 3

punishment

Answer 3

unpleasant consequence following the behaviour
decreases the frequency of behaviour.

Question 4

key points of behaviourist approach

Answer 4

• rejects vagueness of introspection (Wundt)
• focuses on observable effects in order to follow the scientific method
  -focuses on how people learn, sometimes referred to as the ‘learning theory’
  -believe that you learn through conditioning: stimuli -> response

Question 5

behaviourist - John Watson 1913

Answer 5

people who believe that human behaviour can be explained in terms of conditioning, without the need to consider thoughts or feelings

Question 6

classical conditioning

Answer 6

when a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that it eventually it produces a conditioned response

by associating one thing with another

Question 7

operant conditioning

Answer 7

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

by the consequences of what we do

Question 8

assumptions

Answer 8

1. tabula rasa - a nurture argument - all behaviour is learnt through experience in the environment after birth
2. behaviour is determined by reinforcement or punishment of past learning experiences; a stimulus creates a response - when studying behaviour, the focus should be on the laws of learning (conditioning)
3. only observable behaviour should be studied; behaviourism uses the scientific method
4. the laws of learning are universal, applying the same to both non-human animals and humans

Question 9

introspection

Answer 9

the process of looking inwards at out own mental experiences in order to break them down into parts and analyse them

Question 10

maladaptive

Answer 10

behaviour which does not help a person or animal to function and survive in its environment

Question 11

basics of the behaviourist approach (learning theory)

Answer 11

who: John Watson in 1913 (Little Albert), until the 1950s (cognitive approach started to take over).
said: ‘purely objective… introspection forms no essential part of its methods’

Question 12

social learning theory

Answer 12

observing and imitating others

Question 13

methodology

Answer 13

• very scientific
  –uses laboratory experiments
  –mainly on animals

–can use strengths and weaknesses of the experimental method
-strength: can strictly control variables
-weakness: lack ecological validity as humans may change their behaviour due to being in a lab

Question 14

freewill v determinism debate

Answer 14

takes the extreme view that freewill is an illusion, we learn all behaviour from environment

Question 15

reductionism

Answer 15

assumes that complex behaviour is the sum of all past learning

Question 16

nature-nurture debate

Answer 16

we learn everything; falls completely on the nurture side of the debate

Question 17

strengths (SEAA)

Answer 17

• very scientific approach: methods which are objective, controlled and replicable
• many practical applications
• provides arguments against the nature side of the nature-nurture debate
• can explain many types of behaviour with just a few simple principles

Question 18

weaknesses (RAGD)

Answer 18

-reductionist, explaining behaviour only in terms of simple learning principles and ignoring mental processes (emotions, thinking)

• tabula rasa: ignores genetic factors in behaviour (nature), such as high testosterone
• discounts the qualitative differences between animals and humans
• deterministic, viewing all behaviour as determined by environment and past experiences, and disregards free will
• other researchers show learning can occur without reinforcement, e.g. SLT where ppl learn behaviours by watching and copying role models

Question 19

applications (TUP)

Answer 19

• advanced understanding of behaviour, e.g. language learning and development of mental disorders

-operant condition can be used to train animals

• practical applications - treatments for mental disorders
  –aversion therapy (classical conditioning). when someone does an undesirable behaviour they are presented with an aversive stimulus at the same time, until they learn that something bad happens when they do that certain behaviour. only targets symptoms, rather than causes
  – systematic desensitisation (classical conditioning). replaces maladaptive behaviours with adaptive behaviours. e.g. treating a phobia: fear response is replaced with a new response, such as relaxation. very gradually. provides little insight into the causes of the problem.
  –token economy: positive reinforcement for appropriate/ good behaviour

Question 20

Bobo doll

Answer 20

Bandura, Ross and Ross
1961

• whether young children learnt aggression through observing and imitating adults
  -the children exposed to aggressive adult models copied their actions almost exactly, boys were more aggressive as the adult was male

Question 21

Little Albert

Answer 21

Watson and Rayner
1920
- whether a child could learn to fear something through classical conditioning
- white rat whilst simultaneously hitting the steel bar behind his head
- 7 times overall, in 2 sessions held a week apart
- when presented with the rat (and even fur coats), he began to cry

Question 22

Superstition in pigeons

Answer 22

Skinner
1928

• 8 pigeons in Skinner boxes were given a food pellet at set intervals, regardless of behaviour
• after several days observers noted the pigeon’s behaviour as the time intervals increased
• noted that 6 pigeons performed many repetitive behaviours (hopping, head tossing) before the food was given (despite it not depending on behaviour)

Question 23

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Answer 23

one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response

Question 24

unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 24

is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the UCS

Question 25

neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 25

does not produce a response until it is paired with the UCS

Question 26

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 26

previously NS, but after becoming associated with the UCS, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

Question 27

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 27

learned response to the previously NS

Question 28

Skinner and the rats

Answer 28

• trained rats to press a lever using both types of reinforcement
  –positive r: gave it a food pellet every time it pressed a lever. rat learnt lever = food; continued to press lever
  –negative r: ran an electric current through the floor of the cage. when rat pressed the lever, current stopped. rat learnt lever = getting rid of something bad
• shows that behaviour is learnt through operant conditioning

Question 29

weakness of Skinner rat

Answer 29

• used rats: can’t generalise findings on animal behaviour to human behaviour.
  – however, people would say it is more ethical to test animals than humans

– ethical issues: animals were exposed to stressful and aversive conditions which may have affected how they reacted to the experimental situation

– reductionism/ holism.
oversimplifies human behaviour to stimulus –> response, ignores cog. processes (Skinner thought that one cannot fully understand the mind as it is not directly observable)

Question 30

weaknesses of operant

Answer 30

• does not work w everyone
• when a person is punished, the behaviour may still continue
  – person could be pretending they have stopped the behaviour just to receive the reward
• doesn’t take cognitive factors into account
• once the reward is given, the poor behaviour may reoccur
• a person can be punished only so many times before the lose complete motivation to even begin working on their behaviour
• only good/ bad behaviour, no in between
• doesn’t consider intrinsic motivation and engagement of an individual