the behaviourist approach Flashcards
what is the behaviourist approach?
a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
what is classical conditioning?
learning by association, occurs when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together
what was Pavlov’s research?
conditioning dogs to salivate when a bell rings,
before conditioning:
UCS = food UCR = salivation NS = bell
during conditioning:
NS = bell UCS = food
after conditioning:
CS = bell CR = salivation
what is operant conditioning?
a form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.
what is reinforcement?
a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated, positive or negative
what was Skinner’s research?
skinner boxes, when a rat activated a lever it was rewarded with a food pellet, a desirable consequences led to behaviour being repeated, if pressing a lever meant not getting a electric shock, the behaviour would also be repeated
what are the 3 types of consequence?
positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when behaviour is performed
negative reinforcement: avoiding something unpleasant when a behaviour is performed
punishment: an unpleasant consequence of behaviour
pos & neg reinforcement reinforce that behaviour is repeated while punishment decreases it
what is the well-controlled research strength?
-it is based on well-controlled research,
-behaviourists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings,
-by breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other possible extraneous variables were removed, allowing cause-and-effect relationships to be established,
-for instance, Skinner was able to clearly demonstrate how reinforcement influenced an animal’s behaviour,
-this suggests that behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility.
what is the counterpoint to well-controlled research?
-the problem with this is that behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process.
-by reducing behaviour to such simple components, behaviourists may have ignored an important influence on learning - that of human thought,
-other approaches, such as SLT and the cognitive approach have drawn attention to the mental processes involved in learning,
-this suggests that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and that private mental processes are also essential.
what is the real-world application strength?
-it has real-world application,
-the principles of conditioning have been applied to real-world behaviours and problems,
-for e.g. token economy systems reward appropriate behaviour with tokens that are exchanged for privileges (operant conditioning) successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards.
-this increases the value of the behaviourist approach because it has widespread application.
what is the environmental determinism limitation?
-form of environmental determinism,
-it sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned & ignores any influence that free will may have on behaviour,
-Skinner suggested that free will was an illusion, when something happens we may think ‘I made the decision to do that’ but our past conditioning history determined the outcome,
-this is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.
what is the ethical issues limitation?
-although procedures such as the Skinner box allowed behaviourists to maintain a high degree of control over their experimental ‘subjects,
-animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and deliberately kept below their natural weight so they were always hungry,
-therefore there is a question of benefits vs cost - some would argue that there have been big benefits which offsets the harm the animals experienced.
