The behaviourist approach

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

• Rejects Wundt’s introspection as it was said to be too vague and difficult to measure
• Only studies behaviour that can be observed and measured
• Describe a baby’s mind as a blank slate that learns behaviour from behaviour
• Mainly focuses on operant and classical conditioning
• The basic laws can be transferred to both humans and non-humans

Question 2

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

• learning through association
• ## first investigated by Pavlov in 1927

Question 3

Identify the type of stimulus in Pavlov’s research

Answer 3

Neutral stimulus = the bell
unconditioned stimulus = food
unconditioned response = salivation in response to food
Conditioned response = salivation at the sound of a bell

Question 4

Describe the steps in Pavlov’s research.

Answer 4

1. Before conditioning, the US (food) produced the UCR ( salivation)
2. During conditioning the food was repeatedly paired with the ringing of a bell
3. This causes an association between the food and the ringing of the bell
4. This means the neutral stimulus (the bell) now will produce the conditioned response of salivation

Question 5

What is extinction

Answer 5

When the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus so, the conditioned response becomes extinct

Question 6

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 6

When the conditioned response carries out the conditioned response some time after extinction has occurred

Question 7

What is generalisation?

Answer 7

when slight changes in the conditioned stimulus still produce the same conditioned response
- for example = slight changes in the pitches of the bell

Question 8

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 8

Learning through reinforcement

Question 9

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 9

Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is displayed, this increases the likelihood for the behaviour to repeat

Question 10

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 10

Occurs when a behaviour is done to avoid something unpleasant, this increases the frequency of this behaviour being repeated
- An example of this would be handing in homework to avoid a detention

Question 11

What is punishment?

Answer 11

An unpleasant consequence of a behaviour, decreasing its frequency

Question 12

When was Pavlov and Skinner’s research?

Answer 12

• Pavlov (1927)
• Skinner (1953)

Question 13

Outline skinners research

Answer 13

positive reinforcement = When the rats pressed the lever, they received a pellet which increased the frequency of this behaviour
Negative reinforcement = The rats learnt not to press the lever and therefore avoided being shocked, this reduced the frequency of this behaviour

Question 14

Identify the strength of the behaviourist approach

Answer 14

• His research was well controlled and occurred in lab settings as the key assumption of the behaviourist approach is to maintain control and objectivity over an experiment. This means the research can be replicated in different countries

Question 15

Identify another strength of the behaviourist approach

Answer 15

• There are real-world applications of the approach. An example of this would be token economy systems that have been used in institutes such as prisons and psychiatric wards. This means that operant conditioning has been proved to correct behaviour and rehabilitate criminals

Question 16

Identify a weakness of the behaviourist approach

Answer 16

One limitation is that it suggests that all our behaviour is based on past experiences. This means that we never make our own decisions and our conditioning history determines our actions
- emphasises that free will is an illusion