the behaviourist approach Flashcards
what does the behaviourist approach state?
it states that everyone is born as a ‘blank slate’ which life writes upon (Watson, 1930),
All behaviour is learned from the environment e.g. upbringing, neighbourhood, peers, education,
Behaviour can be understood using a stimulus-response approach
what is key in the behaviourist approach?
Reinforcement- this will result in the behaviour will be repeated or not
which is the best way to study behaviour?
using lab based, scientific methods
which research can help understand human behaviour?
animal research
what are the research case studies?
Pavlovs dogs, skinners rats
what was Pavlovs experiments?
The dog is given food as usual (unconditioned stimulus)
The dog salivates when it sees and smells the food (unconditioned response)
A bell is sounded (neutral stimulus) every time the dog is given food (unconditioned stimulus)
A bell 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’)
what was Skinners experiment?
A rat is placed in a specially designed box (known as a ‘Skinner 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’)
what’s classical conditioning?
learning through association
when does CC occur?
when a neutral stimulus is substituted for the original unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
whats operant conditioning?
learning through via reinforcement through consequences.
what are the types of stimulus?
neutral stimulus= something that wouldn’t normally trigger a response
unconditional stimulus= something which tiggers a natural ( unconditional) response
what do behaviourists believe
at birth we are born with a tabula rasa ( blank sheet) all behaviour is learnt
all behaviour can be understood using a stimulus-response approach
what are the different types of response?
unconditioned response= a natural response that doesn’t need to be learned
conditioned response= something that triggers a learnt response
conditional response= a response that has been learnt through association.
