The behaviourist approach Flashcards
what is the behaviourist approach
everyone is born on a blank state and all behaviour is learned from the environment
how can behaviour be understood
via stimulus-response
mechanisms of reward and reinforcement
what is classical conditioning
learning via association
process of classical conditioning
when a UCS creates a UCR but a NS creates no response pair both the UCR and NS to cause that UCR to lead to the NS by itself creating a UCS so the NS becomes the CS and the UCR becomes the CR
Pavlovs research
when a UCS(food) creates a UCR (dog salivating) but a NS(bell) creates no response pair both the UCR(food) and NS(bell) to cause that UCR(dog salivating) to lead to the NS(bell) by itself creating a UCR(dog salivating) so the NS becomes the CS and the UCR(dog salivating) becomes the CR
classical conditioning & Pavlov’s research AO3: scientific methods
reliability-testable hypothesis
controlled conditions, standardised, replicable procedure
classical conditioning & Pavlov’s research AO3: nomothetic approach
nomothetic approach seeks to establish general laws of behaviour which can be applied universally to all people
classical conditioning & Pavlov’s research AO3: cannot explain all behaviour
behaviour is sponateous
behaviour which resists conditioning e.g. someone who has been brought up in a strict religious environment who goes on to reject that religion
This means that classical conditioning has limited external validity
classical conditioning & Pavlov’s research AO3: highly deterministic
assumption is that people are controlled by environmental forces and have little autonomy over their destiny
negates role if free will reduce usefulness seeing ppl in mechanical terms
what is operant conditioning
learning via consequences, emphasises the role of reward and reinforcement in behaviour
how are consequences learned
three types of direct reinforcement
positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement
punishment
what is positive reinforcement
Performing a behaviour to experience the positive consequences
what is negative reinforcement
Performing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences
what is a punishment
a consequence that’s intended to reduce the likelihood of an undesirable behaviour from happening again
Skinners Research: Skinners Box
Each box contained different stimuli, including a lever that released food (the rat’s reward) and an electroplated floor (the rat’s punishment)
Positive reinforcement was demonstrated by placing a hungry rat in the box
The box contained a lever which the rat (initially) accidentally triggered as it explored the box
Upon triggering the lever a food pellet was delivered (reward)
The rats quickly learned (it only took them a few tries) to go straight to the lever
The consequence/reward (food) of pressing the lever saw them repeating the action over and over again
Negative reinforcement was demonstrated by placing a rat in the box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric shock (punishment)
The rat (initially) accidentally triggered the lever as it explored the box
Upon triggering the lever the electric current was switched off (unpleasant sensations stopped)
The rats quickly learned to trigger the lever immediately as soon as they were placed in the box
The consequence/reward of escaping the electric shock saw them repeating the action over and over again
