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Psychology A-level > The Behaviourist Approach > Flashcards

The Behaviourist Approach Flashcards

1
Q

What is the difference between nature and nurture?

A
  • Nature: due to biological causes such as inherited characteristics/innate drives.
  • Nurture: due to environmental influences and learning.
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2
Q

Do behaviourist psychologists belive in nature or nurture?

A

Nurture

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3
Q

What is the first assumption of behaviourism?

A
  • All behaviour is learnt.
  • We have no genetic pre-programming (tabula rasa - blank slate).
  • We must learn from our environment (i.e. the people and events in it).
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4
Q

Define learning

A

“A relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from experience.”

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5
Q

What is the second assumption of behaviorism?

A

Scientific methods should be used to study only observable behaviour.

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6
Q

How does behaviourism differ from introspection?

A

Behaviourists thought that mental behaviour could not be objectively measured.
Introspection, which preceded behaviourism, was seen to be subjective and difficult to measure.

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7
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

Where an animal or a human learns to associate something new with something which naturally causes a response. That ‘new thing’ then causes the same response by itself.

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8
Q

Define stimulus

A

Any change in the environment that an organism registers.

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9
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

A

An event that produces an innate, unlearned reflex response.

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10
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus?

A

An event that produces a learned response.

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11
Q

What is a neutral stimulus?

A

An event that does not produce a response.

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12
Q

Define response.

A

Any behaviour that an organism emits as a consequence of a stimulus.

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13
Q

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

A

An innate, unlearned reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to a UCS.

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14
Q

What is a conditioned response?

A

A learned physical reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to a conditioned stimulus.

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15
Q

Define reflex

A

A consistent connection between a stimulus and a response.

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16
Q

What happens before classical conditioning?

A

The unconditioned stimulus naturally produces a response. No conditioning has taken place yet.

17
Q

What happens during classical conditioning?

A

The neutral stimulus is paired and presented together with an unconditioned stimulus. The natural response of the UCS occurs. The pairing of stimuli is presented repeatedly.

18
Q

What happens after classical conditioning?

A

Learning has taken place and the stimulus that was originally neutral, causing no response beforehand, now produces the same response as the UCS. The response is subsequently named a conditioned response.

19
Q

What is the before classical conditioning phase of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)

20
Q

What is the during classical conditioning phase of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

Bell (NS) + Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)

21
Q

What is the after classical conditioning phase of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

Bell (CS) = Salivation (CR)

22
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Where an animal or human learns to consistently perform a behaviour based on whether they have previously received a reward (or punishment) for that behaviour.

23
Q

Define reinforcement

A

A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.

24
Q

What is positive reinforcement?

A

Rewarding a behaviour with something desirable in order to increase the frequency of the target behaviour.

25
Q

What is negative reinforcement?

A

Removal of an aversive stimulus (something unpleasant) in order to increase the frequency of the taregt behaviour.

26
Q

Define punishment

A

Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant.

27
Q

What is positive punishment?

A

Introducing an aversive stimulus (something unpleasant) in order to decrease the frequency of an undesirable behaviour.

28
Q

What is negative punishment?

A

The removal of a favourable stimulus in order to decrease the frequency of an undesirable behaviour.

29
Q

How did Skinner use positive reinforcement in his experiment?

A
  • He gave the rat a pellet of food each time it pressed the lever.
  • This caused the rat to learn that the lever = food, so it continued to press the lever.
30
Q

How did Skinner use negative reinforcement in his experiment?

A
  • He ran an electric current through the floor of the cage.
  • When the rat pressed the lever, the electric shock would stop.
  • This taught the rat that the lever = getting rid of something bad.
31
Q

What were the benefits of research into behaviourism being highly controlled?

A

Behaviourists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour with highly controlled lab settings. By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other possible extraneous variables were removed, which also meant they could establish a clear cause and effect.

32
Q

Do behaviourist principles have practical applications?

A

They have been applied to real world behaviours and problems. For example, operant conditioning has practical application, as it is used when training animals and teaching children how to behave.

33
Q

How could the ethical issues of behaviourist research be justified?

A
  • the practical applications benefit society by allowing us to teach children how to behave acceptably as they grow up, which potentially prevents many problems.
  • some may argue that not all the ethical guidelines apply to animals as well as humans.
34
Q

Why does the simplification of the behaviourist approach limit it?

A

They have simplified the learning process by reducing behaviours down into basic stimulus-response units. This can be seen as reductionist as it ignores other possibilities (eg genetics), which could limit understanding.

35
Q

In what ways could behaviourists be seen as deterministic?

A

They see all behaviours as the result of past conditioning experiences. This is a deterministic view, which ignores the fact that humans have the free will to behave how they choose.

36
Q

What are the ethical issues with the way in which behaviourists carried out research?

A
  • Pavlov caused harm to the dogs by attaching the apparatus to collect saliva.
  • Skinner caused harm to the rats by shocking them.
  • Animals were kept in poor conditions during the research, in boxes or cages, which also meant they couldn’t get out/leave.

Psychology A-level (43 decks)

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