The behaviourist approach

Question 1

Name four key assumptions of the learning/ behaviourist approach.

Answer 1

1) Reflexes are innate; all other behaviour is learned.
2) Only observable behaviour is measurable scientifically.
3) It is valid to study animals because they share the same principles of learning.
4) There is no genetic component to our behaviour (born a blank slate).

Question 2

Name the three types of behaviourist acquisition of behaviour.

Answer 2

• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Social Learning Theory

Question 3

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 3

Learning through association.

Question 4

How would a response occur from a stimulus during classical conditioning?

Answer 4

The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) e.g. Food (which causes a salivary response in dogs) is paired with a neutral stimulus (NS) e.g. A bell (no initial response).

Through classical conditioning (associating the bell with food) the response is shown with the pairing and eventually only with the presentation of the neutral stimulus (now known as the conditioned stimulus)

This now conditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response (salivation).

Question 5

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

Answer 5

Something that automatically produces a response.

Question 6

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

Answer 6

The automatic response to the UCS

Question 7

What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?

Answer 7

A stimulus which doesn’t produce a response on its own.

Question 8

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Answer 8

Something which has been conditioned to produce a response due to pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 9

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

Answer 9

Response generated by CS.

Question 10

Who was the famous person to investigate the effects of classical conditioning?

Answer 10

Pavlov (salivary response in dogs experiment)

Question 11

What did Pavlov first notice?

Answer 11

The animals not only salivated at the food being in their mouths but at things associated with the food (e.g. hearing the footsteps of the people bringing the food)

Question 12

Name some other important features of Pavlov’s research.

Answer 12

Stimulus generalisation: Pavlov found that even if the bell pitch and tone varied, the dog would still salivate.

Timing: The association only occurred when the UCS and the NS were presented at/ around the same time.

Extinction: If the conditioning process stopped, the association would also stop.

Spontaneous recovery: Following extinction, if the UCS and CS are paired together again, association is made much more rapidly.

SSET

Question 13

Strengths of classical conditioning explanations-

Answer 13

• It has lead to development of treatment for phobias (a new non- fearful association for the object of the phobia- e.g. Associating it with relaxation instead of anxiety; SYSTEMATIC DESENSITISATION)
• Can be extrapolated to human behaviour because it has effectively tackled many cases of phobias.

Question 14

Weaknesses of classical conditioning explanation-

Answer 14

• Doesn’t take into account thought processes…
• Only concerned with observable phenomena (Freud compared the mind to an iceberg saying that observable behaviour only concerns the very tip of the iceberg which is above the water)
• Doesn’t take genetics into account.

Question 15

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 15

Learning through consequences.

Question 16

What is extinction?

Answer 16

When a response no longer occurs because it is no longer reinforced.

Question 17

What is reinforcement?

Answer 17

A consequence that means a behaviour is more likely to be repeated.

Question 18

What is punishment?

Answer 18

A negative consequence which leads to a behaviour being less likely to be repeated.

Question 19

What is aversion?

Answer 19

Avoidance of a behaviour because it has negative consequences.

Question 20

What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?

Answer 20

Positive reinforcement is adding something to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated whereas negative reinforcement is the removal of a negative stimulus to achieve the same result.

Question 21

What is the difference between positive and negative punishment?

Answer 21

Positive punishment is adding something which will decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated and a negative punishment is removing something which achieves the same result.

Question 22

Give an example of positive reinforcement.

Answer 22

Presenting chocolate to a child every time they crawl.

Question 23

Give an example of negative reinforcement.

Answer 23

Withholding from giving an electric shock if animal presses a desired button.

Question 24

Give an example of positive punishment.

Answer 24

Giving an electric shock every time animal presses the same button.

Question 25

Give an example of a negative punishment.

Answer 25

Taking money away for stealing

Question 26

Who was the famous person to investigate the effect of operant conditioning?

Answer 26

Skinner (Skinner box experiment)

Question 27

Describe Skinner’s experimental procedure.

Answer 27

• He put a rat or pigeon in a box which contained a response lever that could prompt the release of a food pellet (positive reinforcement) if pressed.
• If not pressed, he metal floor was capable of administering an electric shock (negative reinforcement).

Question 28

Name some other important features of Skinner’s research.

Answer 28

Continuous reinforcement: ALWAYS providing reward when desired behaviour is shown… SHORT LEARNING TIME, SHORT EXT TIME.

Partial reinforcement: only SOMETIMES reinforced (e.g. Once every 10 lever presses)

Random reinforcement: reinforcement given RANDOMLY… LONG LEARNING TIME, LONG EXT TIME.

Question 29

Strengths of operant conditioning explanations-

Answer 29

• Sound evidence from experimental method.
• Practical application- training pigeons to guide and release missiles.
• More aware of how to control behaviour which is beneficial for parenting techniques.

Question 30

Weaknesses of operant conditioning explanation.

Answer 30

• The animal research cannot necessarily be extrapolated to human behaviour (humans have free will)
• Punishment does not always decrease likelihood of behaviour.
• Does not take cognitive factors into account.
• Only deals with “good” and “bad” behaviour- no in between.l
• Doesn’t take genetics into account.

Question 31

What is social learning theory?

Answer 31

Learning through observation and imitation.

Question 32

What is modelling and imitation?

Answer 32

Modelling is the behaviour shown by a “model” and imitation is observing the modelling and recreating the behaviour.

Question 33

How might identification link to how quickly a behaviour is imitated and the degree of imitation?

Answer 33

If an individual identifies with the model, they are more likely to imitate the behaviour faster and as close to the behaviour presented as possible.

Identification includes age, sex, accent, height, body shape etc.

Question 34

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 34

Observing reinforcement- seeing the consequences of behaving in a certain way and acting upon that observation.

Question 35

What are mediational processes?

Answer 35

The THOUGHT PROCESS between observing the behaviour and imitating it (or not)l

Question 36

Name the four mediational processes.

Answer 36

ATTENTION (interest)

RETENTION (remembering)

REPRODUCTION (ability)

MOTIVATION (desire)

Question 37

Who was the famous person to investigate the effect of social learning?

Answer 37

(Albert) Bandura et al. (Bobo Doll Experiment)

Question 38

How do Bandura’s theories differ from Operant and Classical conditioning?

Answer 38

• Takes cognitive thought processes into account as well as observable behaviour.
• Takes the role of biology into account (not on BEHAVIOUR but on INSTINCTS)

Question 39

What were the aims of Bandura’s research?

Answer 39

• the study was designed to examine the role of a model on influencing an observers behaviour…

he wanted to see if the influence continued once the role model was NO LONGER PRESENT and examine if gender of model and participants made a difference (identification).

• He challenged Skinner’s ideas that people will respond immediately to consequences saying that they will acknowledge the consequences and then decide on behaviour.

Question 40

Describe Bandura׳s experimental research.

Answer 40

36 male, 36 female participants.

Mean age of participants was just over 4 years.

Half of the eight experimental groups observed an aggressive model (hitting Bobo Doll and shouting abuse), the other half observed a non- aggressive model.

One at a time, the participants entered a room with many toys but were told they couldn’t play with the (aggression arousal) but that they could play with the ones in a neighbouring room.

In the neighbouring room was a Bobo Doll, a hammer and some other toys.

Each child’s behaviour was assessed and the findings concluded that-

1) aggressive model = aggressive child
2) boys were more aggressive than girls
3) there was a greater level of imitation of behaviour when the model was the same gender as the child.
4) the behaviour continued after a delay

Question 41

Strengths of Bandura’s research-

Answer 41

Procedure is replicable because it produced accurate findings, there was a large sample size so it’s reliable and the study was filmed.

Question 42

Weaknesses of Bandura’s research-

Answer 42

Effects of social learning are only shown short term- does not show if behaviours were retained and if so, how long for.

Issues with validity—> were the children only aggressive because the Bobo Doll is designed to be hit? Other extraneous (participant) variables?

There are ethical issues—> if he effects of the study are lasting, the aggressive behaviour may not stop.

Question 43

Strengths of the Social Learning Theory

Answer 43

Real life applications for the importance of identification in changing behaviour- Andsager et al found that perceived similarity
to a model in an anti- alcohol ad. was positively related to the effectiveness of the message.

There is evidence for the role of mediational factors- studies showed that there was a greater level of Imitation if the model was the same gender (identification) and if the model was rewarded for aggressive acts (motivation).

Question 44

Weaknesses of the Social Learning Theory-

Answer 44

Some behaviours seem to occur in the absence of any model (e.g. Psychopathy can occur with just one individual in a family)