The Behaviourist Approach

Question 1

How do we learn behaviour?

Answer 1

From experience through either classical nor operant conditioning.

Question 2

What is classical conditioning and who proposed it?

Answer 2

• learning by the association between a stimulus and a response.
• proposed by Pavlov

Question 3

How did Pavlov demonstrate classical conditioning?

Answer 3

• using dogs
• designed apparatus to measure the dogs’ salivation levels
• food (unconditioned stimulus) caused dogs to salivate (unconditioned response)
• when the bell (neutral stimulus) was rang with food (unconditioned stimulus) the dog began to associate the bell with food. The bell then caused the dogs to saliva. Bell now conditioned stimulus and to salivate is a conditioned response. Conditioning has occurred.

Question 4

Stimulus generalisation

Answer 4

Occurs when someone or something responds to a stimulus in the same way that it responds to a similar stimulus.

Question 5

Stimulus discrimination

Answer 5

The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and another stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Question 6

Extinction

Answer 6

The fading of a non reinforced conditioned response over time.

Question 7

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 7

Learning from the consequences of our actions

Question 8

Who proposed operant conditioning?

Answer 8

Skinner

Question 9

What was Skinner’s research?

Answer 9

Skinner designed a box in which an animal’s behaviour (pulling a lever) could be rewarded with food pellets of the removal of discomfort (removing electric shock) , or could be punished through causing discomfort (electric shock)

Question 10

Positive reinforcement

Answer 10

consequence is a reward
e.g. receiving food pellet
increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 11

Negative reinforcement

Answer 11

removes something unpleasant
e.g. removes electric shock
increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Question 12

Punishment

Answer 12

unpleasant consequence
e.g. receiving an electric shock
decreases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated.

Question 13

Strengths of the behaviourist approach

Answer 13

• supported by research (Pavlov and Skinner) d
  lab experiments
  v well controlled
• real life applications
• fail to take into account influences like biological factors

Question 14

Limitations of the behaviourist approach

Answer 14

• sees people as passive in their learning

- environmental determinism, sees all behaviours as determined by conditioning and does not recognise free will