The learning approach : Behaviourism

Question 1

Diagram of classical conditioning

Answer 1

Question 2

What does the behavioural approach assume?

Answer 2

All behaviour is learned from the environment

Question 3

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 3

Learning through association

Question 4

Explain classical conditioning in Pavlov’s dogs

Answer 4

BEFORE CONDITIONING

Food (UCS) - Dog Salivate (UCR)

DURING CONDITIONING

Bell (NS) + Food (UCS) - Dog Salivate (UCR)

AFTER CONDITIONING

Bell (CS) - Dog Salivate (CR)

Question 5

What did Pavolv dogs show about classical conditioning?

Answer 5

Showed neutral stimulus (bell) can come to elict a new learned response (conditioned response) through assocation

Question 6

Where is behavioural studies taken place in?

Answer 6

Controlled lab studies

Behaviourists maintain more control and objects within their research to achieve this with lab studies

Question 7

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 7

Describe how consequences of an action can make that action more or less likely to be repeated

People learn new behaviours through the consequences of the behaviour they do

If behaviour is followed by reinforcement then the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated increases in the future (behaviour is strengthened)

Question 8

What term operant conditioning used by?

Answer 8

B.F. Skinner

Question 9

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 9

Consequences which are pleasant and which bring about a repetition of behaviour

Question 10

What is an example of positive reinforcement?

Answer 10

Praise given to a child after they do well

OR

Food given to a hungry animal

Question 11

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 11

Behaviour is repeated in order to escape an unpleasant consequence

Question 12

Example of negative reinforcement

Answer 12

Studying for an exam to avoid getting a poor grade

Question 13

What is punishment?

Answer 13

If a behaviour is followed by a punishment/consequence then the likelihood of that behaviour repeated in future decreases (behaviour is weakened)

Question 14

Example of punishment

Answer 14

Person having a phobia of spiders

Punishment is facing spiders

Question 15

Tom’s parent took away his car keys because of his bad grade

What is this?

Answer 15

Punishment

Question 16

Lisa is given sweets when she is quiet in church

What is this?

Answer 16

Positive reinforcement

Question 17

Sam’s parents send him to his room every time he talks to his imaginary friend

What is this?

Answer 17

Punishment

Question 18

Annie develops a phobia of school because she is bullied by an older girl

Answer 18

Punishment - being anxious, punished at school

Negative reinforcement - get bullied at school

Positive reinforcement -avoiding school

Question 19

Jordan’s gran gave him a hug and kiss for getting good exam results

What is this?

Answer 19

Positive reinforcement

Question 20

Susan always gets her own way when she shouts at people

What is this?

Answer 20

Negative reinforcement

Question 21

What is the research involving operant conditioning?

Answer 21

Skinner

Skinner box

Question 22

What is the positive reinforcement of Skinner’s research

Skinner box?

Answer 22

• Food is given once the light is on and the lever is pressed. Rat repeats the behaviour of pressing lever as he gets his reward which is food and satisfied.
• Rat presses lever to prevent being electrified (reward of not being hurt)

Question 23

What is the negative reinforcement of Skiner’s research?

Skinner box

Answer 23

• Rat learns as he presses lever repeatedly to avoid being electrocuted

Question 24

Limitation of behaviourism

Animal research has ethical and practical issues

Answer 24

• Although experimental procedures such as Skinner box allowed behaviourists to maintain a high degree of control over their research subjects, critics have drawn attention to the ethical issues involved
• The animals involved were exposed to stressful and aversive conditions and may have affected how they reacted to the experimental situation.
• This means the validity of the findings from these studies might be questioned because the observed behaviour was not ‘normal’

Question 25

A strength of behaviourism

gave psychology scientific credibility

Answer 25

• The approach focused on the careful measurement of observable behaviour within controlled lab settings
• Behaviourists emphasised the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication
• This brought the language and the methods of natural sciences into psychology, giving the subject greater credibility and status

Question 26

A second strength to behaviourism

The laws of learning developed by behaviourists have real-life application

Answer 26

• The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems
• Token economy system reward behaviour with tokens that are exchanged for privileges (operant conditioning)
• Successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards
• Treatments like these are suitable for patients who lack ‘insight’ into their condition and are not capable of talking about their problems

Question 27

A second limitation behaviourist approach portrays a mechanistic view

Answer 27

1. Animals and humans are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment, with little conscious insight into their behaviour
2. Other approaches such as social learning theory and cognitive approach, have placed much more emphasis on the mental events that occur during learning
3. The processes that mediate between stimulus and response suggest that human plays much more active role in their learning