the learning approach: Behaviourism

Question 1

What are the assumptions in the behaviourists

Answer 1

1. The behaviourist approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed an measured
2. It is not concerned with the investigation of mental processes of the mind e.g. like the psychodynamic approach.
   Early behaviourists rejected the introspection as it invaded too many concepts that were difficult to measure
3. As a result, behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity with their research and relied on lab experiments as the best way achieve this
   Following Darwin, behaviourists suggested that the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species
4. Behaviourists identified two important forms of learning:
   - classical conditioning
   - operant conditioning

Question 2

who first demonstrated classical conditioning and what is it

Answer 2

classical conditioning is learned through association and was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov

Question 3

what did Pavolov “study” reveal

Answer 3

Pavlov revealed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food

Pavlov’s dog gradually learned to associate the sound of the bell (stimulus) with the food (another stimulus) and would produce the salivation response every time they heard the bell

Pavlov showed how a neutral stimulus ( in this case a bell), can come to elicit a new learned response (conditioned response) through association - essentially the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response

Question 4

what equation can be applied to any situation with classical conditioning

Answer 4

unconditioned stimulus - unconditioned response
(food) (salivation)

unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus - unconditioned response
(bell)

conditioned stimulus (bell) - conditioned response (salivation)

Question 5

what is operant conditioning - Skinner’s research

Answer 5

BF Skinner (1953) suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment

This is operant conditioning - learning by consequence

Question 6

in operant conditioning there are three types of consequences of behaviour - what are they

Answer 6

positive reinforcement

negative reinforcement

punishment

Question 7

what is negative reinforcement

Answer 7

negative reinforcement occurs when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant.

When a student hand in an essay so as not to be told off, the avoidance of something unpleasant is the negative reinforcement
Similarly, a rat may learn through negative reinforcement that pressing a lever lads to avoidance of an electric shock ( the skinner box)

Question 8

what is positive reinforcement

Answer 8

positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed; e.g. praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class

Question 9

what is punishment

Answer 9

punishment is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour, for example being shouted at by the teacher for talking during a lesson

Question 10

what increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Answer 10

positive and negative reinforcement

Question 11

what decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated

Answer 11

punishment

Question 12

what is the skinner box

Answer 12

(A) Skinner conducted experiments with rats and sometimes pigeons, in specially designed cages called Skinner Boxes

-Every time the rat activated a level (or pecked a disc in the case of the pigeons)
Within the box it was rewarded with a food pellet.
From then on the animal would continue to perform the behaviour

(B) Skinner also showed how rats and pigeons could bee conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus e.g. an electric shock in this case