The Learning Approach - Behavourist

Question 1

What is the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning, without the need to consider thoughts and feelings.

Question 2

What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

• It is not concerned with observing internal mental processes but instead focuses on observable and measurable behaviour
• Tries to maintain control and objectivity in research so uses scientific, lab experiments
• Study animals to learn about human behaviour - believe the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species
• All born a ‘blank slate’ - behaviour is learned or determined by interactions and experiences in our environment
• Much of human behaviour can be explained by basic form of learning called conditioning (classical conditioning - learning by association, operant conditioning - learning by consequence)

Question 3

What do behaviourists regard all behaviour as?

Answer 3

Behaviourists regard all behaviour as a response to a stimulus and believe that we are born with only a handful of innate reflexes which are stimulus response units that do not need to be learned.

Question 4

What is a stimulus?

Answer 4

A stimulus is any behaviour in the environment that an organism registers

Question 5

What is a response?

Answer 5

A response is any behaviour that the organism carries out as a consequence of a stimulus

Question 6

What is a reflex?

Answer 6

A reflex is a consistent connection between a stimulus and a response

Question 7

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 7

Classics conditioning is learning by association. It occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus l. The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by unlearned stimulus alone.

Question 8

Classical conditioning can only be used if the response cannot be __________?

Answer 8

Controlled

Question 9

What study shows classical conditioning?

Answer 9

Pavlov’s dogs

Question 10

Describe pavlov’s study using specialist vocabulary

Answer 10

When Pavlov showed the dogs food, they salivated. The salivation reflex is an unconditioned response to the presentation of food since it occurs automatically and no learning is required. The food is the unconditioned stimulus since the dog does not need to learn to salivate to the sight of it.

A bell (the neutral stimulus) is then repeatedly presented with the food (the UCS) to the dog, and the dog salivates. After a number of times the dog starts to associate the bell with the food.

Because of this association the dog will now salivate at the sound of the bell even when it is not presented with the food. The dog has been conditioned to salivate (the conditioned response) to the sound of the bell (the conditioned stimulus).

Question 11

What did Pavlov find out about ‘timing’ with the classical conditioning process?

Answer 11

Pavlov found that the association only occurs if the unconditioned stimulus (e.g. Food) and neutral stimulus (e.g. Bell) are presented at the same time, or around the same time as each other. If the time between presentations is too great then there will be no association made.

Question 12

What is stimulus generalisation?

Answer 12

Where, once conditioned, an animal will also produce the conditioned response to other stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

(Will illicit the same response)

Question 13

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 13

When the characteristics of the conditioned stimulus become too different to be generalised - so the stimuli is not similar enough to illicit the same response.

Question 14

What is extinction?

Answer 14

If the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response slowly disappears and the behaviour is extinguished.

Question 15

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 15

Where the conditioned response has been extinguished but will sometimes reappear (at a reduced strength) if the conditioned stimulus is presented after a rest period.

Question 16

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 16

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequence. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment.

Question 17

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 17

Receiving a reward that provides a feeling of satisfaction

Question 18

Does positive reinforcement make the behaviour more or less likely to be repeated?

Answer 18

More likely

Question 19

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 19

Involves the removal and avoidance of an unpleasant experience

Question 20

Does negative reinforcement make the behaviour more or less likely to be repeated?

Answer 20

More likely

Question 21

What is punishment?

Answer 21

The presence of a negative stimulus as an unpleasant consequence of behaviour

Question 22

Does punishment make the behaviour more or less likely to be repeated?

Answer 22

Less likely

Question 23

What was the name of the psychologist who studied operant conditioning?

Answer 23

Skinner

Question 24

What type of animal did Skinner use to study operant conditioning?

Answer 24

Rats (he sometimes used pigeons)

Question 25

What was the name of the apparatus that Skinner used to study operant conditioning?

Answer 25

A ‘Skinner Box’

Question 26

Describe what Skinner would do to study the ‘positive reinforcement’ aspect of operant conditioning

Answer 26

Skinner would introduce a hungry rat to the Skinner box, and inside the box was a lever that when pressed, would deliver a pellet of food.

The rat would press the lever accidentally and some food would be released, and the rat soon learned that when it pressed the lever it would be rewarded with a pellet of food.

Skinner observed that as a consequence of its actions (receiving a pellet of food), the rat continues to display this new behaviour. The rat’s behaviour had been positively reinforced.

Question 27

Describe what Skinner would do to study the ‘punishment’ aspect of operant conditioning

Answer 27

Skinner changed the mechanism in the box so when the rat pressed the level instead of receiving a pellet of food (a reward) it received an electric shock (a punishment).

Very quickly the rat stopped pressing the lever, as the electric shock acts as a punishment and so the lever pressing behaviour is weakened and id eventually extinguished.

Question 28

Describe what Skinner would do to study the ‘negative reinforcement’ aspect of operant conditioning

Answer 28

Skinner set up the ‘Skinner box’ so that the floor was electrified and the lever switched off the current.

Once Skinner electrified the floor that rat started to bounce about and accidentally pressed the lever. The electric current was switched off (this acts as a reinforcement) and the experiment was repeated.

The rat was conditioned to press the lever when the current was switched on to take away the electric current. This is an example of negative reinforcement.

Question 29

How could video game addiction be explained using behaviourist principles?

Answer 29

• Positive reinforcement - by getting more points and moving up levels, the reward acts as a positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement - want to avoid going down on the leaderboard
• Punishment - losing the game, you play more so you get better and won’t lose again

Question 30

What is continuous reinforcement and what did Skinner discover about it?

Answer 30

Continuous reinforcement is when you’re rewarded every time you display the conditioned behaviour, in this case rate pressing the lever and receiving a pellet of food.

Skinner found that with continuous reinforcement, the conditioned behaviour would quickly die and become extinct.

Question 31

What did Skinner do to combat continuous reinforcement?

Answer 31

It was revealed that a variable ratio schedule would prolong the behaviour and was most resistant to extinction. Here, reinforcement of given after an unpredictable (variable) number of responses are produced, e.g. Every 5, 12, 15 times the lever is pressed.

Question 32

What did behaviourist John Watson establish?

Answer 32

He revolutionised psychology and established radical behaviourism. He states that consciousness could not be seen or meaningfully defined and therefore should not be studied.

Question 33

What research methods do behaviourists employ to study behaviour?

Answer 33

They adopt a scientific method, and only study things that can be directly observed and measured I.e. Behaviour and the environmental conditions that produce it.

They use controlled lab experiments, often using animals as subjects.

Question 34

Why do behaviourists study animals?

Answer 34

Behaviourists accept Darwin’s theory of evolution - that human beings have evolved from lower animals. As a result, behaviourists see the basic processes of learning as being the same for all species.

So animals can replace humans as experimental objects.

Question 35

What are the advantages/disadvantages of studying animals to demonstrate human behaviour?

Answer 35

✅ More ethical

❌ Anthropomorphism- can’t generalise the behaviour shown by animals as humans are more complex

Question 36

What are the strengths of the research methods used by behaviourists?

Answer 36

• High control of variable which means that a cause and effect relationship between the IV and DV can be established e.g. In Skinner’s study all variables were kept the same apart from the type of reinforcement/punishment.
• Standardised procedures are easy to replicate and therefore show if the results are reliable e.g. Skinner’s experiments are strictly controlled which means that the findings can be replicated to check whether the findings are reliable
• Objective data - all behaviourist experiments measure a behavioural response so are objective and can be directly observed. E.g. You can SEE if the rat has learnt by whether it presses the lever (response) to the pleasant stimuli of a food pellet

Question 37

What are the limitations of the research methods used by behaviourists?

Answer 37

The main limitation of behaviourist experiments are issues with generalisation - most experiments are carried out on animals and it is questionable whether we can apply the findings to humans

Question 38

EVALUATION

Is the behaviourist approach deterministic?

Answer 38

Yes, the behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned. Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history. This ignores any possible influence that free will may have in behaviour. Skinner suggested that any sense of free will is simply an illusion and our past conditioning history determined the outcome.

However the strength of determinism is that the causes of human learning can be predicted and controlled.

Question 39

EVALUATION

Is the behaviourist approach reductionist?

Answer 39

Yes. From a behaviourist perspective, animals (including humans) are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment through S-R links, with little or no conscious insight into their behaviour.

The approach ignores the importance of mental events during learning. Other approaches such as social learning theory and the cognitive approach have emphasised these processes, which mediate between stimulus and response. This suggests that people may play a much more active role in their own learning.