Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
Four assumptions for behaviourist approach
- Behaviour is learned from experience
- Humans are all born as a blank slate
- Only observable behaviour is scientific and measurable
- Its valid to study animals as they share the same principles of learning
What is the behaviourist approach all to do with
All to do with the environment, no genetics involved
What’s a stimulus
The thing that causes a behaviour
What does being born as a blank slate mean
Humans are born without any genetic advantage. Everyone’s the same, develop behaviour from the environment
What is the law of effect (in pe aswell)
If behaviour is followed by satisfying consequences (a safisfier) it is more likely to be repeated
Describe Pavlovs study
- Pavlovs study was all to do with classical conditioning, which is learning by association and reflex actions can be manipulated
- Reflex action for the dog when the food is in sight is salivation
- Pavlov paired feeding the dogs and ringing bell so dogs knew they were about to get fed
- However, he then rang the bell but didn’t feed the dogs and they still salivated
Classical conditioning involves what type of behaviour
Reflex actions
State the UCS, UCR, NS, CS and CR for Pavlovs study
UCS= The food UCR= Salivation NS= The bell CS= The bell CR= Salivation
What other study was performed in terms of classical conditioning, other than Pavlovs dogs
Little Albert
Describe Little Alberts study
- Little Albert was presented with a white rat and showed no fear
- Then he was presented with a rat again however this time with a loud noise and he began to cry
- After continuous association of the white rat and loud noise, Little Albert was classically conditioned to experience fear at the sight of the rat
- Little Albert was noticed to be scared of anything white and fluffy
- Pavlovs dogs salivated at the sound of any bell, not just the original sound
What do these examples show
Stimulus generalisation
The point at which the stimulus is no longer generalised is called what
Stimulus discrimination
E.g. Pavlov used different internment’s to make noises, getting further and further away from the bell like sound, until he found the stimulus discrimination point at which the dogs will no longer discriminate
What does operant conditioning involve
Voluntary behaviour as opposed to classical conditioning which involves reflex actions
What’s a study to do with operant conditioning
The Skinner box
What does reinforcement refer to
Reinforcement refers to anything that increases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring