Behaviourist Approach

Question 1

What type of behaviour does the behaviourist approach study?

Answer 1

Behaviour that can be observed and measured.

Question 2

What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

• Rejects Introspection
• Maintain more control and objectivity within their research
• Rely on lab studies

Question 3

What does the behaviourist approach think about behaviour?

Answer 3

That all behaviour is learned.

-They describe a babies mind as a ‘blank slate’ and this is written on by experiences.

Question 4

What are the two Important forms of learning?

Answer 4

Classical conditioning & Operant conditioning

Question 5

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 5

Learning through association

Question 6

What experiment was done on Classical conditioning?

Answer 6

• Pavlov showed how dogs can be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food.
• Pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell (stimulus) with the food (another stimulus) and then would salivate every time they heard the sound.

Question 7

What is Operant conditioning?

Answer 7

Learning through consequences

Question 8

What did Pavlov find out with classical conditioning?

Answer 8

How a neutral stimulus can come to evoke a new learned response (conditioned response) through association.

Question 9

How is behaviour shaped through Operant conditioning?

Answer 9

• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• Punishment

Question 10

Who said that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment?

Answer 10

B.F. Skinner

Question 11

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 11

Recieving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.
Example: Praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class

Question 12

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 12

When an animal or human avoids something unpleasant. The outcome is a positive experience.
Example: When a student hands in their homework to avoid getting a detention.

Question 13

What experiment was done on Operant conditioning?

Answer 13

The skinner box

• Skinner conducted experiments with rats and sometimes pigeons
• They were conducted in specially designed cages called ‘Skinner boxes’
• Every time the rat activated a lever within the box it was rewarded with a food pellet
• From then on the animal would continue to perform the behaviour
  (positive reinforcement)
• Skinner also showed how rats and pigeons could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus, an electric shock
  (negative reinforcement)

Question 14

What did Skinner find out about Operant conditioning?

Answer 14

Positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated. Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.

Question 15

What is Punishment?

Answer 15

An unpleasant consequence of behaviour.
Example: Being shouted at by the teacher for talking during class

Question 16

What is Reinforcement?

Answer 16

A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. Can be positive or negative.

Question 17

Strengths - Behaviourist approach

Answer 17

Well controlled research:
- measures observable behaviour
- highly controlled lab settings
- suggest behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility

Real-world application:
- principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours
- operant conditioning has been used successfully in institutions, e.g. prisons and psychiatric wards
- classical conditioning has been applied to the treatment of phobias
- Increases the value of behaviourist approach due to its widespread application

Question 18

Limitations - Behaviourist approach

Answer 18

Oversimplifying the behaviourist approach:
- CA for well controlled research
- behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process
- By reducing behaviour to such simple components
- May have ignored important influences of learning (mental processes)
- Suggests that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone
- And that private mental processes are also essential

Environmental determinism:
- sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences
- Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum of our reinforcement history
- This ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour
- This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour

Ethical Issues:
- animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions for the experiments
- And deliberately kept below their average weight so they were always hungry