4.2.1 BEHAVIOURIST

Question 1

what are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

• all behaviour is learnt from environment
• nothing is innate (part of you)
• believes we’re all born a blank slate (tabula rosa)
• everything is written on as our life experiences increase and teach us
• reject introspection
  -> not observable behaviour (they only study what they see)
  -> not scientific enough

Question 2

the behaviourist assumption states that we learn through 2 processes - classical conditioning and operant conditioning

what is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

• learning through association
• first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov -> Pavlov’s dogs

before conditioning
- food = unconditional stimulus (UCS)
- salivation = unconditional response (UCR)

during conditioning
- bell = neutral stimulus (NS)
- food = unconditional stimulus (UCS)
- salivation = unconditional response (UCR)

after conditioning
- bell = conditioned stimulus (CS)
- salivation = conditioned response (CR)

dogs learnt to associate the bell with food - salivation was triggered with the sound of the bell

Question 3

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 3

• learning through rewards and consequences

positive reinforcement
= addition of something to strengthen behaviour
eg) sweets given for something good

negative reinforcement
= removal of unpleasant stimulus strengthens behaviour
eg) x has a headache, y sends them for paracetamol
paracetamol removes unpleasant headache
x takes paracetamol next time

punishment
= an unpleasant consequence to extinguish behaviour
eg) a detention

Question 4

what is The Skinner Box (1953) study?

Answer 4

EXPERIMENT ONE
- a hungry rat was placed in a cage
- every time he activated the lever a food pellet fell in the food dispenser (positive reinforcement)
- the rats learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box
- suggests that positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

EXPERIMENT TWO
- rat placed in a cage
- subjected to an uncomfortable electrical current
- when the rat hit the lever, it shut off the current (negative reinforcement)
- quickly learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box
- suggest that negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Question 5

what are some real life applications of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 5

• behaviourism has increased our understanding of the causes of phobias and attachment
• has given rise to therapies such as systematic desensitisation and token economy

classical = explanation and treatement of phobias
operant = token economies

Question 6

what are some strengths of this approach?

Answer 6

1) has experimental support
- Pavlov showed classical conditioning leads to learning by association
- Watson and Rayner showed that phobias can be learnt through classical conditioning in the “little Albert” experiment

2) introduced the scientific methods to psychology
- lab experiments were used with high control of extraneous variables
- these are replicable and the data is objective and measurable
- this increased psychology’s credibility

3) has practical applications
- systematic desensitisation based on classical conditioning is used to treat phobias
- classical + operant conditioning have been used to explain attachment

Question 7

what are some limitations of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 7

1) many experiments were carried out on animals
- humans are different cognitively + physiologically
- may behave differently from animals
- the laws and principles derived from these experiments might apply more to animals than to humans (generalisation)
- poses ethical issues

2) doesn’t explain important aspects of human behaviour
- like memory and problem solving and role of thinking
- these are internal mental events which cannot be observed

3) doesn’t take into account biological factors
- role of neurotransmitters / genetics

4) sees people as passive in their learning with little conscious thoughts influencing their behaviour
- mechanistic view of humans

5) neglects the influence of free will
- Skinner argues that free will is an illusion

6) lab based studies are artificial

7) evidence shows ppl can also learn based on observing other ppl behaviourism
- can’t account for these findings