Approaches - Behaviourist approach

Question 1

What is the behaviourism in the learning approach?

Answer 1

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.

Question 2

What are the main terms used in the behaviourism in the learning approach?

Answer 2

Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement

Question 3

Describe Pavlov’s research into classical conditioning.

Answer 3

• Pavlov established that meat caused the dog to salivate.
• Meat was an unconditioned stimulus provoking an unconditioned response.
• He established the tone did not cause the dog to salivate provoking no response.
• He presented the tone with the meat - the dog salivates in response to the meat.
• After a while, Pavlov found that the dog would salivate to the tone when it was presented.
• The tone had become the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response was salivation.

Question 4

What does operant conditioning involve?

Answer 4

Reinforcement

Punishment

Question 5

What are the two forms of reinforcement?

Answer 5

Positive reinforcement - rewards behaviour so that it is more likely to happen again.
Negative reinforcement - rewards behaviour by removing a negative consequence making it more likely that it will happen again.

Question 6

What is punishment?

Answer 6

Punishes a certain behaviour making it less likely that it will happen again.

Question 7

What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 7

• All behaviors are learnt from our environment
• Focus on observable behavior (behavior that can be seen)
• Animals and humans learn in the same ways so behaviorists carry out experiments on animals and extrapolate the results to humans
• Psychology should be scientific and objective therefore behaviorists use mainly laboratory experiments to achieve this

Question 8

What happened in the Skinner Box study?

Answer 8

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 quickly learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box
This suggests that positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Question 9

What are the applications of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What are the strengths of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 10

• Behaviorism has experimental support: Pavlov showed that classical conditioning leads to learning by association. Watson and Rayner showed that phobias can be learnt through classical conditioning in the “little Albert” experiment.
• It introduced the scientific methods to psychology. Laboratory experiments were used with high control of extraneous variables. These experiments were replicable and the data obtained was objective (not influenced by an individual’s judgement or opinion) and measurable. This gave psychology more credibility.
• It has practical applications for example systematic desensitisation based on classical conditioning is used in the treatment of phobias. Classical and operant conditioning have also been used to explain attachment.

Question 11

What are the limitations of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 11

• Many of the experiments carried out were done on animals; we are different cognitively and physiologically, humans have different social norms and moral values these mediate the effects of the environment therefore we might behave differently from animals so the laws and principles derived from these experiments might apply more to animals than to humans.
• It does not explain important aspects of human behavior such as memory and problem solving as these are internal mental events which cannot be observed.
• It does not take into account biological factors such as the role of neurotransmitters, for example a low level of serotonin can give rise to depression or high level of dopamine is involved in OCD.
• It sees people as passive in their learning with little conscious thoughts influencing their behavior; other approaches recognise the importance of mental events in the learning process.
• It neglects the influence of free will as it argues that our behavior is the result of previous conditioning. Skinner argues that free will is an illusion.

Question 12

How does free will vs determinism relate to behaviourism?

Answer 12

Strong determinism of the behavioral approach as all behavior is learnt from our environment through classical and operant conditioning. We are the sum total of our previous conditioning.
Softer determinism of the social learning approach theory as it recognises an element of choice as to whether we imitate a behavior or not.

Question 13

How does nature vs nurture relate to behaviourism?

Answer 13

Behaviorism is very much on the nurture side of the debate as it argues that our behavior is learnt from the environment.
The social learning theory is also on the nurture side because it argues that we learn our behavior from role models in our environment.
The behaviorist approach proposes that apart from a few innate reflexes and the capacity for learning, all complex behavior is learned from the environment.

Question 14

How does holism Vs reductionism relate to behaviourism?

Answer 14

The behaviorist approach and social learning are reductionist; they isolate parts of complex behaviors to study.

The behaviorists take the view that all behavior, no matter how complex, can be broken down into the fundamental processes of conditioning.

Question 15

How does Idiographic Vs nomothetic relate to behaviourism?

Answer 15

It is a nomothetic approach as it views all behavior governed by the same laws of conditioning.

However, it does account for individual differences and explain them in terms of difference of history of conditioning.

Question 16

Are the research methods used in this approach scientific?

Answer 16

The behaviorist approach uses lab. experiments which are highly controlled therefore they are replicable. Furthermore, it measures observable behaviors, therefore no interpretations is required therefore the data is objective.
However the behaviorists use animal experiments as it assumes that humans learn in the same way than animals.