Approaches Studies Flashcards
What is an example of classical conditioning
Pavlov’s dog
What did Pavlov’s dog conclude?
-Dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell , if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food
-Gradually the dogs would associate the sound of the bell with food , and would salivate every time they heard the sound
Explain the procedure used for Pavlov’s dog
(1)Before conditioning:
The dog is given the food (unconditioned stimulus), which leads to salivation (unconditioned response)
(2)
Pavlov rings the bell (neutral stimulus) , which does not cause the dog to salivate (no conditioned response)
(3)During conditioning:
The bell is presented at the same time as the food, which leads to salivation(unconditioned response)
(4)After conditioning:
The bell (conditioned stimulus) is presented on its own, which leads to salivation (conditioned response)
What is an example of operant conditioning?
Skinners box
Explain the procedure used for Skinner’s box
-He conducted experiments with rats and pigeons in a box. The box records an animal’s behaviour in a compressed time frame
Positive reinforcement was investigated, by rewarding the rat with a food pellet every time they pressed a lever
-After many reps. the rat would press the lever because it expected pellets
Negative reinforcement was investigated, by electrocuting the floor every time the lever was pressed
-The rat would avoid pressing the lever to avoid getting electrocuted
What were the findings for the Skinner’s box research?
-Because of positive reinforcement, after many reps, the rat would press the lever because it expected pellets
-Because of negative reinforcement, the rat would avoid pressing the lever to avoid getting electrocuted
Who did research for social learning theory/mediational processes?
Bandura
What was the aim of Bandura’s research?
To see if social behaviours can be acquired through observation and imitation
Explain the sample of Bandura’s research
-He tested 36 boys and girls aged 3-6 from the Stanford University Nursery School
-The researchers pre tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing them and judged their behaviour on a four 5 point rating scale
-They then matched children with similar levels of aggression, therefore it is a matched pairs design
Explain the method of Bandura’s research
-A lab experiment was used , in which the independent variable (the type of model) was manipulated in three conditions
-72 kids were placed into one of three groups, each group had equal numbers of boys and girls
-24 saw an aggressive model of a boy and a girl,
24 saw a non aggressive model of a boy and girl,
24 were a control group that didn’t see a model
What were the results of Bandura’s research?
-Children who saw the aggressive model made far more aggressive imitative responses than those who saw the non aggressive model and the control group
-Boys were more likely to imitate same sex models than girls
-Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls
What were the conclusions of Bandura’s research
Children are able to learn social behaviour ,such as aggression through observing the behaviour of another person
Evaluate the strengths of Bandura’s research
Strength:
-The children’s behaviour may have actually been effected as all the variables ,other than the independent, were controlled
-Variables were controlled, such as gender of the model, behaviour of the model, etc.
-Standardized procedures were used, which means the experiment can be replicated easily
Evaluate the limitations of Bandura’s research
Limitations:
-Low ecological validity as the situation involves a child and an adult model, which is a very limited social situation
-Demonstrations are measured almost immediately. With such snapshot studies, we cannot discover if such a single exposure can have long term effects
-It may have been unethical as there is no way to know if the study had negative long term effects on the children
