behaviourism Flashcards
(23 cards)
classical conditioning
- learning by association
- Occurs when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together- an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus. The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned stimulus alone.
operant conditioning
- a form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
- e.g. reinforcement, punishment
neutral stimulus
a stimulus which is not necessarily associated with a specific type of response
unconditioned stimulus
an unlearned stimulus
unconditioned response
an unlearned response
conditioned stimulus
a learned stimulus
conditioned response
a learned response
association
learning to link a stimulus with a response
positive reinforcement
receiving an award when certain behaviour is performed, making the behaviour more likely to be repeated in the future
negative reinforcement
when you avoid something unpleasant and the outcome is a positive experience, making the behaviour more likely to be repeated in the future
punishment
an unpleasant consequence of behaviour, making the behaviour less likely to be repeated in the future
when did the behaviourist approach emerge
- founded by JB Watson in 1915
- emerged at beginning of 20th century
stimulus definition
anything internal or external that brings about a response
response definition
any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
what do behaviourists argue that behaviour is caused by
learnt from the environment through classical and operant conditioning
what did Pavlov explain?
the idea of classical conditioning through testing on animals
Pavlov’s study
- presented dog with a stimulus e.g. bell
- noted that dogs did not respond
- presented dogs with food
- dogs naturally salivated in response
- presented dogs with bell just before feeding them, repeated many times
- dogs formed association between bell and food
- dogs salivated when they heard the bell alone
Watson and Rayner’s study
- presented little Albert with objects that he wasn’t afraid of e.g. fire, monkey, dog, rabbit, rat
- little Albert liked rat best so it would be strongest evidence of learning by association if that changed during study
- when presented with white rat, a loud bar was struck which made Albert scared
- Albert eventually formed an association between the white rat and the loud noise, leading to him developing a phobia
who developed the idea of operant conditioning
- B.F. Skinner
- claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment
what is a Skinner box
an animal chamber used in behavioural psychology to test hypotheses about behaviour and learning
how are Skinner boxes controlled
- sound proof
- automatically dispensed food
- small but still allow animals to move freely
what happened in Skinner’s study of operant conditioning
positive reinforcement:
- every time the rat activated a lever, it was rewarded with a food pellet
- the rat continued to press the lever
negative reinforcement:
- every time the rat was in the cage, it was subjected to electric shocks
- when the rat pressed the lever, the shocks stopped
- the rat continued to press the lever, avoiding the shocks
assumptions of behaviourism
- mind is a blank slate at birth
- concerned with observable behaviour as opposed to internal events (e.g. thinking, emotion) because it can be objectively/scientifically measured
- Psychology is a science so behaviour must be measured in controlled environments (lab)
- research can be carried out on animals because there is little difference in learning between animals and humans
- behaviour is a result of a stimulus
