behaviourist approach

Question 1

who was it founded by

Answer 1

jb watson in 1915

Question 2

why was pavlov important

Answer 2

for his thoery of clasical condtioning

Question 3

why was skinner important

Answer 3

for his theory of operant conditioning

Question 4

what is it all about

Answer 4

• we are born as “blank slates”
• all we have at birth is the capacity to learn
• all behaviour is learned from the environment
• focus of the approach: observable behaviour

Question 5

assumptions

Answer 5

• behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. observable behaviour can be objectively and scientifically measured
• psychology is a science so behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
• when born our mind is a blank slate
• little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans
• behaviour is the result of stimulus- response
• all behaviour is learnt from the environment. we learn new behaviour through the principles of classical or operant conditioning

Question 6

what is operant conditioning

Answer 6

it explains the learning of voluntary behaviour through positive and negative reinforcement. positive reinforcement occurs when a behaviour produces a consequence that is rewarding, whereas negative reinforcement occurs when a behaviour removes an unpleasant consequence. both positive and negative reinforcement make a behaviour more likely to occur again

Question 7

what is tabula rasa

Answer 7

you are born as a blank slate

Question 8

stimulus

Answer 8

anything, internal or external, that brings about a response

Question 9

response

Answer 9

any reaction in the presence of the stimulus

Question 10

reinforcement

Answer 10

process by which a response is strengthened

Question 11

what are the three types of learning

Answer 11

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• social learning theory

Question 12

what is UCS

Answer 12

unconditioned stimulus

Question 13

what is UCR

Answer 13

unconditioned response

Question 14

what is NS

Answer 14

neutral stimulus

Question 15

what is CR

Answer 15

conditioned response

Question 16

what is CS

Answer 16

conditioned stimulus

Question 17

what is reflex

Answer 17

automatic response (uncontrolled)

Question 18

assumptions

Answer 18

• behaviour is learned by the environment. if we manipulate the environment, we can shape and manipulate behaviour

Question 19

ivan pavlov

Answer 19

was mucking about with dogs in his lab- accidental
and he demonstrated the importance of learning by association in his conditioning experiments

Question 20

what is classical conditioning

Answer 20

-learning by association
-refers to the conditioning of reflexes and involves associating a new stimulus with an innate bodily reflex
- involves pairing a response naturally caused by one stimulus with another, previously neutral stimulus

Question 21

pavlovas dogs

Answer 21

-first pavlov established that food caused the dog to salivate
- unconditioned stimulus (FOOD)
- unconditioned response (SALIVA)
- then pavlov established that a tone did not cause the dog to salivate
- he then presented the tone with the food. after a number of trials the dog is salivating in response to the food at this time
- unconditioned stimulus (FOOD) + neutral stimulus (BELL) = unconditioned response (SALIVA)
- after several pairings of the tone and food, pavlov found that the dog would salivate to the tone when it was presented alone
- conditioned stimulus (BELL) = conditioned response (SALIVA)

Question 22

what did pavlov show

Answer 22

-that learning could be investigated experimentally using non-human participants
-this provided laws of learning-classical conditioning
- this has provided therapies for conditions such as phobias and addictions

Question 23

contribution of pavlovs work

Answer 23

• non-observable behaviour could not be studied in this way
• therapeutic techniques have been successful in eliminating maladaptive behaviours
• difficulties in extrapolating from animals to humans
• supporting human evidence- little albert
• issue of environmental determinism of focus on free will

Question 24

little albert

Answer 24

watson and rayner would place a white rat in front of albert but when albert went to reach the rat, watson would simultaneously strike a metal bar with a hammer, creating a loud noise. this was repeated fro many weeks
results: watson and rayner found that when the rat was presented alone, albert became frightened and tried to get away from the rat
- neutral stimulus (NS) no fear of rats (before conditioning)
- rat (NS) and loud bang (UCS) fear (UCR) (during conditioning)
- rat (CS) fear (CR) (evidence of conditioning)

Question 25

operant conditioning

Answer 25

-b.f. skinner claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment- operant conditioning - involves learning through the consequences (positive and negative) of behavioural responses

Question 26

what is reinforcement

Answer 26

anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Question 27

what is positive reinforcement

Answer 27

anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen

Question 28

what is negative reinforcement

Answer 28

anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by removing unpleasant consequences

Question 29

what is punishment

Answer 29

anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant

Question 30

what do positive and negative reinforcers do

Answer 30

strengthen behaviour

Question 31

skinner box

Answer 31

- animal rat or pigeon, learns to press a button or lever in order to get food - if the animal moves close to the leaver, then food appears in order to encourage pecking on the leaver itself - animal has control over its environment - food is a positive consequence of behaviour and so the pecking is repeated - positive reinforcement is the food pallet - negative reinforcement is the electric shock

Question 32

strengths of behaviour post approach

Answer 32

-very scientific with its experimental methodology -helps to establish -replicable -mainly quantitative data-easy to analyse useful applications to education

Question 33

limitations

Answer 33

- much data has been obtained from species such as rats, dogs and pigeons - many forms of learning cannot be satisfactorily explained by classical and operant conditioning- it sees people as passive in their learning with little conscious thoughts influencing their behaviour - deterministic - lack of ecological validity - ethical issues - lack of qualitative data