Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
(34 cards)
What are the three assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
Blank slate
Behaviour learnt through conditioning
Humans and animals learn in similar ways
What is the blank slate?
Nurture
Behaviour is determined by external factors
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
Bandura = demonstrated how children learn aggression through external factors, children followed agressive role model
What is behaviour is learnt through conditioning?
Classic conditioning
Operating conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
Associate two things that give the same response = pavlov presents dogs with food and they salivate when they hear a bell
What is operant conditioning?
Refers to something that will increase the likelihood of a behaviour
Reinforcement = positive or negative, this weakens or enforces behaviour
In punishment it decreases the chance that behaviour will happen again
What is humans and animals learn in similar ways?
Findings from animals can be applied to predict human behaviour
Pavlov used dogs to develop the concept of classical conditioning
What is behaviourst therapy?
Aversion therapy
How does aversion therapy work?
Individuals are presented with an unpleasant stimulus, eg electric shock, that makes them feel nauseous whilst engaging in an undesirable behaviour
How do clients end up not wanting to engage in the undesirable behaviour?
The aversive stimulus is repeatedly paired with the undesirable behaviour, and leads to the same consequences
What is covert sensitisation?
Where the client uses their imagination rather than actually experiencing negative consequences
What is an example of covert sensitisation?
Alcoholics are required to imagine upsetting, repulsive scenes whilst drinking
What would the next stage in covert sensitisation be?
Getting the client to imagine scenarios that get worse, such as feeling really sick after alcohol to imagining throwing up over someone = employs systematic desensitisation
What are the main components of aversion therapy?
Covert sensitisation
New developments
Operant conditioning
What are new developments?
Drugs that make users feel sick if they use them with alcohol, but by reward abstinence by inducing feelings of tranquility and well being (Badawy)
What is operant conditioning?
Once the association has been made with the once pleasant stimulus and unpleasant response, the person tends to avoid future contact with the stimulus
What is an example of operant conditioning?
An alcoholic may avoid going into pubs where people are drinking = negative reinforcement is in place, motivating the individual to avoid these situations
What are the effectiveness points in aversion therapy for evaluation?
Research
Dropout
Are the effects long term?
Symptom substitution
What is the research evaluation of aversion therapy?
Study of alcoholics
Miller
Compared effectiveness of three types of treatment
- aversion therapy (shocks)
- counselling + aversion
- counselling alone
What did Miller find?
Recovery was the same, aversion therapy offered no benefit
What did smith et al find about research in aversion therapy?
Alcoholics treated with aversion therapy had higher abstinence rates after one year than those counselling alone
Also success with smokers, 52% treated with shocks maintained abstinence after one year
What is the behaviourist classic evidence?
Watson and Rayner
What is the methodology of Watson and Rayner
Male infant
Nine months
Albert B
Investigation to determine the effects of certain stimuli
Controlled observation
What are the procedure stages of Watson and Rayner
9 months
11 months and 3 days
11 months and 10 days
11 months and 15 days
11 months and 20 days
1 year and 21 days
What happened at 9 months for Albert
Confronted with a white rat, rabbit, dog
He showed no fear response to animals
He trembled and cried when a steel bar was struck to test his fear reaction
