Behaviourist Approach

Question 1

What are the three asumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 1

• Humans are born like a blank slate
• Behvaiour is learned through conditioning
• Humans and animals learn in similar ways

Question 2

What does ‘tabula rasa’ mean?

Answer 2

A blank slate

Question 3

What does born like a blank slate mean?

Answer 3

Everything you are is a result of experiance, nothing is innate
Only born with the most basic of responses and will be molded by the environment

Question 4

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 4

Learning through association

Question 5

What are the two types of conditioning?

Answer 5

Classical and operant

Question 6

How does classical conditioning happen?

Answer 6

An association is made between a previously unlearned response and a neutral stimulus. Eventually the neutral stimulus will produce the unlearned response

Question 7

What is an example of classical conditioning?

Answer 7

Pavlov’s dogs

Question 8

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 8

Learning through consequences

Question 9

What was the neutral stimulus and the unconditoned response in Pavlolv’s dogs experiment?

Answer 9

NS~A bell sound
UCR~Salivation

Question 10

What does operant conditioning focus on?

Answer 10

Reward and punishment

Question 11

What are the two types of reinforcement?

Answer 11

Positive and negative

Question 12

Does punishement and reinforcement strengthen or weaken behaviiour?

Answer 12

Reinforcement~Strengthens
Punishment~Weakens

Question 13

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 13

Reward or pleasant consequence is offered as a response to a desired behaviour

Question 14

What is a negative reinforcement?

Answer 14

An unpleasant experiance is removed as a result of a desired behaviour being presented

Question 15

What is a punishment?

Answer 15

An unpleasant stimulus which is given as a result of an undesired behaviour, so we try to avoid it

Question 16

What is an example of operant conditioning?

Answer 16

Skinner’s box

Question 17

What is meant by ‘humans and animals learn in similar ways’?

Answer 17

Behaviourists are able to use lab studies. This is because they belive humans and animals learn in similar ways, this means they can generalise their findings from animals and apply them to human behvaiour~human behaviour is determined by stimulus-response relationships

Question 18

What’s the therapy of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 18

Aversion Therapy

Question 19

What are the components of aversion therapy?

Answer 19

• Classical conditioning
• Covert sensatisation
• Operant conditioning
• New developments

Question 20

How is classical conditioning used in aversion therapy?

Answer 20

Aversion therapy aims to pair the unwanted behaviour with an unpleasant stimulus (UCS), to reduce this behaviour
* UCS produces an UCR
* Aversive stimulus is paired with unwanted behaviour, the behaviour now leads to the same consequences
* This is done repeatedly, the outcome of the unwanted behaviour (NS) is now a CS

Question 21

Give an example of new developments in aversion therapy

Answer 21

A drug which makes the person sick if mixed with alcohol, but rewards abstinence with feelings of tranquility and well-being

Question 22

What’s a consequence of new developments in aversion therapy?

Answer 22

Patients may become reliant of the feeling of tranquility provided by the drugs and becomes addicted/dependent of these drugs to be happy

Question 23

Describe covert sensitisation

Answer 23

This process encourages the patient to imagine unwanted scenarios that progressively get worse when the undesired behaviour is shown

Question 24

Give an example of covert sensitiastion

Answer 24

A patient who wants to stop drinking alcohol would be asked to imagine repulsive scenes ,e.g. being sick, when they consume alcohol

Question 25

How is operant conditioning used in aversion therapy and how does it work?

Answer 25

Once the association is made between the undesired behaviour and a conditioned response, the person tends to avoid futurecontact with the stimulus Negatuve reinforcement is now motivating the individual to continue to avoid the stimulus

Question 26

Give an example of operant conditioning in aversion therapy

Answer 26

An alcoholic may avoid going to pubs or other scenarios where people may be drinking

Question 27

What are the effectiveness strengths and limitations of aversion therapy?

Answer 27

Strengths:research to support Limitations:patient dropout and treating the symptoms not the cause

Question 28

What is the research support for aversion therapy and why is it a strength?

Answer 28

Smith(1997):found that alcoholics who were treated with aversion therapy has higher abstinence rates than those who were treated with counselling alone There is research to highlight to success of this therapy

Question 29

What is the example for patient dropout for aversion therapy and what does it suggest?

Answer 29

Bancroft:found 50% of patients either reduse their treatment or dropped out of the treatment programmes This suggests that only willing participants are participating in the therapy

Question 30

What are the ethical issues of aversion therapy?

Answer 30

* Level of control over patient * Used in the treatment of homosexuality

Question 31

Describe the level of control over patient paragraph of aversion therapy evaluation

Answer 31

* Aversion therapy can have serious physical/psychological unpleasant impacts on the patient * Example:In many cases aversion therapy would involve electrical shocks when the undesired behaviour is shown * This is a weakness as it may cause additional trauma to the patient

Question 32

Describe the use of aversion therapy for homosexuality paragraph for aversion therapy?

Answer 32

* Up till 2006 both the USA and Uk used electric shock aversion therapy to treat homosexuality * For example:Billy Clegg-Hill (1962) died after he had undergone aversion therapy to 'cure' homosexuality * This is an ethical issues as aversion therapy has an unethical history and if brought back into use it may lead people to believ that it can infact 'cure' homosexuality

Question 33

What is the classical research for the behaviourist approach?

Answer 33

Watson and Rayner (1920) Conditioned emotional reactions

Question 34

What is the debate for the behaviourist approach and what are the three themes?

Answer 34

Conditioning techniques on children 1. Conditioning at home 2. Conditioning in school 3. Conditioning on vulnerable groups

Question 35

Describe the methodology of Watson and Rayner's research

Answer 35

* Participant was little albert~selected as they believed that they would only cause relatively little harm to little albert as he was on the whole solid and unemotional * Not case study=research is not an in-depth analysis of little albert's life/Not an experiment=no manipulation of IV to see the effect on DV * It is a controlled observation

Question 36

# What stages were included in each What were the three phases of Watson and Rayner's research?

Answer 36

* Establishing an emotional response:Stage one and two * Transfering a conditioned response to another stimuli:Stage four * The effect of time on conditioning:Stage five

Question 37

Describe the procedure of Watson and Rayner's research

Answer 37

1. Presented white rate (NS) and a bar was struck behind albert's head~no further tests for a week (age 11m 3d) 2. Rat presented agaon but closer,blocks given as a distraction,repeated joint presentation og the rate&loud noise (age 11m 10d) 3. Rabbit&Dog with blocks between,fur coat&cotten alone,Watson put his hair infront of albert(age 11m 15d) 4. Change location(large well lit room with 4ppl)~rat,rabbit&dog,joint presentation of rat and bar~Dog made to bark at albert 5. Rat placed on albert's arm then chest,rabbit placed in his lapp,dog pushed closer to him

Question 38

Describe the findings of Watson and Rayner's research

Answer 38

1. Rat:fell foward 2.Rat:fell,cried instantly,crawled away 3.Rat:fell over/Rabbit:wimpered,cried/Cotton wool:kicked away/Watson's hair:ignored 4. Rat:bent over crying/Rabbit:leaned as far as possible/Changed location/Rat:hands up/Dog:fell over when it barked 5. SC:whimpered,cried/Fur coat:withdrew/Rat:leaned back/Rabbit:shuddered/Dog:cried with both hands over face

Question 39

What were the incidental findings of Watson and Rayner's research?

Answer 39

Albert often sucked his thumb for comfort,fear response dissapeared when he did so. Behaviour-it was believed he did so to block out his fear response

Question 40

# Four conclusions What are the conclusions of Watson and Rayner's research simplified?

Answer 40

1. Fear of a previously neurtal stimulus can be conditioned by presenting it simultaneously with an established negative stimulus 2. A conditioned response can be transfered to other animals or objects-stimulus generalisation 3. The conditioned response changes over time~remained after a period of 1wk 1month later it transfered to other stimuli~response will persist and modify personality over time 4. The emotional reponse may not be able to be removed~unclear as little albert left the hsopital so the CR couldn't be removed

Question 41

What are the two methodolgical evaluation points of Watson and Rayner's research?

Answer 41

High levels of control and sample

Question 42

How did Watson and Rayner ensure high levels of control and why is it a strength??

Answer 42

* Took place in a controlled environment and EVs were controlled for * Baseline test done with Albert to see his reponses to stimulu before the study * Study was filmed * Increases the validity and makes it easier to draw conclusions on whether fear can be conditioned

Question 43

# Give an example of high levels of control within the experiment Why might high levels of control always be a strength?

Answer 43

Artificial and unnatural environment for a baby to be in and exhibit certain behaviours~decreases the ecological validity of the study For example:W&R used builidng blocks as a control condition to use as a comparison to other stimuli

Question 44

Why is the sample of Watson and Rayner's research a weakness?

Answer 44

The research only has one participant Watson conclueded that Albert developed a phobia due to classical conditioning~without a control group this can not be said conclusively and it cannot be generalised (can be solved using other participnats) This decreases the population validity of the study

Question 45

What are three ethical issues and describe how they're present in Watson and Rayner's research?

Answer 45

* Protection from harm:little albert was conditioned to have a phobia~Watson never unconditioned the fear * Confidentiality:little albert was a fake name but enough information was included to allow people to discover his identity * Right to withdraw:little albert was too young to talk and could only cry if he was unhappy,stressed or upset, which may have been taken as findings to support the research

Question 46

What are the scientific benefits of Watson and Rayner's study?

Answer 46

Demonstrated that phobias can be learnt through conditioning Understanding of phobia development can be incorporated into treatments of this form of behaviour throught the use of systematic densentisiation However,scientific benefits don't outweight the ethical costs as the study could have used a consenting adult

Question 47

What is the alternative evidence for Watson and Rayner's research?

Answer 47

Another study proposed that operant conditioning could explain the maintenance of phobias that have been formed of a result of classical conditioning Once a fear is conditoned the individual will avoid the situation,avoidance of the phobia stimulus reduces the fear and thus the reinforcing | This is known as the two-process theory