Learning approaches- behaviourism

Question 1

what do behaviourists believe that behaviour is learnt from ?

Answer 1

behaviour is learnt from experience

Question 2

which behaviour is only measurable scientifically according to behaviourists?

Answer 2

only observable behaviour is measurable scientifically

Question 3

what do behaviourists believe that it is valid to study on and why ?

Answer 3

they believe that it is valid to study animals as they share the same principles of learning as humans

Question 4

what do behaviourists believe that we are born as ?

Answer 4

we are born a blank slate

Question 5

what is meant by the idea that we are born a blank slate ?

Answer 5

the idea that you are born with no influences on your behaviour and its the experiences you have after birth that shape your behaviour
- behaviour is nurtured

Question 6

what are the 2 types of conditioning ?

Answer 6

classical conditioning
operant conditioning

Question 7

who investigated classical conditioning ?

Answer 7

Pavlov and his dogs

Question 8

what is meant by classical conditioning ?

Answer 8

learning through association
- involves the conditioning of reflexes by associating a new stimulus with an innate reflex action

Question 9

describe Pavlov’s research

Answer 9

he conditioned a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell
- he paired the bel ( a new conditioned stimulus) with the food ( old innate reflex)
the dog learnt to associate the sound of the bell with food a reflex action (salivation) became a conditioned response

Question 10

what is meant when extinction happens ?

Answer 10

when the learnt behaviour dies out when you stop reinforcing it

Question 11

Pavlov’s findings

Answer 11

stimulus generalisation
stimulus discrimination
time contiguity

Question 12

stimulus generalisation

Answer 12

• pavlov found that if he varied the tone and pitch of the bell, the dog would still salivate

Question 13

stimulus discrimination

Answer 13

• Pavlov found that if the characteristics ere too different the dog would not salivate
• so you can’t pair a bell and a drum

Question 14

time contiguity

Answer 14

-if the time between hearing the sound and receiving the food was too long , the dog would not salivate

Question 15

Watson and Raynor - little Albert procedure

Answer 15

an 11 month old boy was presented with various stimuli i.e rat, rabbit , cotton wool and his responses were filmed. he showed no fear reaction to the stimuli

a fear reaction was then induced by striking a steel bar with a hammer behind his head when he touched the stimuli and this startled him. the procedure was repeated 3 times and variations of the conditioning continued for 3 months

Question 16

findings of little albert experiment

Answer 16

when shown the rat , albert would cry, roll over and crawl away. He had developed fear towards the rat and to the other animals as well as furry objects

Question 17

LA
what was the conditioned stimulus ?

Answer 17

animals

Question 18

LA
what was the unconditioned stimulus ?

Answer 18

the noise of the steel bar and hammer

Question 19

LA
what was the unconditioned response ?

Answer 19

crying and crawling away

Question 20

LA
what was the conditioned response ?

Answer 20

no fear to the animals

Question 21

what is a stimulus ?

Answer 21

something that causes a response

Question 22

who investigated operant conditioning ?

Answer 22

Skinner and his rats

Question 23

what is meant by operant conditioning ?

Answer 23

the principle of learning through consequences

Question 24

what are the 3 parts of operant conditioning ?

Answer 24

positive reinforcement - reward
punishment
negative reinforcement - removing the consequence

Question 25

describe Skinner’s research

Answer 25

skinners box for rats contained a response lever which could prompt the release of a pellet down a chute so that the art could eat. there were also loud speakers and lights which acted as visual and auditory signals/ cues. the floor was metal and could be electrified to produce an electric shock. actions to avoid shock would be rewarded

Question 26

what was the positive reinforcement ?

Answer 26

the pellet

Question 27

what was the punishment ?

Answer 27

the electrified floor

Question 28

hat was the negative reinforcement ?

Answer 28

the electrified floor

Question 29

Skinner’s findings ?

Answer 29

skinner found that as soon as the art learned that it would get a pellet when pressing the lever, it would carry on doing it
- the pressing of the lever then becomes a learned behaviour as the art learns that it is rewarded