PAPER 2 - APPROACHES - the behaviourist approach Flashcards
what is the fundamental belief of the behaviourist approach?
all behaviour is learned through classical and operant conditioning
what was Pavlov able to get the dogs to do?
able to train the dogs to salivate when a bell rang without presence of food, by associating the food and bell together
what is the UCS in Pavlov’s experiment?
food
what is the NS in Pavlov’s experiment?
bell
what is the UCR in Pavlov’s experiment?
salivation
what happens during the acquisition phase?
- an NS that doesn’t elicit the UCR is presented shortly after the UCS
- after many pairings of the NS+UCS, changes the NS to be able to produce the same response in the absence of the UCS
why is ‘timing’ important?
if NS cannot be used to predict the UCS conditioning doesn’t take place - may take too long and cant associate
what is meant by ‘extinction’?
Pavlov discovered that unlike the UCR, the CR does not become permanently established as a response
what is meant by ‘spontaneous recovery’?
following extinction, if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again, the link is made much more quicky
what is meant by ‘stimulus generalisation’?
Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned, they will also respond to stimuli similar to the CS
what is classical conditioning?
learning through association (NS associated with UCS causing an unconditioned response)
what is operant conditioning?
learning through reinforcement - shapes behaviour through consequences
what is positive reinforcement?
adding a pleasant consequence to a behaviour
what is negative reinforcement?
taking away something unpleasant to a behaviour
what is punishment?
an unpleasant consequence to behaviour and decreases likelihood of it occuring
