The Behavioural Approach and SLT (Approaches)

Question 1

Watson and Rayner 1920 ‘Little Albert’

Answer 1

Created a conditioned response to these by striking a metal bar loudly behind Albert’s head when presented with these animals

When shown a rat he would start to cry showing a fear response had been conditioned and that abnormal behaviour can be learnt

Supports Pavlovs classical conditioning

Very unethical and lacked ecological validity (lab study)

Question 2

Assumptions of the Behavioural Approach

Answer 2

Psychology is a science

When born our mind is a blank state

All behaviour is learnt from the environment

Question 3

3 Key concepts of the Behavioural Approach

SRR

Answer 3

Stimulus: anything internal or external, that brings about a response.

Response: any reaction in the presence of a stimulus.

Reinforcement: the process by which a response is strengthened

Question 4

Unconditioned Stimulus

Answer 4

Causes the reflex response before conditioning

Question 5

Conditioned Stimulus

Answer 5

Stimulus which produces the response

Question 6

Unconditioned response

Answer 6

Response to a stimulus that has not been controlled

Question 7

Conditioned response

Answer 7

Response after exposure to the conditioned stimulus

Question 8

Pavlov’s classical conditioning (Pavlov’s dogs)

Answer 8

Pavlov established that meat caused the dog to salivate

-unconditioned stimulus (FOOD) = unconditioned response (SALIVA)

Then he presented the tone with the food.

-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 9

Method (Skinner 1938 rats showing operant conditioning)

Answer 9

Rats were placed into a ‘Skinner Box’ which contained a variety of stimuli: a speaker, lights, a floor which gave an electric shock and a food dispenser which was operated with a lever.

A hungry rat was placed into the box and the time taken for the rates to learn that pressing the lever would release food was recorded.

Question 10

Results (Skinner 1938 rats showing operant conditioning)

Answer 10

Initially, the rat would run around the cage until it accidentally pressed the lever and it was rewarded with food.

The more the rat was put back into the box, the quicker they got at learning where the lever was.

Question 11

Conclusion (Skinner 1938 rats showing operant conditioning)

Answer 11

Rats can learn behaviour through operant conditioning. A behaviour such as pressing a lever can be positively reinforced by receiving food.

Question 12

Evaluation (Skinner 1938 rats showing operant conditioning)

Answer 12

Established cause and effect in controlled lab experiments

It used animals, meaning that results may not be generalised to humans.

The sample size was small, reducing reliability of the results.

Question 13

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 13

Increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves a reward for the behaviour

Question 14

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 14

Increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves the removal of unpleasant consequences

Question 15

Punishment

Answer 15

The consequence is receiving something unpleasant which decreases the probability of a behaviour being repeated.

Question 16

Operant conditioning

Answer 16

Learning through consequence (punishment and reinforcement)

Rewarding reinforces a behaviour so is performed more frequently

Actions that are punished are performed less

Question 17

Classical Conditioning

Answer 17

Learning by association

Question 18

Evaluations of Behavourist Approach

Answer 18

Has practical applications - counter conditioning (flooding and systematic desensitisation)

Pavlov and Skinner established cause and effect using controlled lab experiments. However used animals so findings may not be generalisable

Using behavourist behaviour modification can be seen as manipulative (gambling encourages compulsive behaviour)

Question 19

Social Learning Theory

Answer 19

Learning can occur simply through observing others- others in our environment

Question 20

Albert Bandura (1961) Procedure

Answer 20

Children aged 3-6

One group observed an adult demonstrating aggression towards a Bobo doll

The second watched an adult play non-aggressively

Question 21

Albert Bandura (1961) Findings

Answer 21

Learning occurs from observing others

Children exposed to an aggressive model were more likely to be aggressive (imitation)

Question 22

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 22

We learn through modelling - learning through the observation of other people (models)

May lead to imitation (repetition) of the behaviour if behaviour is rewarded.

Question 23

SLT evaluations

Answer 23

Environmental control where participants follow same procedure

Less reductionist Approach

Lacks ecological validity where aggression in a lab may not translate to real world scenarios

SLT not directly observable and require inferences

Question 24

Examples of conditioning

Answer 24

Pavlovs dogs and Little Albert - classic
Skinners rats - operant