The Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What are the 3 main assumptions of behaviourism?
-There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals.
-We are born with our minds as a ‘blank slate’ (tabula rasa).
-All behaviour is learnt through the environment.
What does UCS mean?
Unconditioned stimulus.
What does UCR mean?
Unconditioned response.
What does NS mean?
Neutral stimulus.
What does CS mean?
Conditioned stimulus.
What does CR mean?
Conditioned response.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association.
What is a stimulus?
Anything that brings about a response.
What is a response?
A reaction to a stimulus.
What is reinforcement?
The process where a response is strengthened.
What are the two types of learning?
Classical conditioning (CC) and operant conditioning (OC).
How did Pavlov experiment classical conditioning with his dogs?
- He presented his dogs with food (UCS), causing them to salivate (UCR).
- He paired the food (UCS) with ringing a bell (NS), causing them to salivate (UCR).
- After a few trials, ringing a bell (now CS) alone caused the dogs to salivate (CR).
How did Pavlov experiment classical conditioning with his dogs (simplified)?
- Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR).
- Food (UCS) + Bell (NS) = Salivation (UCR).
- Bell (CS) = Salivation (CR).
What is the rule on the NS?
The NS will always become the CS.
A child is afraid of spiders. One day he is in a lift and notices a spider. Now he is afraid of lifts. What is the 3 step process (simplified)?
- Spider (UCS) = Fear (UCR).
- Spider (UCS) + Lift (NS) = Fear (UCR).
- Lift (CS) = Fear (CR).
What are advantages of classical conditioning?
-Aversion therapy: associating a dysfunctional behaviour (like drinking) with a UCR (like vomiting) to produce a new CS. Uses ‘Antabuse’, which reacts with alcohol in the blood stream; the drug causes the drinker to feel violent nausea.
-Systematic desensitisation: associating a troubling CR (like a phobia) with the CS (like a spider) in a relaxing, safe environment. Gradually, the patient stops associating fear with the spider. The spider goes back to being a NS, producing no reaction.
What are disadvantages of classical conditioning?
-Dogs don’t have conscious thoughts, human behaviour is more complex.
-Deterministic: ignores motives and personality. George Best was able to keep drinking in spite of aversion therapy, which suggests that there is more to human behaviour than just stimulus-response.
Who conducted the case study on Little Albert?
Watson & Rayner (1920).
What was the aim of the Little Albert case study?
To investigate whether an emotional response (e.g. fear) can be conditioned in a human being.
What was the method for the Little Albert case study?
*Watson & Rayner would place a white rat in front of in front of Albert.
*When Albert went to reach the rat, Watson would simultaneously strike a metal bar with a hammer, creating a loud noise.
*After a few trials, when the rat was presented alone, Albert became frightened and tried to get away from the rat.
What was the conculsion of the Little Albert case study?
Behaviour is learnt, and phobias (e.g. rats) can be conditioned in a human being.
What was the evaluation of the Little Albert case study?
-Low external validity, isn’t generalisable as it was performed on one baby.
-Little Albert showed evidence of fear months after the experiment, although it faded as the fear wasn’t reinforced.
-No operationalised DV (no measurement of the fear response).
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through consequences.
What is positive reinforcement?
Anything that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated by using pleasant consequences (e.g. a dog getting a treat for sitting when commanded to do so).
