The Behaviourist approach

Operant and classical conditioning

What is the Behaviourist approach

A way of explaining behaviour in the terms of what is observable and in terms of learning

What is Operant conditioning

learning through consequences, where voluntary behaviors are either reinforced (making them more likely to be repeated) or punished (making them less likely to occur again)

What are the basic ideas of operant conditioning

• Can be positive or negative/ desirable or undesirable

• Whether the behaviour is repeated or not depends on the nature of the consequences i.e. it is reinforced => more likely to be repeated in the future, if punished => less likely to be repeated in the future

Who researched operant conditioning

Skinner

What was Skinners procedure

A rat was placed inside the ‘Skinner box’ which contained different stimuli, including a lever that released food and a electroplated floor.

Variation 1 = A food pellet was delivered when the rat pulled the lever.

Variation 2 = The electroplated floor was switched on, meaning the rat received as electric shock when it was placed in the box. This continued until the rat pulled the lever which switched of the electric current.

What were Skinners findings

Variation 1 = The rats quickly learnt to pull the lever so they could eat the food pellet. This displays positive reinforcement because a reward (food pellet) is added after their behaviour (pulling the lever) to make it more likely to be repeated.

Variation 2 = The rats quickly learned to pull the lever immediately after entering the box to avoid the electric shock. This displays negative reinforcement because an unpleasant stimulus (electric shock) is removed after their behaviour (pulling the lever) to make it more likely to be repeated.

 

What is reinforcement

Means something that strengthens a particular behaviour and so makes it more likely to recur. =>  there are 2 types of reinforcements

What is positive reinforcement

when behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying or pleasant

e.g. food to a hungry animal or praise given to a child after they do something well are both effective positive reinforcers

What is negative reinforcement

when they remove something unpleasant and restore the organism to it's "pre-aversive" state.

E.g. the act of hitting the off button on an alarm clock allows a person to escape from the unpleasant ringing and restores the restful pre-alarm state

What are the schedules of reinforcement

Although the continuous reinforcement schedule (e.g. reinforcing the rat every time it presses a lever) is most effective in establishing a particular response, a partial reinforcement schedule which is more effective in maintaining that response avoiding extinction

What does punishment refer to

It refers to the circumstance where by a behaviour is followed by a consequence that is undesirable or unpleasant for the organism

• Punishment decreases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring

• As with reinforcement and punishment can also be positive or negative

What are some strengths of operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is based on experimental work

Skinner relied on the experimental method => using controlled conditions to discover a possible casual relationship between variables

• Skinner's reliance on the "skinner box" was a good example of this approach in practice

• Manipulating the consequences of behaviour = he was able to accurately measure the effects it had on the rats behaviour and the future frequency of it's occurrence

What are some limitations of operant conditioning

Over reliance on non-human animals in research

Skinners research has received some criticism as his experiments involved the study of non-human animals rather than humans

• Critics claim that the reliance on rats and pigeons means that Skinner's studies can tell us little about human behaviour

• Critics claim that unlike non-human animals humans have free will rather than having their behaviour be determined by positive and negative reinforcement

A limited perspective on behaviour

Behaviourists have been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation such as those that emphasise the importance of cognitive factors or emotional states

• Treating human beings as a product of their conditioning alone means that we ignore the evidence for the role of these other factors in shaping behaviour

• Skinner rejected this claim arguing that these internal states were scientifically untestable

• Skinner argued that more complex behaviours such as our interactions with the opposite sex or pathological behaviour could be better understood by studying that reinforcement history of the individual

What is classical conditioning

learning by association which occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together (unconditioned, neutral and conditioned stimulus')

What are some key ideas of classical conditioning

It is only interested in studying behavior that can be observed and measured

• Psychologists developed a systematic method to study mental processes such as thoughts of perception

• In 1930s behaviorism approach dominated psychology

• Dominated psychology for over 50 years

 Lab studies

• As psychologists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies as the best way to achieve this

Who researched classical conditioning

Pavlov 1927

What was Pavlovs experiment

• Showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell

• The sound of the bell was repeatedly presented at the same time as the dogs were given food

• Pavlov's dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell with the food

• Every time they heard the bell they started to salivate in response

What is important to consider when looking at classical conditioning

1. Timing = if the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS the conditioning cannot take place

2. Extinction = Pavlov found that unlike the UCR the CR does not become permanently established as a response after a few presentations of the CS in the absence of the UCS, it loses it's ability to produce the CR

3. Spontaneous recovery = following extinction if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again the link between them is made much more quickly

4. Stimulus generalisation = Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned they will also respond to other stimuli which is similar to the CS

What are some strengths of classical conditioning

Classical conditioning has been applied to therapy

Classical conditioning has been applied in the development of treatments for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias

• Systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on classical conditioning which works by eliminating the learned anxious response that is associated with a feared object or situation

• Then it is possible to eliminate one learned response e.g. anxiety by replacing it with another e.g. relaxation

• So the patient is no longer anxious in the presence of the feared object or situation

The classical conditioning approach has been found to be affective for a range of phobias such as fear or spiders or flying

What are some limitations of classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is only appropriate for some learning 

because different species face different challenges to survive some relationships between the CS and the UCS are more difficult to establish

• Seligman 1970s proposed a concept of preparedness to explain this

• Animals are prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival needs

• E.g. associating the smell of meat with the presence of food

• However unprepared to learn associations which are not significant in this respect

• E.g. associating the sound of a bell with food

This suggests that classical conditioning may be more appropriate in the learning of specific types of association