The Learning Approaches: Behaviourism

Describe Wundt’s contributions to psychology

Wrote the first textbook of psychology

Set up the first laboratory of experimental psychology

Pioneered the use of introspection as a method to study mental states

What is meant by ‘introspection’?

The first systematic, experimental attempt of studying the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations

Describe Wundt’s method of introspection

1. Trained observers were presented with controlled stimuli such as a ticking metronome

2. Participants were then asked to describe how the stimuli made them think and feel

3. The same stimulus, physical surroundings and instructions were given to each person

Wundt’s research can be described as not scientific. Describe how this is a weakness of his method to study introspection.

Despite his attempt to be scientific, other psychologists have criticized his approach

‘Private experiences’ such as sensations and thoughts that were self-reported are not observable and difficult to measure

The experiences they were reporting are subjective

This is a weakness because such criticism undermines the objectivity of Wundt’s work

‘Wundt’s research can be described as not scientific’ Describe a counterargument to this statement

It is still used today to gain access to cognitive processes

Griffiths (1994) used introspection to study the cognitive processes of fruit machine gamblers

He asked them to ‘think aloud’ whilst playing a fruit machine to a microphone on their lapel

He found that regular gamblers made more irrational verbalizations than non-regular gamblers

Therefore, introspection can have practical applications in modern society

Wundt’s research has contributed to psychological approaches. Describe how this is a strength of his method to study introspection.

His methods have often been seen as the start of cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology is a modern day psychological approach that attempts to measure what is happening in the mind using scientific methods

Without Wundt, some have questioned if it would still exist today

This is a strength because Wundt’s methods have been incredibly influential to cognitive psychologists

Wundt’s research has contributed to psychology as a science. Describe how this is a strength of his method to study introspection.

Wundt applied the scientific method to studying the mind which means in modern times, psychology is considered a scientific discipline

If he didn’t set up the first psychology lab, it is possible that study of the internal mind may still be tied to its philosophical roots and it may have never gained the status is has today

This is a strength because Wundt’s influential work has paved the way for the study of psychology as a respected discipline

Describe how modern psychology is scientific

It has the same aims as natural science i.e. that is to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour

Learning approaches, cognitive approaches and the biological approach all rely on the use of scientific methods

For example, lab studies investigate theories in a controlled, unbiased way

This is a strength since it suggests that in the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline

Describe what is meant by ‘behaviourism’?

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning without need to consider thoughts and feelings

Describe how subjective data when studying psychology is a weakness of the emergence of psychology as a science

Not all approaches use objective measures

For example, the humanistic approach rejects science and focuses on individual and subjective experiences

Studying human participants in research means that they often respond to demand characteristics

This is a weakness because the scientific approach to studying human thought and experience may always be desirable or possible

Describe the beliefs of the behaviourists

Humans are born a blank slate (tabula rose)

All of our behaviours are learnt from our environment

This means that behaviours are strongly on the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate

Regard genetic influence on behaviours as minimal

Describe the methods used by behaviourists

Use the scientific method and only study things could be directly observed

In controlled lab experiments, they often use animals

Describe Pavlov’s study into classical conditioning

1. Pavlov presented the dog with food which triggered salivation in the dog. Pavlov called the food an unconditioned stimulus which produced an unconditioned response (the dog’s salivation is a reflex that has not been learned

2. Pavlov rang a bell but the dog did not respond. Pavlov called this a neutral stimulus as it did not lead to salivation

3. Every time food was presented to the dog, a bell was rung at the same time to create an association between the bell and food. This learning stage was repeated every time the dog was fed food

4. The dog eventually learnt to salivate to the sound of the bell alone and this is a conditioned response. The bell is no longer neutral but a conditioned stimulus

Describe the effect of timing on classical conditioning in Pavlov’s study

Pavlov found that association only occurs if the unconditional and neutral stimulus are presented at the same time or around the same time as each other

• If the time between presentations is too great then there will be no association

Describe the effect of stimulus generalisation on classical conditioning in Pavlov’s study

Once an animal had been conditioned, they would also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimuli

Describe the effect of extinction on classical conditioning in Pavlov’s study

If the bell is repeatedly sounded without food, salivation slowly disappears and the behaviour is extinguished

Describe Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study into phobias using Little Albert

Aim: To demonstrate that phobias can be learnt through classical conditioning

Procedure: A 9-month old boy called Little Albert was presented with a white rat and his reaction to the rat was noted

Albert was presented again but this time a loud noise was made by striking a steel bar with a hammer

This was repeated and eventually the rat was presented in front of Albert without a loud noise

Describe the findings of Watson and Rayner’s (1920) study into phobias using Little Albert

Little Albert was initially unafraid of the rat but once it was paired with a loud noise, he developed a fear response.

Even when the loud noise stopped, Albert remained frightened of the rat

Describe the procedure of Skinner’s research

A skinner box was developed to test the effects of rewards on behaviour

A hungry rat was placed in the box which contained a lever - as the rat moved about, it would accidentally knock the lever

Immediately, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever

A few trials - the rats quickly learned to press the lever to gain the food reward

The consequence of receiving food ensure that the rat would repeat the action again and again

Describe the 3 types of consequences that can follow behaviour

Positive reinforcement: This is receiving a reward when certain behaviour is performed

Lever pressing behaviour in Skinner’s study meant the rats were positively reinforced with food pellets

Negative reinforcement: Occurs when the animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant

The mother feeds the baby milk to avoid it crying

Punishment: The opposite of reward since it is designed to weaken / eliminate a response rather than increase it

Skinner introduced an electrified grid floor so that pressing the lever resulted in a brief electric shock, the rats quickly learned not to press the lever.

Behaviourist research methods have been described to have ‘high control over variables’. Describe how this is a strength

Lab studies have control over the IV and extraneous variables which means they can clearly look at how a stimulus can lead to a response when researching behaviour

In Skinner’s study, all variables were kept the same apart from the type of reinforcement/punishment

This is a strength because a cause and effect relationship between the IV and the DV can be established

Behaviourist research methods have no demand characteristics. Describe how this is a strength

When using non-human participants, there will be no possibility that they work out the aim of the study

In Skinner’s study, although rats were quite intelligent, there is no possibility that they will have worked out the aim of the study and changed their behaviour accordingly

This is a strength as they will not be unrealistically nice to please the researcher or demonstrate behaviour to invalidate the results, making the theory more valid

Behaviourist research methods can be described to have a ‘‘lack of generalisation’’. Describe how this is a weakness

Most experiments used to support the approach are carried out on animals

Pavlov used dogs and they cannot be matched similarly on DNA (unlike a chimp with a 98.4% match)

This is a weakness since it is questionable if we can apply the findings to humans which reduces the validity of the method

Behaviourist research methods have been criticised for having ethical issues. Describe how this is a weakness.

Using animals has raised several ethical issues since they are often kept hungry and thirsty in order to motivate them in the procedures

In a version of Skinner’s study, the rats were electrocuted which therefore caused physical harm

This is a weakness because research should follow the animal ethical code of conduct whereby an animal should not be physically or psychologically harmed during an experiment

The behaviourist approach can be described as ‘‘deterministic’’. Describe how this a weakness of the approach.

The approach can be accused of being deterministic in its view of human behaviour

It sees all behaviour as being controlled by past experiences that have been conditioned

Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history

This is a weakness as it suggests that people are not responsible for their behaviour and we cannot choose how to behave

So if someone behaves in an immoral way then the approach implies that is not their fault

The behaviourist approach can be described as ‘‘reductionist’’. Describe how this a weakness of the approach.

The approach can be accused of being reductionist in its view of human behaviour since it reduces all complex behaviour down to one cause

The behaviourist approach reduces all complex behaviour down to one cause i.e., conditioning

This is a simplistic view of behaviour as we only learn through negative and positive reinforcement and ignores other contributions such as the role of cognitive processes and cognitive neurochemistry

The behaviourist approach has evidence to support its arguments. Describe how this is a strength of the approach

Research conducted by Watson and Rayner supports the approach

They discovered that Little Albert had no response when presented with a white rat but paired with a loud bang several times, Albert began to cry in the presence of the rat alone

This demonstrates that Little Albert learnt through classical conditioning as he learned to associate the loud bang (US) with the white rat now (CS)

This is a strength since having supporting research adds validity and credibility to the behaviourist approach

The behaviourist approach can be applied to real-life situations. Describe how this a strength of the approach

The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems

Operant conditioning: Basis of token economies have been used successfully in institutions like token economies in prisons and psychiatric wards. This works by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges

Classical conditioning: Developments of treatments for reduction of anxiety & phobias. Systematic desensitisation works by eliminating the learned anxious response and replacing it with relaxation

This is a strength since token economies have been very successful in correcting prisoners’ behaviour. In addition, systematic desensitisation has a very high success rate of treating patients - this shows that conditioning can be used in real life

The methods used to support the behaviourist approach are scientific. Describe how this is a strength of the approach

Much of the supporting research comes from highly controlled scientific lab experiments

Skinner (operant conditioning) and Pavlov (classical conditioning) used scientific lab experiments as it allowed them to eliminate any extraneous variables to establish a cause and effect relationship between the IV and DV

This is a strength because by using the scientific method, behaviourism has been very influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline, giving credibility and status