behaviourist approach

What does the behaviourist approach believe?

behaviour is learnt directly from the…

environment

What are assumptions?

… upon which theories/models are built.

foundational beliefs

What should behaviourists only study?

observable

What should you use to study the behaviourist approach scientifically?

experiments

What's a major influence in the behaviourist approach?

environment

Why does the behaviourist approach use animal research?

humans and animals are similar

What's classical conditioning?

behaviour is learnt through…

association

What's an example of classical conditioning?

pavlov

How does Pavlov use classical conditioning?

dogs associate bell with food, so…

salivate when bell is rung

What was Pavlov's process?

before conditioning, food = UCS, produces an UCR: ?

salivation

pairing the UCS with the bell (NS) the dog salivates and will…

associate bell with food

after conditioning, when the bell (CS) is present alone, dog = CR, salivating at the bell as it…

associates bell with food

What's operant conditioning?

behaviour is learnt through…

consequences

What's an example of operant conditioning?

skinner's box

What happened in Skinner's experiment?

rats placed in a box, skinner changed the…

variations of the box to test operant conditioning.

What's positive reinforcement?

behaviour = more likely repeated if followed with a…

positive consequence

How's positive reinforcement used in Skinner's box?

What did the rats learn to do?

if the rats pulled lever, food pellet drops, keep pressing lever to get food

What's negative reinforcement?

behaviour is more likely to be repeated if followed with the…

removal of a negative consequence

How's negative reinforcement used in Skinner's box?

rats would constantly get electric shocks until they…

What did the rats learn to do?

pressed the lever which stops the shocks, keep pressing the lever to avoid electric shocks

What's punishment?

behaviour is less likely to be repeated if followed with a…

negative consequence

What's reinforcement?

increasing the frequency of behaviour

AO3- Evaluation: strength

Practical applications

Systematic desensitisation- therapy based on classical conditioning

Eliminates anxiety, replaces w relaxation (aerophobia + arachnophobia)

Therefore,…

helps people be treated

AO3-Evaluation: strength

Controlled scientific experiments

Skinner’s box- cause + effect relationship w behaviour + consequences

Therefore, more…

internal validity

AO3-Evaluation: limitation

Doesn’t account for biological factors in learning behaviour

Some species are learn quicker due to genes

Therefore, learning can be influenced by…

innate evolutionary drives

AO3- Evaluation: limitation

Over relies on animal studies

Humans have complex cognitive processes + free will, not just positive/negative reinforcement like Skinner’s rats

Difficult to accurately extrapolate findings to explain human behaviour

Therefore, limits…

uesefulness