Behaviourism Booklet 2

What are the 3 key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

What are the 3 key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

1. All behaviour is learnt through experiences (except from a few inbuilt reflexes)

2. The mind/brain is not important for understanding behaviour

3. Animals and human learn in the same way

Define classical conditioning

Making an association between 2 stimuli (one unconditioned and one neutral)

What is operant conditioning?

Involves learning through consequences of our actions

Define reinforcement

A consequence that increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Define positive reinforcement

A reward is given when a certain behaviour is performed

Define negative reinforcement

Occurs when an individual increases behaviour due to avoidance of negative consequence

Define punishment

An unpleasant consequence that reduces the likelihood of the preceded behaviour occurring again

What is a limitation of using animals in research for behaviourist approach?

Animals and humans do not behave in the same way (limited research of human behaviour)

Describe the process of classical conditioning using Pavlov’s experiment

1. Food (unconditioned stimulus) causes dogs to salivate (unconditioned response)

2. Before conditioning a bell (neutral stimulus) causes no response

3. During conditioning bell + food causes salivation (unconditioned response)

4. After conditioning bell (conditioned stimulus) causes salivation (conditioned response)

How does the case study of Little Albert show classical conditioning?

1. When Little Albert reached for a rat before conditioning it was a neutral stimulus which caused no response.

2. A loud sound (unconditioned stimulus) caused Little Albert to cry (unconditioned response).

3. Watson made the loud sound every time Little Albert reached for the rat.

4. This caused Little Albert to associate the rat with a loud sound. Making him cry in the presence of a rat (conditioned stimulus)

Give an example of reward

Miss Townsend finished all her lessons plans at the weekend so got taken to a posh restaurant for dinner

Give an example of punishment

Miss Townsend didn’t finish her lesson plans so her Netflix account got locked for the evening.

Give an example of negative reinforcement

Miss Townsend finished all her lesson plans so she didn’t have to look silly in front of her class the next day.

Give an example of positive reinforcement

If Miss Townsend finished all her lesson plans she would have the rest of the weekend free

What was the method of Skinner’s study?

Skinner designed a cage with a lever and electric grid.

1. If the rat pressed the lever, a food pellet (the reinforcer) would be released (positive reinforcement)

2. If the food pellet stops, the rat abandons the lever (extinction)

3. If the rat doesn’t press the lever an electric shock will be given (negative reinforcement

How does behaviourism have scientific credibility?

1. Replicable- can be repeated to obtain and compare further data

2. Objective- collect empirical evidence of observable behaviour which can be scientifically viewed and measured

What is the problem with the behaviourist principle of only looking at observable behaviour? (mechanistic view of behaviour)

Only looking at observable behaviour and ignoring internal mental processes ignores how complex humans are and is inaccurate in giving reasoning into why humans react in certain ways

How is real life application a strength of behaviourism?

Classical and operant conditioning has been used to treat phobias through exposure therapies, this is important because it shows that the behaviourist approach has had a useful contribution to the field of psychology.

Behaviourism is a determinist approach (suggests there is no free will). What does this mean?

The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as determined by our past experiences that have been conditioned. Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history.