behaviourism

    Cards (23)

    • What do behaviourists believe about learning?
      Behaviourists believe that we learn through making associations and responding to the environment.
    • What is the focus of behaviourism in psychology?
      Behaviourism focuses on the study of observable behaviour in lab-based experiments that generate data.
    • Why did behaviourists reject previous psychological approaches?
      Behaviourists rejected previous approaches because they were too vague and not scientific.
    • What is the concept of "tabula rasa" in behaviourism?
      Tabula rasa refers to the idea that all animals start life with a clean slate that is written on through learning.
    • What are the two learning processes identified by behaviourists?
      • Classical Conditioning
      • Operant Conditioning
    • What is classical conditioning?
      Classical conditioning is simple learning by making associations between two things, training a reflex action.
    • What did Pavlov's experiment with dogs demonstrate?

      Pavlov's experiment demonstrated that dogs could link a bell with food, producing a salivatory reflex.
    • What is operant conditioning?
      Operant conditioning requires the organism to produce an action or "operation" to receive a consequence.
    • What is Thorndike's Law of Effect?
      Thorndike's Law of Effect states that rewarding consequences will lead to repeated behaviour, while negative consequences will extinguish it.
    • What are the two types of consequences in operant conditioning?
      • Reinforcement: Increases likelihood of behaviour
      • Punishment: Decreases likelihood of behaviour
    • What is positive punishment?
      Positive punishment involves applying something to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour.
    • How does negative reinforcement work?
      Negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour by removing an unpleasant stimulus.
    • What are the key components of reinforcement and punishment?
      • Reinforcement: Promotes behaviour
      • Punishment: Extinguishes behaviour
      • Positive: Applying something
      • Negative: Removing something
    • What is a Skinner Box used for?
      A Skinner Box is used to train animals to perform actions for rewards in operant conditioning experiments.
    • What is extinction in the context of operant conditioning?
      Extinction is the gradual decline of a behaviour until it stops completely.
    • What does generalisation mean in behaviourism?
      Generalisation is the application of a learned rule to a new setting.
    • What are the different schedules of reinforcement?
      • Fixed Ratio: Reward after a set number of responses
      • Variable Ratio: Reward after an unpredictable number of responses
      • Fixed Interval: Reward after a set amount of time
      • Variable Interval: Reward after an unpredictable amount of time
    • What is a token economy?
      A token economy is a behaviour modification system where specific behaviours are rewarded with tokens that can be exchanged for items.
    • How is behaviour modification applied in prisons?
      • Specific behaviours are targeted
      • Rewards are given for behaviour modification
      • Consistent application by staff is necessary
      • Works best in controlled environments
    • How does drug addiction relate to reinforcement?
      Drug addiction starts with positive reinforcement but can shift to negative reinforcement to avoid pain.
    • What did Skinner believe about raising children?
      Skinner believed children could be raised into perfect citizens using purely behavioural techniques.
    • What are the strengths of behaviourist methodology?
      • Well-controlled experiments
      • Reproducible and objective data
      • Excellent insight into learning processes
    • What are the weaknesses of behaviourist methodology?
      • Ignores free will and emotional aspects of behaviour
      • Overemphasis on conditioning for all behaviour
      • Simplistic view of complex behaviours
    See similar decks