behaviourist

• What is classic conditioning?


  The association of a stimulus and response that results in a change of behaviour
• What is operant conditioning?


  The association of behaviour and consequences that results in a strengthening or weakening of behaviour
• What is the 'law of effect'?


  a positive consequence for a response will become more likely to occur whereas a negative consequence for a response will become less likely to occur
• What is positive reinforcement?


  encouragement of behaviour with a reward
• What is negative reinforcement?


  strengthing behavior by removing undesired action
• What is punishment?


  behaviour less likely to occur because of negative consequences
• What is positive punishment?


  punishment added as a result of behaviour
• What is negative punishment?


  removal of desired consequence as a result of behviour
• What is a token economy?


  tokens (that can be exchanged for items/privileges)to reward desirable behaviors and punish undesirable behaviours by removing tokens
• What is primary reinforcement?


  stimuli that is essential to survival
• What are the strengths of operant conditioning

  • High credibility - scientific method
  • High applicability - use of token economies
• What are the weaknesses of operant conditioning?

  • Subjective - affected by confounding variables
  • Unethical
  • Environmentally deterministic
  • Faults in behaviour system
• Who created operant conditioning?


  B.F. Skinner
• What is extinction - classical conditioning


  if the conditioned stimulus is continually presented without the unconditioned stimulus then the conditioned response gradually dies out
• What is one trial learning - classical conditioning


  when conditioning occurs after one trial
• What is discrimination - classical condiotioning


  the conditioned response is produced only by presentation of the original stimulus, it does not extend to similar stimuli
• What is generalisation - classical conditioning


  extension of the conditioned response from the original stimulus to similar stimuli
• What is spontaneous recovery - classical conditioning


  if a conditioned response is not reinforced, it becomes extinct, but after a period of time the response may reappear
• What are the strengths of classical conditioning?

  • High credibility - scientific method
  • Can be applied to humans
  • Applicable to know how to remove conditioned response
• What are the weaknesses of classical conditioning?

  • Unethical
  • Environmentally deterministic
  • Low applicability
• Who invented the behaviourist approach?

  John Watson
• What are the basic concepts in the behaviourist approach?

  • Based on empiricism
  • Human nature is based on our environment - blank slate
  • Focused on observable behaviour
• Outline Little Albert's experiment


  Watson paired a white rat with a loud bang repeatedly to create an association between the unrelated stimuli and Little Albert began fearing the rat without the noise
• What type of conditioning was Little Albert's experiment?


  classical conditioning