Behaviourism

    Cards (28)

    • Key assumptions of the behaviourist approach:
      • People learn how to behave environmentally
      • Only measurable behaviour should be studied
      • Animals can be used in research
    • What is tabula rasa?
      We are born as blank slates
    • The 2 ways of learning
      Classical conditioning- Pavlov
      Operant conditioning- Skinner
    • Classical conditioning is learning by association
    • Classical conditioning is learning to respond automatically to stimuli that don’t usually cause reflex responses
    • What is the unconditioned stimulus?
      This causes an unconditioned response which is automatic and not learned
    • What is the neutral stimulus?
      An object that will not produce a response
    • What is the conditioned stimulus?

      The neutral stimulus becomes this after conditioning and will now produce a response
    • What is the conditioned response?

      The response given to a stimulus that is learned
    • In Pavlov‘s study, what is the UCS?

      Food
    • In Pavlov’s study, what is the NS?

      Bell
    • In Pavlov’s study, what is the UCR?
      Drooling
    • In Pavlov’s study, what becomes the CS?

      Bell
    • In Pavlov’s study, what becomes the CR?

      Drooling
    • What is time continuity?

      Pavlov found that the association only occurs if the NS and UCS are paired together close in time
    • What is extinction?

      If the CS is presented on its own several times without the UCS then conditioning can become unlearned
    • What is stimulus generalisation?

      The stimulus can be varied slightly and the conditioned response will still occur
    • Operant conditioning is learning through consequence
    • What is positive reinforcement?

      Positive reinforcement is the addition of a pleasant stimulus to encourage repetition of a behaviour
    • What is negative reinforcement?

      Negative reinforcement is the removal of a unpleasant stimulus to encourage behaviour
    • What is positive punishment?

      Positive punishment is the addition of an unpleasant stimulus to discourage behaviour
    • What is negative punishment?

      Negative punishment is the removal of a pleasant stimulus to discourage behaviour
    • In the Skinner box, there was a lever which the rat could push to get food (example of positive reinforcement)
    • What is shaping?

      Explains how behaviour is learned through reinforcing successively closer behaviour to desired performance
    • One strength is that the research is lab-based and uses scientific methods so has less extraneous variables and more internal validity
    • One strength is that they have practical applications eg in education or parenting
    • One limitation is that it uses animals that causes ethical issues and can not be properly generalised to humans
    • One limitation is that the approach fully relies on lab experiments which is an artificial environment so lacks ecological validity
    See similar decks