Behaviourism

• What do behaviourists believe?


  All behaviour is learned; it is influenced by the environment through conditioning.
• What are the two types of conditioning?

  Classical and Operant
• What is classical conditioning?

  Classical conditioning is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Pavlov.

  He found that if dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell by repeatedly presenting the sound at the same time they were given food. He was able to show that a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new learned (conditioned) response through association.

  Unconditioned response: salivate

  Unconditioned stimuli: Bell
• What is a neutral stimulus?

  An event that does not produce a response.
• What is an unconditioned stimulus?


  An event that produces an innate, unlearned reflex response.
• What is an unconditioned response?


  An innate unlearned reflex behaviour that is produced when exposed to an unconditioned stimulus.
• What is a conditioned stimulus?


  An event that produces a learned response.
• What is a conditioned response?


  A learned behaviour that is produced when exposed to a conditioned stimulus.
• Classical conditioning formula

  Before conditioning:

  UCS  → UCR

  NS  → NR

  During conditioning:

  NS + UCS  → UCR

  After conditioning:

  CS  → CR
• What are the 4 other key features of classical conditioning?

  • Timing: Neutral stimulus has to occur with unconditioned stimulus
  • Stimulus generalisation: Similar objects can create conditioned response
  • Extinction: Conditioned response can be lost
  • Spontaneous recovery: After extinction, neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are paired more quickly
• Before conditioning Little Albert, what were his NS, UCS and UCR?


  NS= metal

  UCS= Loud noise

  UCR= fear
• After conditioning Little Albert, what were the CS and CR?


  CS= Rat without the loud noise

  CR= Fear
• What is operant conditioning?


  A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Developed by Skinner.
• Describe the Skinner Box experiment.


  Skinner conducted experiments with rats or pigeons in Skinner boxes. Every time the rat activated the lever within the box, it was rewarded with a food pellet. From there on, the animal would continue to perform the behaviour.

  Skinner also showed how rays and pigeons could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus, e.g., an electric shock.
• What is positive reinforcement? 


  Receiving an award when a certain behaviour is performed.

  e.g. Praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly
• What is negative reinforcement? 


  When an animal or human produces behaviour that avoids something unpleasant.

  e.g. A student handing in their essay so they don't get told off.
• What is token economy?


  Works by rewarding behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges.

  It is successful in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards.
• What is positive punishment?


  Adding an undesirable stimulus after an unwanted behaviour to discourage a person from repeating the behaviour
• What is negative punishment?


  Removal of a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behaviour.

  e.g. a parent taking away a favourite toy when a child misbehaves.
• Name the strengths of the behaviouristic approach.

  • Treatments/real-life application: Conditioning has led to the development of treatments for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias. Systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on classical conditioning that is used to treat phobias. However, it only works if their is a behavioural cause.
  • Scientific credibility: The approach is focused on the careful measurement of observable behaviour within controlled lab settings. Behaviourists emphasised the importance of FORE.
• What is systematic desensitisation?


  An exposure-based therapy that aims to eliminate the learned anxious response (CR) that is association with a feared object or situation (CS). This learned response is replaced by relaxation so that the person is no longer anxious in the presence of the feared object.

  This application of conditioning adds to the validity of the theory.
• Scientific credibility of the behaviorist approach:

  F: Can observe and measure DV

  O

  R: Controlled lab experiment

  E: Observable data

  Behaviorists have broken down behaviour into stimulus-response units and studied causal relationships.

  This may oversimplify learning and ingore important influences on behaviour.

  Environmental determinism: the physical environment determines society.
• What is a limitation of the behaviourist approach regarding its view of animals and humans?

  It sees them as machine-like responders
• What does environmental determinism imply about behavior in the behaviourist approach?

  All behavior is determined by past experiences
• What aspect of free will does the behaviourist approach ignore?

  Its influence on behavior
• What was the behaviourist belief regarding learning processes in humans and animals?

  They were considered similar
• What effect did stressful conditions have on animals in behaviourist studies?

  It probably affected their reactions
• Why did behaviourists prefer using animals in experiments?

  They provided more control over processes
• What is a potential drawback of using animals in behaviourist research?

  They may experience stress during experiments, which may have affected how they react to the experimental situation, therefore decreasing validity of the experiment
• What is the mechanist view in the behaviourist approach?

  It views animals and humans as machine-like responders
• What do SLT and cognitive approaches emphasize compared to behaviourism?

  They emphasize mental events during learning
• Give two reasons why behaviors do not collect qualitative data in their investigations. 


  One reason is that behaviorists think it is subjective. Another reason is that it is less replicable compared to qualitative data.