The behaviourist approach

• what is classical conditioning?


  learning through association, first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov
• what did pavlov do


  he showed how dogs can be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food
• how did the salivation work


  the dogs associated the sound of the bell (stimulus) with food (another stimulus) and would produce a salivation response everytime they heard the sound
• What is operant conditioning?


  B.F Skinner suggested that learning is an active process where by humans and animals operate on their environment - behavior is shaped by consequences
• what is positive reinforcement


  recieving a reward when certain behaviour is performed
• what is negative reinforcement

  when a human avoids something unpleasant, the outcome is positive e.g handing in an essay to avoid being told of for not doing it
• what is punishment


  an unpleasant consequence for behaviour
• what is the behaviourist approach assumption

  according to the behavioural theory of human behaviour (animals aswell). The cause is learning e.g external and environmental factors
• what are the two ways we learn

  classical conditioning ( Ivan pavlov) - operates by principle of association - reinforce behaviour

  operant conditioning (b.f skinner) -operates by principal of consequences - punish behaviour
• what are the two types of reinforcement

  positive reinforcement - strengthens behaviour

  negative reinforcement - increases likelihood of repetition
• what did the dogs associate


  the bell with the food
• what are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured.

  relied on lab studies

  behaviourists believe that all behaviour is learned.

  two forms of learning classical and operant conditioning