Behaviourists

• What were behaviourists interested in?

  studying behaviour that is observable and measurable
• what is classical conditioning?

  learning by association
• describe pavlovs research in classical conditioning?

  • showed that you could condition a dog to salivate to sound of bell.
  • before conditioning, food (us) caused salivation (ur) and the bell (ns) produced no salivation
  • during conditioning, the bell and food produced salivation (ur)
  • after conditioning, the bell (cs) produced conditioned response of salivation
• what is operant conditioning?

  behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
• what is positive reinforcement?

  rewarding a behaviour which increases its likelihood of it happening again
• what is negative reinforcement?

  when something unpleasant is being avoided
• what is punishment?

  unpleasant consequence of behaviour
• describe the skinner box?

  • positive reinforcement- shown by the rat pulling the lever to be rewarded with a food pellet.
  • negative reinforcement- rat pressed down on level to avoid unpleasant electric shock
• Evaluate scientific credibility as a strength

  • Observable behaviour in controlled lab settings
  • Led to the developement of psychology as a science
• evaluate real life application as a strength?

  • token economy systems in psychiatric wards and prisons. This is operant conditioning
  • Classical conditioning and the treatment of phobias
• evaluate mechanisic view of behaviour as a limitation?

  • see animals as passive and machine-like responders to their environment
  • people play a more active role in their own learning
• evaluate environmental determinism as a limitation?

  • see all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned
  • ignores influence of free will on behaviour
• evaluate ethical and practical issues in animal experiments as a limitation?

  • animals exposed to stressful conditions
  • which may have affected how they react to environment