Behaviourist approach

• Who founded the Behaviourist Approach?

  Watson and Skinner
• What does the Behaviourist Approach believe about behaviour?

  All behaviour is learnt, nothing is innate
• What does the Behaviourist Approach offer for maladaptive behaviours?

  Hope for unlearning through conditioning
• How do humans and animals learn according to the Behaviourist Approach?

  In the same ways
• What is the Behaviourist Approach's view on the mind?

  The mind is a 'black box'
• What are the two processes that make up the Behaviourist Approach?

  Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
• What is classical conditioning?

  Learning via association
• Who conducted the key study for classical conditioning?

  Pavlov
• What was the unconditioned stimulus in Little Albert's experiment?

  The loud noise
• What did the white rat represent before conditioning in Little Albert's case?

  A neutral stimulus
• What became the conditioned stimulus in Little Albert's experiment?

  The white rat
• What is operant conditioning?

  Learning via reinforcement
• Who first investigated operant conditioning?

  B.F. Skinner
• What are the two types of reinforcement?

  Positive and Negative reinforcement
• What does positive reinforcement do to behaviour?

  Increases behaviour
• What is negative reinforcement?

  Avoiding something unpleasant
• What does punishment do to behaviour?

  Decreases behaviour
• What is positive punishment?

  Addition of a negative stimulus
• What is negative punishment?

  Removal of something positive
• What was the key study for operant conditioning?

  Skinner's Box
• What did Skinner use to train the mouse?

  Positive reinforcement
• What are the stages to train a mouse in Skinner's Box?

  1. Mouse receives sugar pellet for entering lever half.
  2. Mouse receives sugar pellet for entering lever quarter.
  3. Mouse touches lever for sugar pellet.
  4. Mouse presses lever for sugar pellet.
• What is a strength of classical conditioning?

  Application to treatment of phobias
• What is systematic desensitization?

  A treatment reducing anxiety in phobias
• How does systematic desensitization work?

  Replaces anxiety with relaxation response
• What is a strength of operant conditioning?

  Use of experimental methods
• What did Skinner's research establish?

  Cause and effect relationship
• What is a weakness of the behaviourist approach?

  Reliance on non-human animals
• What do some psychologists argue about animal studies?

  They can't generalize to human behaviour
• What is a criticism of the behaviourist approach regarding human behaviour?

  It ignores cognitive and emotional factors
• What does Seligman's concept of preparedness explain?

  Why some associations are easier to learn
• What is an example of biological preparedness?

  Dogs learn meat smell association quickly
• What does biological preparedness suggest about species?

  Different capabilities to learn associations