behaviourist approach

• basic assumptions are:

  - behaviour is learned from experience

  - study of animals is good as they are the same as humans

  - we are all born a blank slate
• An example of classical conditioning is Little Albert
• Pavlov's study's included dogs and how they salivate at food
• unconditioned stimulus + association with conditioned response = conditioned stimulus
• stimulus discrimination is when the characteristics of the stimuli become too specific for it to be applied to anything else
• stimulus generalisation is when the characteristics of a stimulus can be applied to something else aswell
• Pavlov found that 93% of dogs salivated when they heard the bell
• pavlov found that in order for the association to occur the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus had to be presented at the same time.

  this is called time contiguity
• operant conditioning is learning by consequence
• Thorndikes puzzle box and Skinners box are research on operant conditioning
• Antecedents is what happens just prior to a behaviour being formed
• social learning theory is the belief that behaviour is learned from the environment around us and behaviour is learned from observing others
• Bandura carried out the Bobo Doll experiment
• bobo doll experiment:

  - 36 male, 36 female ps

  - ages ranged from 37 to 69 months
• evaluation of the bobo doll experiment:

  - long term effects unknown

  - low validity as bobo dolls are made to be hit
• evaluation of the approach:

  ignores mental process

  over-reliance on animals

  assumes no one has free will