The Behaviourist approach

• What is the behaviourist approach ?

  • behaviourists believe we were born with a blank slate and all behaviours are learnt

  • The behavioural model uses a scientific approach as it is based on observations and measurements within a laboratory
• What is conditioning ?

  • Conditioning is a term they use for learning. if something is conditioned it means they are leant

  • there are two types of conditioning classical or Operant conditioning
• Who came up with classical conditioning?

  • Pavlov (1927) was a Russian psychologist who believed we learnt through association

  • He conducted a famous experiment using dogs

  
• What is operant conditioning?

  • proposed by skinner and refers to learning from the consequences of our behaviour

  • if a behaviour leads to a pleasant consequence than it is more likely to be repeated

  • if a behaviour leads to an unpleasant consequence it is less likely to be repeated
• what is reinforcement ?

  • Reinforcement strengthens a behaviour so makes it more likely to occur

  • there are 2 types of reinforcement and they BOTH make it more likely that a behaviour will occur again

  • Positive and Negative reinforcement
• What is a punishment

  • Punishment weakens a behaviour so makes it less likely to occur

  • two types of punishment are positive and negative and they both make it less likely that a behaviour will occur again
• What is positive reinforcement

  • when a behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying

  • for example bonuses or raises or rewards
• what is negative reinforcement

  When a behaviour removes something unpleasant this means it’s more likely to be repeated
• What is positive punishment ?

  When a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence so it’s less like to Be repeated
• what Is a negative punishment?

  when behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence where something is removed or taken away
• What is continuous reinforcement

  When a reinforcement is given continuously than the behaviour is learnt very quickly however the behaviour will not last very long once rewards are gone
• What is intermittent reinforcement?


  Behaviour is rewarded only occasionally it takes longer to lean however it will last longer when reward is removed
• What was skinners research?

  Skinner created a special cage called a ‘skinner box’ to test the operant conditioning in rats . The rat moves around the cage and when it accidentally presses the lever a food pellet falls into the cage . The very hungry rat very quickly learns that it can get food by pressing the lever ( positive reinforcement) • Then skinner adapted his experiment and this time the rats recieved an electric shock through the floor ,in order to stop the shock, the rats had to press the lever ( Negative reinforcement)
• What is generalisation conditioning

  This occurs when the conditioned response (CR) is elicited by a stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus
• what is discrimination conditioning ?

  This occurs when the person or animal Learns to differentiate between similar conditioned stimuli (CS) and a conditioned response no longer occurs to a similar stimulus
• What is extinction conditioning ?

  When the conditioner stimulus (CS) is no longer paired with the unconditional stimulus (UCS) eventually the conditioned response (CR) will cease
• what is spontaneous recovery ?

  After extinction, it only takes a few pairings of the unconditioned (UCS) and conditioned stimulus (CS) for the conditioned response (CR) to reappear
• What is higher order conditioning ?

  • This is also known as second order conditioning

  • This occurs when a previously neutral stimulus elicits a conditioned response
• Advantages of the behaviorist approach

  ✔️ The behaviorist approach has scientific credibility because it uses the experimental method to examine observable behavior in this highly controlled laboratory conditions. This means that psychologists can establish cause and effect and the studies can be easily replicated
• Advantages of the behaviorist approach

  ✔️ The principles of conditioning have been applied to many real-life situations. For example, the token economy is often used in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards. These work by rewarding appropriate behavior with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
• Research against the behaviorist approach

  ❌ Seligman suggested that some behaviors were easier to condition than others. This depends on our 'preparedness'. Animals are prepared to learn associations that are more important to survival but unprepared to learn associations that aren't important for survival
• Weaknesses of the behaviorist approach

  ❌ The behaviorist approach relies heavily on research with animals. Human beings are much more complex than animals and have higher-order cognitive abilities. Therefore it is questioned whether findings from animal studies can truly be generalised to explain human behavior

  ❌ The behaviourist approach is very deterministic as it suggests that all of our behaviours are caused by past experiences that have been conditioned. This ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour. Skinner suggests that free will is an illusion
• Advantages of the behaviourist approach

  Considered scientific due to studying objectively observable behaviour and measurable stimuli and response mechanisms. Pavlov and Skinner established cause and effect relationships using controlled laboratory experiments that manipulated varaibles
• Advantages of the behaviourist approach

  Behaviourist theory has many practical applications such as counter-conditioning treatments, flooding and systematic desensitation. The effectiveness of these therapies suggests that the behaviourist principles they are based on are valid
• Disadvantages of the behaviourist approach

  One criticism of Pavlov and Skinner's use of animal subjects is that their findings may not be generalisable to human behaviour. This is because complex social and cultural forces influence human behaviour and humans possess greater intelligence
• Disadvantages of the behaviourist approach

  Using behaviourist behavioural modification techniques to alter human behaviour has been viewed as manipulative with harmful effects that encourage compulsave behaviour
• Disadvantages of the behaviourist approach

  Behaviourists attempt to explain behaviour due to simplistic stimulus response links in overly reductionist behaviour. Human behaviours like justice and culture are too complex to describe as the result of reinforcement