The Behaviourist Approach

• classical conditioning


  The process by which learning occurs through association

  • Pavlov
  • Pavlov's dog
  • The Little Albert Study
• operant conditioning


  Form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences

  • Skinner
  • Reinforcement: positive, negative and punishment
• Stimulus

  Any change in environment that an organism detects
• Response


  Any behaviour that the organism emits as a consequence of a stimulus
• The Behaviourist Approach

  • Watson 'father of behaviourism'
  • Born a 'tabula rasa', we are shaped by learning from our environment
  • studies observable behaviours
  • Watson rejected introspection as its hard to measure
  • rely on lab experiments to keep control and objectivity
  • 2 identified forms of learning
• unconditioned stimulus


  a stimulus which automatically triggers a response, isnt learnt
• Unconditioned response

  An unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to UCS
• Neutral stimulus


  something that does not cause a reaction
• The conditioned stimulus


  a previously neutral stimulus which has become associated with the UCS
• conditioned response

  learned response to CS
• Pavlov's dog

  
• The Little Albert Study

  
• positive reinforcement


  Receiving a reward when a behaviour is performed
• Negative reinforcement


  Occurs when something unpleasant is avoided which increases the desired behaviour
• Punishment

  Add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behaviour
• Skinner's box


  • teach rats to push lever
  • not natural behaviour, operant conditioning was used
  • positive: food pellet when lever is pushed
  • negative: lever turns off electric shocks

  
• Strengths of the Behaviourist approach

  • Well-controlled research
  • Real-world application
• Limitations of the Behaviourist Approach

  • Environmentally deterministic
  • Animal based research