behaviourist approach

• assumption 1: all behaviour is learned
• assumption 2: animals and humans learn in the same way
• assumption 3: the mind is irrelevant
• classical conditioning is learning through association
• operant conditioning is learning through consequence
• pavlov (1927): showed how dogs can be conditioned through association

  associated the sound of a bell (NS) with food (UCS) producing salivation response every time they heard the sound
• skinner (1953): operant conditioning

  used a rat box and every time the rat activated a lever, it was rewarded a food pellet
• positive reinforcement is when a desirable outcome is received in response to an action e.g. praise from a teacher for doing revision
• negative reinforcement is when an undesirable outcome is removed as a result of an action e.g. when a student hands i an essay to not be told off or get a detention
• punishment is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour, decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated
• watson and raynor (1920): little albert - to understand whether classical conditioning could be applied directly to humans

  associated a white rat with a loud bang

  little albert showed the same scared response to white fluffy objects
• generalisation is when similar stimuli produce the same response
• discrimination is when similar stimulus stop producing the same response when withheld
• extinction is when the learning fades over time without the pairing of the CS
• spontaneous recovery is when the CR appears suddenly after a period of absense
• higher order conditioning is where association between a new CS and the original CS is made