Learning Approach

• The behaviourist approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured and ignores mental processes of the mind.
• Behaviourists study observable behaviour in labs where it can be precisely controlled and measured. This means behaviourism is highly scientific in its methods.
• Following Darwin, behaviourists believe that human learning is just a more complex form of animal learning. Therefore, rats and pigeons for instance, can replace humans in experiments.
• Classical conditioning is learning by association
• Operant conditioning is where behaviour is shaped by its consequence
• pavlov taught dogs to salivate by using classical conditioning. the bell is the neutral stimulus and the food is the unconditioned stimulus. salivation is the unconditioned response. when he rings the bell before they eat, they associate the bell with food and then will salivate when the bell is rung on its own. The bell is now the conditioned stimulus and salivating is the conditioned response
• Skinners Box- The rat or pigeon learning to press the lever or peck the disc to receive a food pellet illustrates positive reinforcement.The rat or pigeon learning to press the lever or peck the disc in order to avoid an electric shock illustrates negative reinforcement.

  the rat being shocked if he does press the level is punishment
• one strength of the behaviourist approach is all studies are done based on observable behaviour, which can be praised for credibility, however it ignored the cognitive processes
• another strength of the behaviourist approach is it has real life applications, for example a token economy
•  At that time, there were no ethical guidelines protecting animals as there are in psychology today. However, this alone does not justify what the animals went through – they were kept for very long periods in uncomfortably cramped conditions at two-thirds of their natural weight to ensure they were always hungry.
• Social Learning Theory states Learning occurs indirectly by watching others in a social context.
• Behaviour that is seen to have positive consequences is more likely to be imitated by the observer (vicarious reinforcement).
• There are important cognitive factors that come between stimulus and response – attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation.
• Children will imitate role models they identify with, i.e. see themselves as similar and want to be like.
• the original Bobo doll study, Bandura et al. 1961 illustrates the concepts of observational learning and imitation. The children in the study saw the adult striking the doll as a role model and behaved in a similar way when they were placed in the same situation.
• (Bandura and Walters 1963) illustrates vicarious reinforcement. The children who had seen aggression rewarded with praise were more likely to imitate the aggression than the children in the no-consequence control group, and much more likely than the children in the 'telling-off' condition (who saw the aggression punished).
• one strength of social learning theory is it takes into account cognitive processes not just behaviour
• hoewever social learning theory can be criticised for not taking into account biological factors
• social learning theory has real life applications, such as understanding cultural differences within society
• social learning theory can also be criticised for being solely investigated by lab studies, which can be criticised for maybe creating demand characteristics and therefore decreasing credibility