behaviourist approach

Cards (9)

  • overall assumptions:
    1. focus on being observable and measurable to make it an objective and scientific approach
    2. all behaviour is learned through experience/environment, we are born as blank slates ‘tabula rasa’
    3. we can generalise animal behaviour to human behaviour
  • classical conditioning- learning through assocciation
  • Pavlovs research in dogs:
    Before conditioning
    Bell (NS) -> no response
    Food (UCS) -> Salivation (UCR)
    During conditioning
    Bell+Food (UCS) -> Salivation (UCR)
    After conditioning
    Bell (CS) -> Salivation (CR)
  • operant conditioning- learning through reinforcement
  • negative reinforcement- taking something bad away, so behaviour is more likely to be repeated
    positive reinforcement- getting a reward, so behaviour is more likely to be repeated
    punishment(NOT REINFORCEMENT)- receiving a negative consequence so behaviour is less likely to be repeated
  • Skinners research on rats:
    positive reinforcement - if the rat pushed the lever, it was given a food pellet
    negative reinforcement- if the rat pushed the lever, it stopped the electric current from the grid
  • Why does something show operant conditioning?
    the action is a desired response and results in a positive consequence to repeat behaviour
  • who researched into classical conditioning using humans?
    Watson and Rayner (the Little Albert study)
  • evaluations of behaviourist approach:
    🙂 practical application (e.g schools)
    🙂 scientific
    🙂 led to effective therapies (phobias)
    ☹️ problems generalising animals to humans
    ☹️/🙂 environmental determinism