PLANNED questions

• Evaluate pavlov 1927

  AO1

  • Pavlov aimed to test if classical conditioning worked
  • Procedure involved 35 dogs, which were placed into a chamber where they could not see, hear or smell anything. The control group were presented with food and salivated- became the ucr
  • In the experimental group, the dogs were presented the food with the sound of a metronome- pairing the two together
  • It was found that once paired together the sound led to the dogs salivating at 9seconds. At 45 seconds 11 drops of saliva was collected
• Evaluate Pavlov 1927

  AO3

  • a highly controlled and reliable procedure. Pavlov made sure that the chamber was soundproof so that the sound would pair with food- can be replicated
  • There are issues with using animals when generalising to humans as they have larger cerebral cortex's so cannot be sure behaviour would be same for humans
•  Evaluate Bandura’s (1965) Bobo doll experiment with vicarious reinforcement

  AO1

  • aimed to see if models being rewarded led to more imitation of aggressive behaviour
  • used 33 girls and 33 boys and were randomly assigned to three different groups
  • film was shown of a male rm being aggressive to bobo doll to the children and the model was either rewarded, punished or nothing
  • it was found that there was more imitation with positive incentive given to children and boys showed higher aggression in model rewarded condition
•  Evaluate Bandura’s (1965) Bobo doll experiment with vicarious reinforcement

  AO3

  •  The standardised film clip showing the process of vicarious reinforcements give internal consistency in the exposure to the role model conditions, increasing the reliability of the findings.
  • A 10-minute observation may not reflect how vicarious reinforcement influences children’s learned behaviour in the long- term, limiting the application of the findings about learned aggression.
• Evaluate the classic study by Watson and Rayner (1920).

  AO1

  • to test classical conditioning on humans
  • Albert was 9 months at start and 11 months old when conditioning began
  • at 9 months he was tested with a rabbit and other stimuli to see if he had a fear reaction , and researchers checked his fear response by banging an iron bar and Albert cried which became the unconditioned stimulus
  • At 11 months he was conditioned each time rat was shown it was paired with striking iron bar
  • it was found that once rat was paired with noise he responded crying and his reaction to other fury objects show generalisation of response
• Evaluate the classic study by Watson and Rayner (1920).

  AO3

  • very careful controls for example Watson hid behind a curtain when striking the iron bar ensuring Albert associated the noise with the art not him
  • however, was a very unethical procedure- distress was caused and it was unsure if the effects were long term as they never received a debrief
•  Evaluate the usefulness of observational methods for studying human behaviour.

  AO1

  • Observations can be non-participant where the researcher is not involved in the group being observed.
  • When the researcher infiltrates the group to observe their behaviour it is a participant observation.
  • Structured observations are when a researcher observes individuals in an environment that has been manipulated.
  • A covert observation can be used to investigate behaviour without the participant knowing they are being watched
•  Evaluate the usefulness of observational methods for studying human behaviour.

  AO3

  • Participant observations allow the researcher to gain a more valid insight into the reasons behind the behaviour being observed which are useful for practical application.
  • however, Structured observations are less useful as there is low validity in the human behaviour seen due to the artificially constructed in the setting.
• Discuss the key question that has been studied

  AO1

  • is the influence on role models and celebrities something that causes anorexia nervosa?
  • symptoms include- periods stopping, abdominal pain and poor circulation in hands
  • This is a key question as the number of 19 year olds hospitalised for eating disorders has tripled in last 10 years
  • 8% with the disorder die within 5 years
  • increasing use of apps like instagram which promote clean eating
• Discuss the key question that has been studied

  AO2

  • using cc individuals may associated being thin with feelings of pleasure
  • using oc losing weight may be rewarded such as people giving you compliments which is positive reinforcement encouraging behaviour and avoiding food can act as negative reinforcement
  • also link t social learning theory and models online
• Evaluate classical conditioning

  AO1

  • principle of learning by association
  • before conditioning a reflex response called the unconditioned response occurs to an unconditioned stimulus
  • a neutral stimulus is paired with the UCS until becomes learned
  • after conditioning the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus and response is now conditioned
  • extinction arises if have no been paired for a while
  • if shown again this is spontaneous recovey
• Evaluate classical conditioning

  AO3

  • supported by Pavlov 1927 who found dogs can be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a metronome, proving the theory is testable and works
  • however, an issues with the theory is it can only explain how a limited range of behaviours can be acquired which are simple reflex responses such as anxiety but cannot account for complex chains of learned behaviour
• Evaluate operant conditioning

  AO1

  • idea of learning through consequences
  • Reinforcement encourages a desired behaviour is either positive ( rewards given) or negative (something taken away)
  • punishment discourages behaviour not encouraging it which is also either position (adding something unpleasant) or negative (removing something nice)
• Evaluate operant conditioning

  AO3

  • can be applied to phobias- if the feared thing is removed when you cry then it is negatively reinforced- removing something unpleasant anf if people show concern the fear is positively reinforced
  • but, can be argued reductionist as the explanation does not provide a complete account of human motivation as we are motivated by a range of factors and OC does not explained where unlearned behaviours arise from
• Evaluate social learning theory

  AO1

  • states that behaviour is learned by imitating others
  • the model will display the social behaviour in presence of observer
  • the RM behaviour is more likely to be imitated if they are same sex, age or of high status
  • individuals observe and focus their attention on the modelled behaviour- called retention
  • the behaviour is motivated by vicarious reinforcement which is when the observer witnesses the model being rewarded
• Evaluate social learning theory

  AO3

  • Banduras research such as 1961 study showed that children would imitate an aggressive model who demonstrated aggression towards bobo doll and was found in 1965 to be enhanced with vicarious reinforcement which proves the theory is both testable and credible
  • However
  • Kendler 2015 found that MZ twins have similar levels of aggression compared to DZ twins, suggesting that individual differences in social behaviour ie. aggression can be genetically influenced not just due to modelling - ignores role of nature
• Evaluate Bandura's 1961 study into social learning theory

  AO1

  • wanted to find out if children would show more aggressive behaviour if exposed to an aggressive role model and less aggressive behaviour when exposed to non aggressive rm.
  • involved 24 children in control group and 48 others who were split into experimental groups. The experimental groups either saw an aggressive or non aggressive role model and also either same sex or different sex of rm
  • It was found that children who observed an aggressive role model showed verbal and physical aggression imitating the role models behaviour and control group showed little aggression. Male role model had a bigger influence that female rm.
  • concludes that behaviour can be imitated even without reinforcement
• Evaluate Banduras 1961 study into social learning theory

  AO3

  • The study can be applied to parenting and teaching styles as by imitating adults parents can manage their temper for their children to grow up well behaved- reducing imitation of aggression
  • BUT
  • The study lacks ecological validity as the children were put in a strange situation and exposed to unusual adult behaviour, and encouraged to play with the toys. So the study doesn't represent the authentic behaviour from the children
• Evaluate Becker- contemporary study

  AO1

  • Aimed to find out if the introduction of western tv into fiji would lead to unhealthy eating behaviour
  • Used two groups of fijian schools grils around age of 17 with two samples in 1995 63 girls and in 1998 65 girls
  • Participants completed the eat-26 questionnaire, which was used to find out their eating habits. They also completed a semi structured interview answering questions on tv, also hight and weight measurements were taken
  • it was found that in 1995 the reported eat-26 score was 12.7% and in 1998 it was 29%, showing that tv has increased bad habits with food
  • concluded that characters of tv shows act as role models to the fijian girls and they felt pressure to imitate the slim appearances of actors and models going against their traditional culture
• Evaluate Becker 2002

  AO3

  • This was a natural experiment where the IV is not being manipulated meaning there may have been lots of changes in Fiji alongside tv introduction so it is difficult to be sure that TV is causing these changes in behaviour- low internal validity
  • although
  • the study has great application to help health workers understand where eating disorders may develop from and also justifies the need for more spending in this area, as it is increasingly an issues with tv shows which glamorise extra thin models