behaviourism

• behaviourist approach/learning theory

  argues all behaviour is learnt
• 2 processes learning occurs through

  -classical conditioning

  -operant conditioning
• classical conditioning 


  learning by association

  • Pavlov discovered while researching the salivary reflex in dogs but noticed they didn't only salivate when food was placed in their mouths
  • also salivated in reaction to stimuli that was present at the same time as food
  • then explored conditions needed for learnt behaviour to occur
• Pavlov - before classical conditioning

  1st established that meat caused dog to salivate

  • unconditional stimulus (FOOD)>unconditioned response (SALVIA)
• stimulus


  something that causes a response
• unconditioned

  natural/automatic
• Pavlov - before classical conditioning 


  Pavlov discovered that a tone/sound did not cause dog to salivate

  tone = neutral stimulus
• Pavlov - during classical conditioning 


  then presented tone with the food

  causes salivation but dog is still salivating in response to food

  unconditioned stimulus (FOOD) +neutral stimulus (TONE) >unconditioned response (SALIVA)
• Pavlov - after classical conditioning 


  after several pairings of tone and food the dog would salivate to the tone alone

  tone is now conditioned stimulus and salvia is conditioned response

  conditioned stimulus (TONE) = conditioned response (SALIVA)
• operant conditioning 


  learning by consequences of behaviour
• skinner 


  behaviours produce consequences - either positive or negative
• positive reinforcement 


  increases likelihood of a response because it involves receiving a reward for the behaviour
• negative reinforcement 


  increases the likelihood of a response happening because of the removal of or escaping from unpleasant consequences

  -doing something to stop a bad thing happening
• the skinner box

  animal places in cage , if animal presses lever - food delivered

  animal presses lever accidentally and rewarded by food , reward increases likelihood that behaviour will be repeat

  =positive reinforcement
• the skinner box


  animal placed in cage with electric shock running through floor

  rat learns to press leaver in order to stop the shock

  =negative reinforcement
• evaluation - strength

  real life applications

  • led to development of treatments for various phobias = positive implications
  • token economy system successfully used in many institutions - rewards good behaviour with token that can be exchanged for privileges = positive implications
• evaluation - strength

  increased the scientific credibility of psychology by using lab experiments and focusing on observable data in highly controlled setting = behaviourist theories are falsifiable and based on empirical data
• evaluation - weakness

  most research is carried out on animals - may not generalise to humans due to humans having much higher cognitive functioning

  but still a useful pointer in understanding human behaviour
• evaluation - weakness

  reductionist - reduces human behaviour to learning through rewards and associations - ignoring all other approaches =over-simplifies behaviour
• evaluation - weakness

  deterministic - skinner argues our past conditioning experiences WILL produce behaviour - doesn't allow any free will we may have over our behaviour = ignores possibility of freewill