Approach

• Name the 3 behaviourist assumptions

  • Blank slate
  • we learn through conditioning
  • Humans and animals learn in similar ways
• In the bobo doll study, what type of behaviour did Bandura demonstrate is learnt?

  Aggressive behaviour
• What is operant conditioning

  Learning from consequences of behaviour where reward = behaviour is reinforced so increases and punishment = behaviour is avoided
• What is classical conditioning

  Learning by forming an associations between UCS and NS
• What did Skinner use to positively reinforce lever pressing with the rats?

  Reward of a food pellet
• Behaviourists believe there are only what type of differences between humans and non-human animals

  Quantitative - differences we can measure in numbers such as weight and circumfrance
• What are the main components of aversion therapy

  • Counter conditioning
  • Antabuse drugs
  • Covert sensitisation
  • Rapid smoking
• What is counterconditioning

  Person learns a new classically conditioned response of wanting to avoid the addictive source, which runs counter to (cancels out) the old classically conditioned response
• What is covert sensitisation

  The aversive stimulus is imagined rather than real. E.g. imagine progressively getting drunk and more and more bad things happening
• How does aversion therapy use drugs?

  The drug is uses as the aversive stimulus to create an extremely unpleasant response e.g. when antabuse is taken it will react with any alcohol the person drinks in the next 2 weeks. Quick onset of awful symptoms such as sickness, headaches, sweating, heart palpitations
• What research evidence supports effectiveness of AT

  Neiderhoffen & Staffen found people given antabuse had longer periods of abstinence from alcohol than those given a placebo. Therefore suggesting it is an effective aversive stimulus
• What evidence supports use of rapid smoking

  McRobbie found that rapid smoking caused reduced desire to smoke than those who watched an antismoking video after 24 hours and 7 days. BUT, equal levels of smoking 4 weeks later
• What is one ethical issue of AT

  X - risk of harm from antabuse or rapid smoking

  X - only treats symptoms, not cause of addiction so risk of symptom substitution

  :-) - long term benefits to a person by breaking their AB is worth the risk of short term harm
• In the emotional tests phase of W+R, state the objects LA reactions were tested with

  White rat, rabbit, monkey, burning newspaper, cotton wool, masks with and without hair
• How was the loud noise made in W+R

  metal bar suspended behind his head was struck with a steel hammer
• What was the control object use in most sessions? Why does this help internal validity?

  Wooden blocks. Showed that the fear response was only to the objects that he had been classically conditioned to fear and not that he just happened to cry to anything that day
• What was the purpose of session 1 of W+R? And how old was LA?

  Session 1 = 11m3d |

  Establish the conditioned response (2 joint stimulations of rat + noise)
• What do we mean by 'joint stimulation' in terms of the W+R study?

  Presenting the UCS (noise) and NS (rat) at the same time
• What was the purpose of session 2 of W+R

  Sessions 2 = 11m10d

  Testing the conditioned response (presented the rat alone), then 5 more joint stimulations to complete the conditioning
• How many more joint stimulations happened during session 2

  5
• What was the purpose of session 3 of W+R, and state objects LA was presented with

  Generalisation. Wanted to see if the conditioned fear would extend to other items resembling the white rate e.g. rabbit, dog, seal fur coat, John Watson's hair
• What was the purpose of session 4 in W+R

  Changing the environment. Test whether he would demonstrate the learned fear response in a room other than the small ''well lit dark room''
• What was the main weakness regarding W+R sample

  One boy - not representative of all population (low population validity)
• Why does W+R lack ecological validity

  Conditioned LA in an artificial environment. He may have reacted differently, such as not been so fearful, if he was in a familiar surrounding such as home
• State a piece of alternative evidence that contradicts W+R

  Freud - Little Hans had a phobia of horses because the horse was a symbolic representation of his father. He displaced his fear of dad onto the horse. It was not a classically conditioned learned response
• What ethical issues are associated with W+R? Why do W+R argue their study was ethical?

  Lack of valid consent - mum didn't know what they intended to do to her son

  No debrief of decondition on LA - W+R argue that they had intended to counter condition him but were unable as mum removed him

  Psychological harm - deliberately induced fear and crying. W+R argue it was no more than ''everyday rough and tumble''
• 2 Social implications of W+R work

  Used to develop a therapy to treat phobias. Wolpe developed systematic desensitisation to classically condition a new response of feeling calm and relaxed instead of fear. Used successfully to lower fear of flying.

  Demonstrates that we learn through classical conditioning. Applied in other settings e.g. LeFrancois says can use to teach children to associate school with pleasant things
• What are the 3 themes in the using conditioning debate

  • At home
  • In schools
  • With vulnerable children
• For: conditioning techniques are appropriate for use in home

  Supernanny - naughty step as punishment is more effective than shouting at a child as shouting = attention = reward

  Gill - pocket money as positive reinforcement = 20% increase in chores completed
• Against: conditioning techniques aren't appropriate for use in home

  Morris - naughty step is damaging. The child is not able to reflect on their own behaviour without input form the adult

  Not effective if parents aren't able to apply conditioning techniques consistently e.g. threaten punishment but don't follow through
• For: operant conditioning at school

  McAllister - found that increased use of teacher praise (positive reinforcement) and 'teacher disapproval' (punishment) led to a decrease in inappropriate talking in an English lesson. In the control condition there was no decrease
• Against: operant conditioning at school

  Lepper - asked children to draw nice pictures. When the children were promised a reward, they spent half as much time drawing as children who were not promised a reward.

  Lewis - Japanese schools rarely use in schools and are ranked at 4th for Maths & Science whereas the UK who do use it are ranked 20th & 23rd.
• For: conditioning techniques on vulnerable children

  Lovaas - ABA therapy for children with ASD. The 1-1 therapy shapes the behaviour of the children, where rewards are given for most behaviours to begin with, then they slowly get reduced as they get closer to the ideal behaviour
• Against: conditioning techniques on vulnerable children

  Research has found that evidence of PTSD symptoms in autistic individuals that received ABA therapy. The study reports nearly half of the 460 respondents exhibited symptoms of PTSD. The type of ABA therapy studied were programs that forces eye contact and force ppts to work at tables without alternative seating for hours