behaviourist

• Behaviourism assumptions


  -environmentalism

  -empiricism

  -determinism

  -reductionism
• Environmentalism


  -we are born a blank slate

  -a person's unique behaviour is the result of their learning experiences in the environment

  -all behaviour is learned through the association of stimulus & a response (CC) or the through the reinforcement/punishment of behavioural responses (OC)
• Empiricism


  -psychology should only concern itself with behaviour that can be scientifically observed

  -behaviourists don't study 'inner' thoughts, feelings, or emotions because they can't be scientifically measured

  - they believe in strict control & establishing cause & effect there have a lab based approach
• Determinism


  -all behaviour is determined by the environment: forces outside of the person

  -implies we don't choose to behave in certain ways: we're passive learners

  -nurture determines behaviour not nature
• Reductionism


  -the belief that human behaviours can be reduced to simple component parts, eg. stimulus & associations)

  -the complexity of behaviour is missed; as mental processes or psychological dimension of an experience is ignored
• Classical conditioning (CC)


  refers to associating two stimuli together; these two things occur at the same time so an association is formed
• Pavlov


  BEFORE CONDITIONING:

  food -> salivation

  (unconditioned stimulus) -> (unconditioned response)

  bell -> no response

  (neutral stimulus)

  DURING CONDITIONING:

  bell + food -> salivation

  (neutral stimulus) + (unconditioned stimulus) -> (unconditioned stimulus)

  AFTER CONDITIONING:

  bell -> salivation

  (conditioned stimulus) -> (conditioned response)
• Strengths of classical conditioning

  -research is scientific; carried out on animals in lab conditions/ using brain imaging techniques, eg. MRI

  -only looks at behaviours, every step is observable so adds to credibility as you can see it happen
• Weaknesses of classical conditioning

  -generalising the results of dogs to humans is inaccurate, humans & animals are too different for the research to be generalised

  -behaviourism focuses on nature, but some people may be born with predispositions towards behaviours rather than learning them through conditioning, eg. sexuality so research may be invalid
• Little Albert (Watson & Rayner): Procedure

  BEFORE CONDITIONING:

  loud noise -> fear response

  (unconditioned stimulus) -> (unconditioned stimulus)

  rat -> no response

  (neural stimulus)

  DURING CONDITIONOINNG:

  rat + loud noise -> fear response

  (neural stimulus) + (unconditioned stimulus) -> (unconditioned stimulus)

  AFTER CONDITIONING:

  rat -> fear response

  (conditioned stimulus) -> ( conditioned response)
• Little Albert (Watson & Raynor): Conclusion

  fear can be conditioned in a young by pairing an initially neutral stimulus with an unpleasant stimulus of a very loud noise
• Stimulus generalisation


  other stimulus similar to the original conditioned stimulus produce a conditioned response, eg. a wind chime instead of a bell producing salivation
• Stimulus discrimination


  there's a learned response to a specific stimulus only: the learner doesn't respond in the same way to new stimulus as they do with the conditioned stimulus, eg. a bell (a conditioned stimulus) vs a drum ( a neural stimulus)
• Extinction


  the new behaviour ( conditioned response) will stop if the unconditioned stimulus doesn't continue to appear after the conditioned stimulus, eg. if food doesn't continually follow th bell salivation to the bell will stop
• Weakness of Little Albert study

  -unethical; he wasn't protected from harm because they're purposely giving him phobia, didn't have informed consent from his mother so she couldn't withdraw him

  -unrepresentative; only one child, results may not be typical so difficult to generalised
• Operant conditioning (OC)


  -developed by Skinner

  -suggests behaviour is shaped through reinforcement

  -he believed all behaviour is learned from environmental consequences
• Difference between CC & OC

  classical conditioning relies on a behaviour that already exists, operant conditioning is based on voluntary behaviours that are shaped by their consequences
• Skinner's experiment


  Skinner box, a rat pushed a button & received food (positive reinforcement) so continued this behaviour
• Shaping behaviour through reinforcement


  -reinforcement is anything that increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

  -it strengths behaviour, eg. the rat receiving food for pressing a lever encouraged the rat to do it again
• Positive reinforcement


  encourages behaviour to be repeated, strengthens behaviour by using rewards
• Negative reinforcement


  encourages a behaviour because a negative condition is stopped/ avoided, eg. a rat is shocked until it presses a lever the shock stops as a consequence, the rat learns to presses the lever to avoid being shocked (not getting shocked is the consequence)
• Strengths of behaviourism


  -real life application; OC has been used in behaviour shaping programmes, eg. token economies so the research has positive effects on society

  -has been the driving force in pushing psychology as a science; uses empirical research methods& experimental method is rigorous, controlled & testable so compatible with scientific approach
• Weaknesses of behaviourism


  -behaviourism is environmental deterministic: it believes all behaviour is learnt so ignores biology

  -only interested in behaviour & no the underlying cause of behaviour, eg. traumatic experiences in childhood, so is often seen as incomplete

  -can use other theories