behaviourist approach

• What do behaviourists believe about behaviour?


  Behaviour is learned through experience

  behaviour is learned by association between two stimuli

  behaviour is maintained through reinforcement (positive and negative)
• What is classical conditioning?

  • Learning through association
  • an unconditioned stimulus ( UCS ) which brings about an an innate unconditioned response ( UCR )
  • A neutral stimulus ( NS ) is paired with the UCS- you learn to associate them together
  • NS becomes a conditioned stimulus ( CS ) that elicits a conditioned response ( CR )even without the presence of the UCS
• Who was one of the first researchers in classical conditioning?

  Pavlov
• What did Pavlov observe in dogs during his research?

  In the presence of food (ucs) dogs salivated (ucr)

  he paired ringing of a bell (nS) with food (ucs)

  dogs learn to associate them together

  ringing of bell (ns) becomes a conditioned stimulus and dogs salivate (Cr) even without presence of food (ucs)
• What is extinction in classical conditioning?

  Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus no longer elicits the conditioned response.
• What is the significance of timing in classical conditioning?

  The time interval between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus must be small enough for association to occur.
• What is spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning?

  Spontaneous recovery is when the conditioned response reappears after a period of extinction when the conditioned stimulus is presented again.
• What is stimulus generalization?

  Stimulus generalization occurs when an organism responds to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.
• What are the key concepts of operant conditioning?

  • Learning through consequences
  • Positive reinforcement: adding something pleasant
  • Negative reinforcement: removing something unpleasant
  • Positive punishment: adding something unpleasant
  • Negative punishment: taking away something pleasant
• How does reinforcement affect behavior?

  Reinforcement strengthens behavior, making it more likely to be repeated in the future.
• What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?

  Positive reinforcement involves adding something nice, while negative reinforcement involves removing something unpleasant.
• Who researched operant conditioning using pigeons and rats?

  Skinner
• What are the strengths of classical conditioning?

  • Successfully applied to reduce anxiety related to phobias
  • Systematic desensitization therapy uses classical conditioning principles
• What are the limitations of classical conditioning?

  • Concept of preparedness: animals learn significant associations for survival
  • Some links may be harder to establish than others
• What are the limitations of operant conditioning?Focus on animal behavior may not generalize to humans

  • Its origins stem from a study done on animals-can't generalize to humans
  • Skinner’s reliance on rats and pigeons and Pavlov on dogs means that we are unable to draw conclusions about human behaviour
  • humans have a far more complex biological make-up and more complex causes of behaviour and motivation behind it
  • Lacks external (population) validity
  • Can't generalise the findings from animal research to humans, which weakens the supporting evidence for the operant conditioning
• Skinner box

  Rats in a box with a lever

  rats pressed the lever and it delivered food pellets (positive reinforcement)

  repeated pressing the lever but when it stopped dispensing they eventually stopped (negative punishment)
• • development of a successful therapy
  • Systematic desensitisation (effective treatment for a range of phobias)
  • Uses principles of classical conditioning to replace learned response (anxiety) with another response (relaxation) 
  • 75% effective 
  • The success of this therapy proves the validity of the theory
  • What about 25% who it doesn't work for
• -The behaviourist approach can be described in terms of environmental reductionism,

  -because it reduces complex behaviour down to one fundamental factor (stimulus response links)

  -This can be a limitation as other factors may be ignored preventing more realistic or valid explanations of behaviour and as a result patients may be prevented from receiving more successful therapies.

  -Therefore a more holistic theory is required as the behavioural approach only provides a partial explanation for behaviour
• • The dog would be strapped in a harness with an apparatus that allowed precise measurement of the amount of saliva it produced. 
  • A bell is rung (ns) and the amount of saliva measured. 
  • Food presented (ucs) and the amount of saliva measured.(ucr) 
  • Then the bell and food would be presented at the same time and the amount of saliva measured. 
  • This would be repeated a set number of times, then the bell would be rung (cr) without presentation of the food, and the amount of saliva would be measured to test the strength of the (cr) that had been learned.