| What is classical conditioning? | Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together. |
| A strength of the behaviourist approach? | -Based on well-controlled research
-Beahviourist focus on observable behaviour within highly controlled lab setttings. Behaviours into basic stimulus-response units which can allow for a cause and effect relationships to be established due to the control of extraneous variables.
-Eg: Skinner was able to demonstrate how reinforment influence an animal's behaviour. This suggests that behaviourist experiences have a high scientific value to thier contribution to psychology as a science
-However, a weakness of this is how it can't be applied to a real life setting due to low ecological validity of a lab experiment. |
| What is operant conditioning? | A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. E.g. positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment. |
| What is positive punishment ? | Add an unpleasant stimulus to the environment which will decrease the frequency of the behaviour. |
| What is negative reinforement? | Removing of the stimulus, which will lead to an increase of behaviour. |
| What is negative punishment? | You get something taken away from you, will lead to a decrease of behaviour |
| Name the different contions and stimulus in the little albert study? | -The neutral stimulus - rat
-Unconditioned stimulus - the bang
-Makes the unconditioned reaction
-The neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are associated together causing the baby to cry
-This causes a conditional response to the rat, the conditioned stimulus, forming a phobia. |
| A strength of the behaviourist approach? | -Based on well-controlled research
-Beahviourist focus on observable behaviour within highly controlled lab setttings. Behaviours into basic stimulus-response units which can allow for a cause and effect relationships to be established due to the control of extraneous variables.
-Eg: Skinner was able to demonstrate how reinforment influence an animal's behaviour. This suggests that behaviourist experiences have a high scientific value to thier contribution to psychology as a science
-However, a weakness of this is how it can't be applied to a real life setting due to low ecological validity of a lab experiment. |
| A strength of behaviourist approach? | -applied to real-world behaviour and problems
-eg: the idea of operant conditioning is the basis of a toekn economy system, which has been very successfil in institutions like prisonsnad psychiatric facicilies. Work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be rewarded for privileges
-Eg: classical conditioning has been applied ot the treatment of phobias like systematic desensitation and flooding
-Increases the value of the behaviourist approach bc it has widepsread application, like the successful treatment of phobias |
| A weakness of the behaviourist approach? | -all behaviour conditioned by past conditioning experiences and is environmentally deterministic.
-Skinner suggested that eerything we do is a total of our reinforcement history. When smthing happens, we may think that it is because of our free will but, according to Skinner, our past conditioning history determined the outcome.
-Ignored the possible influence that free will may have on behaviour, skinner himseifl that free is an influence only.
-An extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour, like the cognitive apporach suggests |
| A weakness of the behaviourist approach? | -Research conducted on animals can be questioned in terms of ethics
-Although procedues lik the Skinner box allowed behaviourist to maintain a high degree over their experimental subjects may be questionined the ethics of conducting such investigations
-Animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and deliberatley kept below their natural weight so they were always hungery
-Though at the time there were no ethical guidelines for this and the information recieved allowed for real world therapies to be developed, however, this doesn't justify wha tthe animals went through as they were kept in uncomfortable environments for a long periods of time. |
