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Psychology - Approaches (THE ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY (EVALUATION (Wundt'…

- - - - Ivan Pavlov - He is normally credited with discovering the process of classical conditioning. He was investigating the salary reflex in dog when he noticed that not only salvaged when food was placed in their mouths, but also reacted to a stimuli that coincided with the presentation of food or the person who fed them. This led him to explore the conditions under which this type of learning was most likely to occur.
        Natural stimuli in any reflex is referred to as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the natural response to this stimulus is the unconditioned response (UCR). During this phase a natural stimulus (NS), which does not elicit the UCR, is presented shortly before the UCS. After many pairings of NS + UCS, this changes and the NS is now able to produce the same response in the absence of the UCS. The NS is now referred to as conditioned stimulus (CS) and the response it produces is called a conditioned response (CR). Ringing a bell shortly before presenting food to a hungry animal will eventually mean that the bell on its own will produce the response of salvation (CR)
    - - Timing - If the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS (E.G if it occurs after the UCS or the time taken between the two is too great), then conditioning does not take place
      - Extinction - Pavlov discovered that, unlike the UCR the CR does not become permanently established as a response. After a few presentation of the CS in the absence of the UCS, it looses its ability to produce the CR
      - Spontaneous Rediscovery - Following extinction, if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again, the link between them is made much more quickly
      - Stimulus Generalisation - Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned, they will also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the CS
    - - Strength - Classical conditioning has lead to the development of treatments for the reduction of anxiety associated with various phobias. Systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on classical conditioning. This form of therapy works by eliminating the learnt anxious response (the CR) that is associated with a feared object or stimulus (the CS). The therapist tries to eliminate one learnt response (anxiety) and replace it with another (relaxation) so that the patient is no longer anxious in the presence of the feared object or when in the feared stimulus. This approach has been found to be effective for a range of phobias
      - Limitation - Different species face different challenges to survive, so have different capabilities to learn through the process of classical conditioning. As a result, relationships between the CS and UCS tend to be more difficult to establish for some species then for others. Seligman (1970) proposed the concept of preparedness to explain this. Animals are prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival needs yet unprepared to learn associations that are not significant in this respect
  - - - Skinners theory - His theory of operant conditioning is that organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours and these behaviours produce consequences for that organism, some of which may be positive (desirable), and some negative (undesirable). Weather or not an organism repeats a particular behaviour depends on the nature of these consequences (is it reinforced)
    - - Reinforcement - This is something in the environment that strengthens a particular behaviour and so it makes it more likely to occur There are two main types of reinforcer, positive and negative. Positive reinforcement occurs when a behaviour produces a consequence that is pleasant for the organism. Negative reinforcement works because they remove something that is unpleasant and restore the organism to its more relaxed state
    - - Schedules of reinforcement - Although a continues reinforcement schedule is most effective in establishing a particular response, a partial reinforcement schedule is more effective in maintaining that response and avoiding that extinction
      - Punishment - This refers to the circumstance whereby a behaviour is followed by a consequence that is undesirable nor unpleasant for the organism. Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring, whereas punishment decreases it. As with reinforcement, punishment can also be positive or negative
    - - Strength - Skinners research relied heavily on the experimental method, which uses controlled conditions in an attempt to discover a possible causal relationship between two or more variables. Skinners reliance on the skinner box was a good example of this approach in practice. By manipulating the consequences of behaviour, he was able to accurately measure the effects on the rats behaviour. This allowed him to establish a cause and effect relationship between the consequences of a behaviour and the future frequency of its occurrence
      - Limitation - Skinners research has received some criticism because his experiments involved the study of non human animals rathe than humans. Critics claim that his reliance on rats and pigeons means that Skinners studies can tell us little about human beings behaviour. They claim that, unlike non-human animals, human beings have free will rather than having their behaviour determine by positive and negative reinforcement. Skinner argued that free will was merely an illusion and what we believe are behaviours chosen through free will are actually the product of external influences that 'guide' our behaviour on a daily basis