Behaviourist Approach
Classical Conditioning
Key Assumptions
Early behaviourists such as Wilhelm Wundt and John B. Watson (1913) rejected introspection ("looking into" own cognitive process) as it involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure.
Operant Conditioning
Only observable behaviour is measurable scientifically and it is only these behaviours that should be studied.
Animal research is valid as they share the same principles of learning as humans.
Behaviour is learned from experience.
All humans are born as a blank slate, there is no genetic influence on behaviour.
Learning through association.
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov while he was studying salivation in dogs.
Bell (neutral stimulus) --> No salivation (no conditioned response)
Bell + food --> Salivation (unconditioned response)
Food (unconditioned stimulus) --> Salivation (unconditioned response
Bell (conditioned stimulus) --> Salivation (conditioned response)
Learning from the consequences of our behaviour.
BF Skinner (1953) suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment.
Three types of consequences of behaviour
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Positive reinforcement
Is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed; for example, praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class
Occurs when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant. When a student hands in an essay so as not to be told off, the avoidance of something is negative reinforcement.
Is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour, for example being shouted at by the teacher for talking during a lesson. (Finding a way to avoid that would be negative reinforcement)
Positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated. Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.
Skinner (1938)
He placed a rat in a "Skinner Box" which contained a lever, a light, and a food dispenser. If the rat pressed on the lever, the light would come on and a food pellet would roll down the chute - this is positive reinforcement. At first the rat would press the lever accidentally. However, the consequences was contiguous (the food was dispensed instantly) and contingent (the light coming on alerted the rat to what it had done). Rats quickly learned to press the lever to get food
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again. Concluded: Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding.
He tested classical conditioning by associating the ringing of a bell with the food so that the dogs would salivate when they heard the bell. He would measure the amount of saliva produced at each stage and this would be used to test the strength of the conditioned response that had been learned.