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Summary Behaviourism - Approaches in Psychology
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Just a summary of the approach in simple words.
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The learning approach: BehaviourismAssumptions –
All behaviour is learnt from the environment and is primarily concerned with observable
behaviours.
When born, our mind is a blank state.
Behaviour is a result of a stimulus – a response.
Stimulus – Anything internal or external, that bring a response.
Response – a reaction in presence of a stimulus.
2 Important contributors to this approach –
Pavlov – Classical conditioning
Skinner – Operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning – Involves a response naturally caused by a stimulus and pairs it with
another, often neutral stimulus. It creates an association.
Operant conditioning – Skinner claimed that all behaviour is learnt as a result of
consequences in our environment. It involves positive or negative reinforcement.
Reinforcement – A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of the behaviour
being repeated. Positive reinforcement means when a good behaviour is rewarded so it will
be repeated again. Negative reinforcement means when an unpleasant experience is trying
to be avoided and so the outcome is positive. E.G. Handing in a piece of work in on the right
time to avoid the teacher being angry. It is positive as the teacher will be happy with that.
Punishment – A consequence of behaviour that decreases the likelihood of that behaviour
being repeated.
EVALUATION POINTS
Well controlled research – highly controlled lab settings. Involved breaking down behaviour
into basic stimulus-response units. Extraneous variables were removed. Skinner was able to
demonstrate how reinforcement influences an animals behaviour so it has scientific
credibility.
Widespread application which increases the value to this approach. Such as prisons and
psychiatric wards where good behaviour can be rewarded.
However, it might mean that the animals were treated poorly (starvation to make the dog
salivate) and learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone.
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