The learning theory- Behaviourism
The Behaviourist approach assumptions
- Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not concerned
with investigating mental processes of the mind
- Early behaviourist such as John B.Watson rejected introspection as it involves too many
concepts that were vague and di cult to measure
- As a result, behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity and relied on lab
experiments
- Behaviourist suggested that many of the basic processes that govern learning are the same in
all species which means that in behaviourist research animals could replace humans as
experimental subjects
- Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning-> Pavlov’s research
- Classical conditioning is learning through association
- Pavlov revealed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound
was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food
- Gradually, Pavlov's dogs learn to associate the sound of a bell (a stimulus) with the food
(another stimulus) and would produce the salivation response every time they heard the sound
- Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus (bell) can come to elicit a learned response
(conditioned response) through association.
UCS (being bitten) UCR (fear)
UCS (being bitten) + NS (dog) UCR (fear)
CS (dog) CR (fear)
Operant conditioning-> Skinner’s research
- BF Skinner suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate
on their environment
- In operant conditioning there are three types of consequences of behaviour: Positive
reinforcement , negative reinforcement and punishment
- Positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.
Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated
Positive reinforcement
- Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed e.g. praise from a teacher for
answering the question correctly in class
Negative reinforcement
- This occurs when an animal or human avoid something unpleasant
- When a student hand in an essay so as not to be told o the avoidance of something
unpleasant is the negative reinforcement
- Similarly a rat may learn three negative reinforcement that pressing the lever needs to
avoidance of an electric shock
Punishment
- This is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour e.g. being shouted out by the teacher from
talking during the lesson
- Finding a way to avoid this would be negative reinforcement
Evaluation
Scienti c credibility
- Behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods of the natural sciences into
psychology by focusing on the measurement of observable behaviour within a highly controlled
lab settings
- By emphasising the importance of scienti c processes such as objectivity and replication,
behaviourism was in uential in the development of psychology as a scienti c discipline, giving
it greater credibility and status
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The Behaviourist approach assumptions
- Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not concerned
with investigating mental processes of the mind
- Early behaviourist such as John B.Watson rejected introspection as it involves too many
concepts that were vague and di cult to measure
- As a result, behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity and relied on lab
experiments
- Behaviourist suggested that many of the basic processes that govern learning are the same in
all species which means that in behaviourist research animals could replace humans as
experimental subjects
- Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning-> Pavlov’s research
- Classical conditioning is learning through association
- Pavlov revealed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound
was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food
- Gradually, Pavlov's dogs learn to associate the sound of a bell (a stimulus) with the food
(another stimulus) and would produce the salivation response every time they heard the sound
- Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus (bell) can come to elicit a learned response
(conditioned response) through association.
UCS (being bitten) UCR (fear)
UCS (being bitten) + NS (dog) UCR (fear)
CS (dog) CR (fear)
Operant conditioning-> Skinner’s research
- BF Skinner suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate
on their environment
- In operant conditioning there are three types of consequences of behaviour: Positive
reinforcement , negative reinforcement and punishment
- Positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.
Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated
Positive reinforcement
- Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed e.g. praise from a teacher for
answering the question correctly in class
Negative reinforcement
- This occurs when an animal or human avoid something unpleasant
- When a student hand in an essay so as not to be told o the avoidance of something
unpleasant is the negative reinforcement
- Similarly a rat may learn three negative reinforcement that pressing the lever needs to
avoidance of an electric shock
Punishment
- This is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour e.g. being shouted out by the teacher from
talking during the lesson
- Finding a way to avoid this would be negative reinforcement
Evaluation
Scienti c credibility
- Behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods of the natural sciences into
psychology by focusing on the measurement of observable behaviour within a highly controlled
lab settings
- By emphasising the importance of scienti c processes such as objectivity and replication,
behaviourism was in uential in the development of psychology as a scienti c discipline, giving
it greater credibility and status
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