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Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
Assumptions of the Behaviourist Approach (pg 23-26)TASK
What does the following quote from John Watson (a behavioural psychologist) suggest about this approach? Do you agree with what he is saying?
TASK In the space below, write down three or four personality traits about yourself. For
example your hobbies, things you are good at, your likes or dislikes etc.
The behaviourist approach assumes that we are born neutral, with no inherent personality. It is the environment which shapes who you are. For example, if you are sporty, it may be because you grew up in a family that was interested in sport. If you love to read, it is because you grew up surrounded by books. TASK
Look back at the traits you wrote about yourself. Can you explain these personality traits through your environment? If not, why not, and what alternative explanation can you come up with?
Assumption 1: The role of the environment
1
What is the “Tabula Rasa”?
What is “environmental determinism”?
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-- doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggar man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors." John Watson (1878-1958)
Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
Assumption 2: Behaviour can be explained though classical conditioning (pg 50)
This is learning by ____________________.(A good way to remember this is ________________________________________________________)
TASK If you have any pets (cats, dogs, fish, birds etc) do they ever show any behaviour
which suggests they know they are about to get fed/walked etc? If you don’t have any pets, ask someone who does
Classical conditioning occurs when an association is made between a previously unlearned response, and a neutral stimulus. If the two are paired enough times, eventually the neutral stimulus will produce the unlearned response.
For example, feeling scared and feeling pain when someone hits you is an unconditioned response (no-one has taught you this). If every time an Elvis song is played someone hits you, you might start feeling scared when you hear Elvis singing! This is because you have learned to associate Elvis with pain. Elvis has gone from being a neutral stimulus to a conditioned stimulus. Your fear response to Elvis is now a conditioned response.
EVIDENCE for classical conditioning: Ivan Pavlov (1849-1946, pictured left) was the first person to investigate classical conditioning. He discovered it by accident when performing unrelated experiments on dogs. He noticed that the dogs would start salivating as soon as the lab assistant would walk in the room to feed them.
Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI(In this experiment Pavlov used a metronome, but in other books and videos, it may be a bell. Don’t worry, as it is the same experiment!)
Before ConditioningFood ---> SalivationThe dog is hungry, the dog sees the food which is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the dog salivates. This is a reflex action and therefore it is an unconditioned response (UCR).
Metronome ---> No salivationWhen a metronome which is a neutral stimulus (NS) is played, it produces no response in the dog.
During conditioningMetronome with Food ---> SalivationBefore we present the food (UCS) to the dog we play the metronome (NS). The dog salivates at the sight of the food (UCR). We repeat this action (metronome then food) at several meals.
After conditioning2
The equipment used by Pavlov
Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
Metronome ---> SalivationThe metronome now produces the response of salivation, even when no food is present. The metronome has become a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the dog’s salivation in response to the metronome is now a conditioned response (CR).
Learning has taken place as the dog produces a new behaviour (salivation at the sound of the metronome) This procedure can be written as below:
3
Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
Before conditioning
UCS UCR(Food) (Salivation)
NS No Response(Metronome)
During conditioning
UCS NS UCR(Food) (Metronome) (Salivation)
After conditioning
CS CR(Metronome) (Salivation)
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt0ucxOrPQE
Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
TASK Look back the pet behaviour you wrote down on the page 2. Does
classical conditioning provide a good explanation? Can you think of any
of your own behaviour which can be explained in this way?More EVIDENCE for classical conditioning: Watson and Rayner (1920) demonstrated classical conditioning on a little boy known as Little Albert.
TASK read pg 25-26 and fill in the gaps below with the words in the boxes below.
The aim of the study was to establish whether emotional responses such as _______ could be _________________.
Albert B.’s mother was a nurse in a children’s hospital. Albert was described as normal and “healthy from birth”. When he was about ________ months old , his reactions to various stimuli where tested- a white rat, a rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks with and without hair, cotton wool, burning newspapers and a hammer striking a four-foot steel bar just behind his head. Only the last of these frightened him. The other stimuli were_____________, because they did not produce fear.
When Albert was just eleven months old, the ________ and the hammer striking the bar were presented together: as
Albert reached out to stroke the animal, Watson crept behind the baby and brought the hammer crashing down on the steel bar! This occurred seven times in total over the next seven weeks. By this time, the rat on its own frightened Albert. Watson & Rayner had succeeded in deliberately producing in a baby a __________ of rats.
This fear response transferred spontaneously to the rabbit, the dog, the sealskin fur coat, cotton wool, Watson’s hair and a Santa Claus mask, showing __________________________. But it did not generalise to Albert’s building blocks, or to the hair of two observers which demonstrates ________________________.
Five days after conditioning, the fear produced by the rat persisted. After ten days it was “much less marked”, but it was still evident one month later.
TASKUsing the equation as above, complete the equations below to show the conditioning that occurred in the Little Albert Experiment Before conditioning
UCS UCR(Loud noise) (___________)
NS No Response(_____________)
During conditioning
UCS NS UCR(__________ (rat) (fear)
___________)
5
fearconditioned
generalisation
discrimination
neutral
rat
phobia
nine
Approach 1: The Behaviourist Approach: Assumptions of the Approach
After conditioning CS CR
(____________) (____________)
6
TASK Briefly outline the conditioning experiment we carried out in
class.
TASK Using the type of equations on the previous page, explain the following scenario:
“You eat a banana and shortly afterwards you are sick. You are sick not because of the banana, but because you have a stomach bug; however, from now on the smell and taste of bananas makes you feel nauseous.”
Assumption 3: Behaviour can be explained though operant conditioning (pg 51)
Operant conditioning involves learning through ______________________. It is more voluntary than the learning seen in classical conditioning. The idea is that when people behave in a particular way and are rewarded for it, they will repeat it. If they are punished for the behaviour, they will stop doing it! It is different from classical conditioning because the consequence comes after the response (rather than the stimulus coming before the response).TASK
How have you been rewarded or punished this week?
Going further...Have a go at making Pavlov’s Dog droolhttp://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/pavlov.htmlCome up with your own examples of classical conditioning using the correct terms.The following website has some great examples of classical conditioning that you can have a go at: http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/biederman/courses/p1110/conditioning2.htmHow could classical conditioning be used in real life situations (such as a prison or a school) to alter someone’s behaviour and how ethical do you think it would be? If you would like to know more about Little Albert, either ask your teacher for a copy of the full text, or download it from the VLE. How ethical do you think the little Albert experiment was? Would this experiment be carried out today?
TASK A few more key terms to know. Read the section on page 26, and insert the key
terms with the definition, and give an example. The key terms are all in bold in the textbook
Term Description ExampleAnything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeatedWhere something desirable is given in order that a behaviour will be repeated Where something undesirable is taken away in order that a behaviour will be repeatedAnything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.Where something undesirable is given in order that a behaviour will not be repeatedWhere something desirable is taken away in order that a behaviour will not be repeated
If you find it a bit confusing trying to remember all of the terms, just remember the following
Reinforcement increases behaviour Punishment decreases behaviour Positive is where something is given Negative is where something is taken away
EVIDENCE for operant conditioning: Much of the research in this area was done by BF Skinner (left). He performed many experiments with animals such as rats and pigeons. Behaviourists carry out a lot of research on animals as they assume that what applies to animals can be generalised to humans. Also, much of the research into conditioning could not be carried out on humans for ethical and practical reasons.
The Skinner box contained a lever for an animal such as a rat or pigeon to press for food to be delivered. It also had a speaker and lights that could be used to trigger a behaviour and a shock generator was connected to the floor to deliver an electric shock in response to a behaviour. The idea behind the Skinner box was to create an environment in which the experimenter had complete control over everything the animal inside experienced. By altering the environment, desired behaviour could be conditioned in the animal.
For example, if the experimenter set up the box so that when the rat pressed the lever, a food pellet was dispensed, the rat might accidently tap the lever and receive food. However it would not take long before the rat’s behaviour changed, and they pressed the lever more. This would be positive reinforcement. If however, after this learning, we changed the rules so that food would only be dispensed when a red light came on, the rat would learn that pressing the lever when there was no red light on would not lead to food. Again their behaviour would change and the rat would only press the lever when the light was on.
Skinner was able to condition some impressive behaviour in pigeons using a Skinner box. Can pigeons read? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA&feature=related or play ping pong? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGazyH6fQQ4TASK
Which of the terms in the table above relate to the scenarios below?
1. Tina breaks her mum’s expensive vase, and so is not allowed to go out with her friends.
___________________________________
2. Adam is praised by his teacher for working hard. In future he continues to work hard.
___________________________________
3. Kate steals some cookies from the cookie jar and is spanked.
___________________________________
4. Freddy eats all of his vegetables at dinner, and so does not have to do the washing up.
___________________________________
TASK Think of a way that you are rewarded and punished, for example at
school, at home or generally in society. Using the key terms on page 6, explain how this is intended to alter your behaviour. How successful is this method?
Going further...Try this quiz: http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz258742f9578.htmlYouTube has got lots of great videos of animal training using operant conditioning. Watch some, and see if you can tell what type of conditioning is being used.Can you think of any real life examples of operant conditioning?Could operant conditioning be used in unethical ways?Can you think of some problems with Skinner’s type of experiment?