THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

Or Everything opposed to

Freud

JB Watson (1878-1958)‘Father of Behaviourism’

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become a doctor, lawyer, artist, beggar or

thief”

THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Tabula Rasa

Environmental determinism

THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVABLE EVENTS IN RESEARCH This approach is primarily concerned with

observable behaviour (measurable behaviour)

Stimulus-Response relationships.

E.g.: you burn your hand on a stove, and therefore do not touch the stove again.

Classical Conditioning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING This is learning through ASSOCIATION

To remember this think ASS!

…clASSical conditioning…ASSociation

Neutral Stimulus(NS)

No response

Unconditioned Stimulus

(UCS)

Unconditioned

Response (UCR)

Conditioned Stimulus

(CS)

Conditioned

Response (CR)

Conditioning

LITTLE ALBERT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FKZAYt77ZM

Complete the table on pg 8, explaining the process of the Classical Conditioning of Little Albert.

Include these terms: rat, striking hammer, fear,

unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR), conditioned response (CR),conditioned stimulus (CS), neutral stimulus (NS).

Work it out....A child is afraid of spiders.

One day he is in a lift and notices a spider. Now he is afraid of lifts.Neutral stimulus

(NS)?Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

Unconditioned response (UCR)?

Conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Conditioned response(CR)?

And another, try this one on your own

Many years ago, as a child, Rick used to visit a dentist who thought that anaesthetic was just for sissies. The dentist had a grandfather clock in the waiting room. Years later, Rick still feels uneasy and a little anxious whenever he hears the tick of a grandfather clock.

Suggest the NS, UCS, CS, UCR and CR in this scenario.

Operant Conditioning

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning is learning through consequence

It focuses on reward and punishment.

RatatouilleRatatouille is hungry and perform various exploratory behaviours

By chance he presses the lever

A pellet of food appears!

I’ll do that

again

Some definitions....

Reinforcement : Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Positive reinforcement :

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen i.e. food for Ratatouille

Negative reinforcement :

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they stop

Punishment : Anything unpleasant which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of any behaviour which is not the desired behaviour.

Schedules of reinforcement

When and how often we reinforce a behaviour can have a significant impact on the strength and rate of the response.

2 types of schedules Continuous reinforcement: the

desired behaviour is reinforced every single time it occurs.

Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced only part of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGazyH6fQQ4

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

How can Operant Conditioning be

used to explain OCD?

Starter… Many years ago, as a child, Rick

used to visit a dentist who thought that anaesthetic was just for sissies. The dentist had a grandfather clock in the waiting room. Years later, Rick still feels uneasy and a little anxious whenever he hears the tick of a grandfather clock.

Suggest the UCS, CS, UCR and CR in this scenario.

Social learningLearning by andobservation imitation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTxfIDYx6Q

Social Learning Learning by observation

… People observe the behaviour of other people (models)

… They may imitate the behaviour they observe

… Whether or not they do so depends on the observed consequences: Vicarious reinforcement Vicarious punishment

Vicarious…what???

Observe how behaviour is

reinforced in other people

Modelling(Copying the behaviour of others

- ‘role models’)For modelling to occur, there must be:-Attention (noticing the

behaviour)Retention (remembering the

behaviour)Motor Reproduction (it has

to be physically possible)Motivation (there has to

be a reason to want to copy the role-model)

Albert Bandura

The Bobo Doll

Experiments

(1960’s)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHHdovKHDNU&feature=related

a) Aggression Rewarded (VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT)

Variations on the Bobo Doll Experiment

Result: Rewarded adult is MOST likely to be copied Punished adult LEAST likely to be copied

b)Aggression Punished (VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT)

c) Adult neither rewarded or punished (No reinforcement)

Bandura’s ideas could be used to explain eating disorders, obsessive compulsions and anxiety.

How?

Evaluation of Behavioural Approach

Over to you…

10 minutes Read through Limitations section on page

189. Summarise the strengths and weaknesses of

the behavioural approach. Use short sentences (bullet points) You need to identify at least 3 weaknesses

and 2 strengths.

Write these in the evaluation box on pg 11 of your booklet

‘Preparedness’ Seligman (1971)

Evolutionary history has prepared us to be sensitive to certain stimuli, such as dangerous animals and situations.

Even today, we have not shaken this off.… E.g. Ohman et al (2000)… Participants could be conditioned

to fear pictures of spiders, but they could not be conditioned to fear pictures of flowers.