“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar- man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” John B. Watson (1919) What claim is Watson making about human nature? Which approach to psychology do you think Watson represents?

Today’s session You will learn how to...You will learn about... Describe the assumptions of psychological approaches Describe and apply psychological approaches & theories Behaviourism Classical conditioning The work of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson

Behaviourist assumptions People are products of their environment. All complex behaviours have been learned. Learning – and consequently behaviour – is under the control of the environment. Doing psychology means understanding what people have learned and how. Only observable behaviour should be studied, speculation about mental processes should be eliminated

Behaviourism: SR Units (reflexes) SR Stimulus is detected by an organism Organism emits a response

What are the responses? SR

Classical Conditioning – learning through association Operant Conditioning – learning through reinforcement Social Learning Theory – learning through observation

Ivan Pavlov Ivan Pavlov was a Russian Physiologist who discovered that he could condition dogs to salivate when they heard a bell. Here’s how its works……

Before Conditioning: Bell No Response Food Salivation Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response (UCS) (UCR)

During Conditioning: Food Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) + Salivation Unconditioned Response Bell (UCR) Neutral Stimulus (NS)

After Conditioning: Bell Salivation Conditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response (UCS) (UCR)

An example in everyday life... How John became phobic of walking in the forest

Work it out... UCR CR UCS NS CS +