Lesson (20)

Memory: mini mock 30 minutes

Starter: the approaches What are the 5 approaches? For each approach identify… The main psychologists The main assumptions Tuesday: research methods Friday: social influence

‘We are born as a tabula rasa (blank slate)’ What do you think this means? Which Psychological approach do you think said this and why?

The Learning Approach: Behaviourism Lesson Objectives The Learning Approach: Behaviourism Understand To describe key assumptions and concepts of the behaviourist approach. Apply To explain real life examples of the behaviourist approach Evaluate To discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the behaviourist approach in Psychology

Ring any bells? What was this? From this… What might the assumptions of the behaviourist approach be? Think in terms of human behaviour, psychology as a science, and nature/nurture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI

Assumptions We are born as a blank slate – a ‘tabula rasa’ – everything we become is shaped by the process of learning from our environment. Extreme ‘nurture’ end of nature-nurture debate. Argues that in order for psychology to be scientific it should focus on observable behaviour which can be objectively measured, rather than on things like cognitive processes which can only be inferred – rejected the idea of introspection! Lab experiments are the best way to achieve this! Behaviourists also assume that humans are like any other organism in how they develop therefore animals can be studied to draw conclusions about humans.

Behaviourism has two main forms of learning Classical conditioning Operant conditioning & reinforcement

Learning through association… Behaviourism Classical Conditioning - Pavlov Learning through association…

How might this be used to learn/condition a fear? How does it work? Before conditioning Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS) Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS) Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR) During conditioning Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS) Pairing + Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS) Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR) After conditioning Bell: Conditioned stimulus (CS) Salivation: Conditioned response (CR) How might this be used to learn/condition a fear?

Activity Watch the video of Little Albert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI Write out the process of classical conditioning in the little Albert’s study.  

1. Before conditioning 2. Before conditioning 3. During conditioning 3. After conditioning

Behaviourist approach Continued

Starter What are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach? Draw a diagram explaining CC

Consider… How do you train..? A Child A Dog A Pigeon http://study.com/academy/lesson/skinner-box-experiment-theory-quiz.html

Apply it: Big bang theory What type of conditioning is used? How is it used?

Learning through consequences Operant Conditioning – Skinner Learning through consequences

Positive reinforcement : Match the definitions Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they stop. Aspirin to get rid of a headache. In simple terms, it is behaviour that makes something unpleasant go away. Positive reinforcement : Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant when happen Negative reinforcement : Handout, they can match the words to the defintions – use textbook to help. 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 the rat/pigeon. Giving a child sweets when they clean their room. Punishment :

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, may result in a stronger response. Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced only part of the time. Weaker effect. Could discuss relevance to gambling here as they may study this at A2, and how even when we don’t win every time people still gamble.

Activity Identify which of the statements link to which type of reinforcement.

Activity 3: evaluation Each group is going to be given an evaluation point to look at. In groups expand on your evaluation point

Essay question

Now Evaluate the behaviourist approach as a whole… Consider both classical and operant conditioning and evaluate them using the questions below to help you… How useful do you think this approach is in explaining human behaviour? Do CC/OC help to explain or fail to explain any behaviours? Can they be useful in any way, for example in controlling behaviour or by treating mental illness? Are there any ethical issues in the way the studies were conducted? Effective evaluation = Point, Evidence, Explain.

Strengths Allows psychologists to investigate the effect of the environment on behaviour It is very scientific and usually uses controlled experimental methods It provides a strong counter-argument to the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. Many useful applications such as desensitisation (treating Phobias)

Limitations It is reductionist as it ignores the influences of nature and cognition on behaviour Use of this perspective often relies on laboratory experiments which lack external validity Ethical concerns may be raised. Many animal studies are used which open up the ethical debate/cause problems when generalising to humans.

Evaluation elaboration ladder In pairs, use the packs, textbooks and iPads to complete the elaboration ladder for the behaviourist approach

Assess: Exam Q’s A psychology student made the following observation to his teacher. ‘The behaviourist approach has been presented to us as helpful in understanding human behaviour. However, most of the data have been obtained from research using animals.’ Briefly discuss the value of behaviourism in helping us to understand human behaviour. (5 marks)

Assess: Exam Q’s A young woman says: “When I was 5 years old, I was at a party and a balloon burst with a loud bang in my face. Even after all these years, I cannot bear to go into a room where there are balloons. They terrify me!” Use your knowledge of classical conditioning to explain why the young woman is terrified of balloons. ( 3 marks)

Plenary When the ball is thrown to you, you must catch and provide a positive evaluation point The next learner to catch the ball must provide a negative evaluation point and so on…

Learning Approach- Questions What is a basis assumption of the behaviourist approach? What is conditioning? What type of conditioning was investigated by John Watson and little albert? Who were the participants in Pavlov’s research? In Pavlov’s research what was the unconditioned response? In Pavlov’s research what was the conditioned stimulus? Define classical conditioning Who researched into operant conditioning? Define operant conditioning Name the three aspects of operant conditioning. If a rat receives a shock every time it presses a leaver what aspect of operant conditioning is being tested? What is negative reinforcement? Provide one criticism of the learning approach Provide a real life application of the learning approach Learning Approach- Questions