Behaviourism
Who was the father of behaviourism?
John Watson
Who proposed social learning theory?
Albert Bandura (in 1971)
(It's rather interesting the theory came after the studies in 1961 and 1963).
Source: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/http://www.asecib.ase.ro/mps/Bandura_SocialLearningTheory.pdf
What did Bandura demonstrate in his bobo doll studies?
That aggressive behaviour can be learned through observation.
SLT claims that behaviour is learned. But what part of the brain influence our ability to learn?
The hippocampus.
Point: we can't separate social learning ( a type of nurture) from our biology (our nature).
When did Psychology begin as a subject?
Behaviourism is founded on the belief that behaviour is the product of two types of conditioning. What are those two types?
operant
classical
What is the main claim of SLT?
Behaviour is learned through observation.
What two famous studies demonstrate classical conditioning?
Pavlov's dogs
Little Albert
(Watson was inspired by Pavlov's research)
Behaviourism was famously demonstrated in the Little Albert experiment. What are two major limitations of this study?
Case study: it's based on one baby. How do we know the results would apply to everyone?
Ethics: It is very problematic ethically - how do we know it didn't cause long term damage?
Behaviour: It shows fear can be learned ,but not other behaviours.
Operant conditioning relies mainly on what mechanism (an external factor that causes the conditioning)?
Reinforcement (rewards and punishments)
Why did Bandura change his SLT to SCT?
To emphasise the role of thinking in observational learning and behaviour. (i.e. it's not just monkey see, monkey do, but there's thought that can process what we see and repeat).
Who used operant conditioning throughout the 1930s-60s in a series of famous animal experiments?
BF Skinner who was Watson's student.
How does SCT show the limitations of the nurture debate?
TRD recognises that behaviour is nurture (the environment) but also nature (internal factors).
What major "revolution" in the 1950s helped to decrease the popularity of behaviourism?
The cognitive revolution.
(This was a resurgence in the popularity of studying the mind, which was not popular since the early founders of Psych and behaviourism emerged).
He believed the mind couldn't be observed, so it couldn't be studied scientifically. He only wanted to study behaviour because we can observe it.
How was SLT a reaction to behaviourism?
Bandura claimed conditioning wasn't the only type of learning that influenced behaviour - observational learning was important too.
The Dunedin study supports SCT. How?
It shows that behaviour (antisocial behaviour) is influenced by internal factors (e.g. MAOA L gene) and external factors (maltreatment).
This supports the claim of triadic reciprocal determinism.
What is the major limitation of behaviourism?
They believe that all behaviour is caused by conditioning. They ignore other factors, like cognition and biology.
Who are two of the fathers of Psychology? (founders in the early 1800s).
William James
Wilhelm Wundt.
They were interested in studying the mind.
Classical conditioning creates a (blank 1) response by repeatedly pairing a (blank 2) stimulus with an (blank 3) stimulus.
What three words should go in the blank spaces?
Blank 2 = neutral
Blank 3 = unconditioned
Example: Little Albert: conditioned response is fear. This is caused by pairing the neutral stimulus of a rabbit with the unconditioned stimulus of the banging of the bar.
What does TRD stand for?
What are the three parts of the triad?
Triadic reciprocal determinism
Internal (cognition and biology), external (environment, e.g. social and cultural) and behaviour.
What were the five conditions of the first bobo doll study?
Watching passive model (same gender)
Watching passive model (different gender)
Watching aggressive model (same gender)
Watching aggressive model (different gender)
Not watching any model
Fear conditioning, a type of classical conditioning where we learn to fear certain things, relies on activity in which three major parts of the brain?
Amygdala, hippocampus and PFC
Point: conditioning isn't just environmental, it relies on neurological processes (i.e. brain activity)
Mr Dixon's son recently had a birthday. How old was he?
6