The Learning Approach (Behaviourism)

Watson (1878-1958) What claim is Watson making about human nature? "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 beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."(Watson, 1930)

What is it all about? We are born as “blank slates” (tabula rasa) All we have at birth is the capacity to learn All behaviour is learned from the environment Focus of the approach: observable behaviour

Some definitions.... Stimulus : Response : Reflex: Any change in the environment that an organism registers. Response : Any behaviour that the organism emits as a consequence of a stimulus. A consistent connection between a stimulus and a response. Reflex:

Classical conditioning Learning by association Ivan Pavlov: 1849-1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904

Dog hears the lab technician That’s a reflex What’s going on? Dog hears the lab technician

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)

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. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)? Neutral stimulus (NS)? Unconditioned response (UCR)? Conditioned stimulus (CS)? Conditioned response(CR)?

Key Theorists Thorndike (1849-1936) Looked at behaviour in animals – noticed that they learnt from repeated actions Animals and humans learn to repeat actions that produce good effects and avoid actions that have bad outcomes

Inducing a phobia: Little Albert

Learning by consequences Operant conditioning Learning by consequences Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)

Ratatouille By chance he presses the lever Ratatouille is hungry and perform various exploratory behaviours I’ll do that again A pellet of food appears!

Some definitions.... Reinforcement : Positive 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 Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant when happen 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. Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced only part of the time.

Fixed ratio schedules: the response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses. Variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. Fixed-interval schedules the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed Variable-interval schedules occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Which schedule of reinforcement produces the fastest learning?

Social learning Learning by and observation imitation

1. Attention to the role model Bandura (1977) believed that four criteria need too be met for imitation to occur 1. Attention to the role model 2. Retention of the observed behaviour 3. Reproduction of the target behaviour 4. Motivation to imitate the observed behaviour

Who makes an effective role model? Same gender Same age Higher status Admired or/and respected

Observe behaviour being reinforced in other people Why do we imitate? Vicarious reinforcements What??? Observe behaviour being reinforced in other people

Bandura (1961)

And now lets think! Does this account for the way you learn? Does this explain gender development? Can this be applied to everyday life? i.e. Some of your behaviour and your teacher’s behaviour? More points of evaluation?

Advantages Focus on observable and measureable behaviour Research methods are scientific, easy to replicate and test Helped identify Ψ as a scientific discipline

Disadvantages Fails to explain why people are sometimes frightened of things they have no experience of Doesn’t take innate factors into account No role for free will Doesn’t take into account cognitive abilities

Top five things you have learned today.