Learning Approach psychology
- Created by: Gemma
- Created on: 01-05-13 21:03
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- Learning Approach
- Three mechanisms of learning
- Classical conditioning
- Pairing a new stimulus with an existing stimulus
- Pavlov's Dogs
- Key terms
- Unconditioned stimulus- A stimulus that produces a natural, unlearnt behavioural response
- Conditioned stimulus- A stimulus that has been associated with a n uncondtioned stimulus so that it now produces the same response as the UCS on its own
- Conditioned response- A learnt behaviour that is shown in response to a learnt stimulus (CS)
- Unconditioned response- Any response that occurs naturally without learning
- Extending of associationExtending of association
- Discrimination-Learning to discriminate between two things
- Operant
- Skinner
- Learning through consequence
- Will not repeat the behaviour if associated with something unpleasant. Repeat behaviour if it it is linked with someone positive
- Skinner
- Types of reinforcement
- Primary- used to satisfy a basic survival need, e.g. food
- Secondary
- Only fulfilling because they are associated with a primary reinforcement, e.g. money that is used to buy food.
- Negative reinforcement- removing something unpleasant or uncomfortable in response to the desired behaviour
- Punishment- Weakening the behaviour by presenting something unpleasant or painful
- Types of reinforcement
- Social Learning
- Bandura
- Aim- Tp investigate whether exposure to a real life aggressive model increases aggression in children
- Results
- children were rated for 'imitative aggression
- Children exposed to an aggressive role model displayed significantly more directimitation than children exposed to the non-aggressive model
- Same sex models showed a bigger results also
- Conclusion
- A child exposed to an aggressive model is likely to display aggression and to imitate aggressive acts. Boys are more aggressive that girls overall, but are less likely to copy aggressive behaviour from a female model
- Evaluation
- Strengths
- Contributed greatly to the understanding of how children aquire behaviour through observing others
- /further research has led to censorship & certification laws
- Study highlights non-aggressive models in the media can encourage helpful behaviour
- Observers shared and agreed behaviours were present- reliable
- Weaknesses
- Conditions were not normal- lacked ecological validity
- Children may have been simply showing obedience to the adult
- Children from American nursery- hard to generalise
- Children made to feel aggressive & probably distressed beforehand
- Unethical- exposing children to an aggressive role model and effectively teaching them aggressive acts
- Strengths
- Learning by observation
- We imitate behaviour of people like us or we admire, respect or want to be like
- Attention
- Retention
- Reproduction
- Motication
- Reproduction
- Retention
- Vicarious reinforcement- we learn through others mistakes and successes. E,g, siblings
- Bandura
- Classical conditioning
- Little Albert 1920
- Aim
- To investigate whether two different stimuli can be paired together resulting in certain responses depending on the nature of the stimuli used
- Method
- Watson and Raynor
- 9 month old boy exposed to some stimuli (white rat, rabbit, monkey etc) to see if any initial fear was shown
- Watson and Raynor
- Conclusion
- Little Albert learnt to associate the noise he was scared of with the objects so he developed a phobia. The experiment supports the classical conditioning theory
- Evaluation
- Albert was checked to make sure he had no phobias before the experiment
- Albert was checked a month after the pairing to test if he still had the developed a phobia which he did
- Lab experiment- low ecological validity
- Ethical issues- no informed consent, no right to withdraw, no debriefing. Psychological harm could have been caused
- Aim
- Theory of gender development
- through observation, reinforcement, modelling and imitation of gender appropriate behaviours in parents, peers & others
- Children observe their parents as role models and are encouraged to engage with the same sex parent when performing stereotypical activites
- Exposed to how media and literature portray genders
- Cramer and Skidd (1992)
- found that pre- school girls made reference to concepts of affiliation and caring and boys to male stereotyped concepts of domination and intrusion
- Children are treated differently according to their biological sex. This determines which behaviour they display
- Gender stereotypical behaviours are reinforced with praise and attention
- Gender- inappropriate behaviour would be punished
- Dolls reinforce quiet, nursing and nurturing behaviour in girls and cars and tools encourage noisy, physical play in boys
- Evaluation
- the theory appeals to our common sense
- Explanation ignores biological evidence that gender development is caused by biological determents such as the presence of a chromosome
- Treatments and therapies
- Aversion therapy
- principles of classical conditioning
- Aims to remove undesirable behaviour by associating it with an aversive stimulus
- Evaluation
- Some success
- Ethical issues- deliberately making people ill or uncomfortable
- Electric shocks or emetic drugs are distressing for the patient
- Covert sensitisation involves imaged association with the undesired behaviour- more ethical
- Systematic desensitisation
- Classical conditioning
- Aim to extinguish an undesireable behaviour by substituing it with the responce
- Treatment has been very successful
- Patient has greater control over treatment as they decide when they are sufficiently relaxed to progress further through their hierarchy of fears
- Classical conditioning
- Token economy
- Operant conditioning
- Aims to use reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviour by giving tokens as secondary reinforcers
- Showed considerable success, can lead to dependency
- Operant conditioning
- Aversion therapy
- Key Issue
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Social learning theory
- Woman learn from rome models that slimness is positively reinforced. Slim people in the media are rewarded with fame and fortune
- Classical conditioning
- Food and weight gain are paired with anxiety and sadness. Dieting and weight loss are paired with pleasure and happiness.
- Operant conditioning
- Slimming is positively reinforced by people's attention. Gaining weight becomes punishing
- Social learning theory
- Do role models encourage anorexia
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Three mechanisms of learning
- Procedure
- Bandura
- Aim- Tp investigate whether exposure to a real life aggressive model increases aggression in children
- Results
- children were rated for 'imitative aggression
- Children exposed to an aggressive role model displayed significantly more directimitation than children exposed to the non-aggressive model
- Same sex models showed a bigger results also
- Conclusion
- A child exposed to an aggressive model is likely to display aggression and to imitate aggressive acts. Boys are more aggressive that girls overall, but are less likely to copy aggressive behaviour from a female model
- Evaluation
- Strengths
- Contributed greatly to the understanding of how children aquire behaviour through observing others
- /further research has led to censorship & certification laws
- Study highlights non-aggressive models in the media can encourage helpful behaviour
- Observers shared and agreed behaviours were present- reliable
- Weaknesses
- Conditions were not normal- lacked ecological validity
- Children may have been simply showing obedience to the adult
- Children from American nursery- hard to generalise
- Children made to feel aggressive & probably distressed beforehand
- Unethical- exposing children to an aggressive role model and effectively teaching them aggressive acts
- Strengths
- 72 children
- matched pairs for physical and verbal aggresion
- individually brought into a room with a model
- model played with toys and child watched
- in non aggressive condition model only played with tinker tailor toy
- After 10 mins child is taken to another room and given toys to play with
- Toys are taken away to frustrate the children
- children taken to another room and given 20 minutes to play with toys
- Toys are taken away to frustrate the children
- After 10 mins child is taken to another room and given toys to play with
- in non aggressive condition model only played with tinker tailor toy
- model played with toys and child watched
- individually brought into a room with a model
- matched pairs for physical and verbal aggresion
- Bandura
- Ethical issues- deliberately making people ill or uncomfortable
- Aims to use reinforcement to encourage desirable behaviour by giving tokens as secondary reinforcers
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