psychology unit 2 learning approach

Key Assumption- behaviour is measued buy using s+r

Early behavioural theorists believed that we could set up a stimulus and observe it. And that we could also measure its response.
This means that behaviour can be studied scientifically.
Thorndike (1900) based his theory on the idea of the stimulus and response approach.
A stimulus can be given to an animal and the response to the stimulus monitored.
Behaviour is difficult to study and draw scientific conclusions. So we single out a specific behaviour and see what leads to it and what can stop it.
EG- rat presses a lever to get food pellet. The rat will learn that it gets food only when the light turns green and not when it turns red.
Scientist saw they needed reliable data, so they looked at measurable aspects of behavior and scientific methodology.
All human mental actions and physical responses are conditioned.
This is Thorndike’s “Law of Effect”.

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Watson said that our behaviour comes from conditioning and reinforcement, from certain stimuli in the environment.
Environment (nurture) shapes out behaviour not inherited characteristics (nature).Behaviour arises from experiences, theorists assume this from studying what causes an action (stimulus) and the action (response)
Early behaviourists believed that inherited characteristics don’t cause behaviour and that actions don’t come from brain activity or inherited abilities but past experiences.
EG- if a baby babbles “mmm” a mother will respond with “mummy” giving the child attention (reinforcement) the child is likely then to repeat the sound and eventually learn to talk.
Punishment does the opposite to reinforcement when shaping behaviour, people are less likely to repeat the behaviour.

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Classical conditioning is how a response is associated with a stimulus to cause conditioning.
A stimulus is something that causes a response; the response is either a reflex or automatic behaviour.
The responses are involuntary behaviours.
Ivan Pavlov (1849) used operating theatres exclusively for animals to conduct his experiments in.
The theatres were kept to the highest possible standard, this is because Pavlov realised if the animals suffered or in distress his results would not be reliable results.
Pavlov deducted that a dogs responses were in anticipation of a stimulus.
CC argues that there is an association between a neutral stimulus (something that doesn’t get a response) and an exsisting unconditioned stimulus which does.
The stimuli are then presented together a number of times. When the neutral stimulus elicits the response on its own, it is then a conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response.

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