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The Behaviourist Perspective

• This perspective seeks to understand human behaviour in terms of what has been learnt.

• They study behaviour.

• They assume that all human behaviour is a result of what has been learnt, eg shyness or aggression.

• They think ALL behaviour is a result of either Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)or Operant Conditioning (Skinner).

Classical Conditioning1. Pavlov recognised

that when a dog was given food it salivated which is a physiological response.

2. He then rang a bell at the same time as feeding the dogs.

3. He then realised that after a while, if you rang a bell the dog would salivate WITHOUT any food present.

4. The dog has been

conditioned to salivate when a bell rings.

1. Before Conditioning 2. Before Conditioning

3. During Conditioning 4. After Conditioning

Response

Response

Unconditioned

Stimulus

Unconditioned

Response

Conditioned

Stimulus

Conditioned

Response

Neutral

Stimulus

No Conditioned

Response

Unconditioned

Response

Response

Salivation

No SalivationSalivation

Salivation

Response

US + CS

+

1. Before Conditioning 2. Before Conditioning

3. During Conditioning 4. After Conditioning

Response

Response

Unconditioned

Stimulus

Unconditioned

Response

Conditioned

Stimulus

Conditioned

Response

Neutral

Stimulus

No Conditioned

Response

Unconditioned

Response

Response

Salivation

No SalivationSalivation

Salivation

Response

US + CS

+

• Classical conditioning explains LEARNED responses to neutral stimuli.

• The bell was the neutral stimulus because normally a bell does not make dogs salivate, but the dogs learned that when a bell rang they would get food and so they salivated when they heard the bell.

Classical Conditioning

Ringing

Bell

Equals

Salivating

Dog

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A naturally occurring event in the environment which provokes a response eg a door banging or the smell of food

• Unconditioned Response (UR): Your instinctive response to something that happens eg you jump when a door bangs loudly, or you salivate when given food.

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A new, neutral stimulus that has been paired with the unconditioned stimulus.eg the bell in Pavlov’s experiment is the conditioned stimulus and is paired with the food.

• Conditioned Response (CR): A learnt response to the new conditioned stimuluseg salivating when the bell rings in Pavlov’s experiment



Do you suffer from Aichmophobia?

Read handout PP01 and in small groups discuss:

1. How classical conditioning can be used

to cure a phobia of needles?

2. How classical conditioning can be used

to cause a fear of needs?

Don’t forget to include the US, UR, CS and CR

Operant Conditioning

Skinner was an

American

psychologist who studied

animals to

discover how

they learn new

behaviours.A Skinner Box


To Food Dispenser

Food Pellet

Electric Grid

LeverSignal LightsSpeaker

The box contains a lever which, when pressed, caused

things to happen. Skinner wanted to see if the rat could learn

the behaviour of pressing the lever.

Rat


How a rat learns to press a lever

• The rat in the Skinner Box accidentally presses the

lever and food is released.

• When the rat has accidentally hit the lever many

times, it learns that:

Pressing the lever = food pellet

• The food pellet is experienced as REINFORCING

(something the rat would like to have more of).

• The rat repeats the behaviour of pressing the lever

to receive more food pellets.


Positive ReinforcementWhen behaviour causes something

pleasurable this is called positive reinforcement.

Eg when the rat hit the lever it received a

food pellet which was positive reinforcement

of that behaviour.

This woman’s boyfriend told her he LOVED

this outfit. He gave her LOTS of attention

and kisses when she wore it which was

pleasurable. She therefore wore it again, and again and again! She was positively reinforced to wear the outfit.

Give an example of when you have been positively reinforced.

What do you think of this

outfit?


Negative Reinforcement• When behaviour removes something unpleasant this is called negative reinforcement.

• Eg Skinner changed the box to have a small electric current that could be stopped when the lever was pressed.

• The rat learnt that pressing the lever would stop the current.

Electric Grid

Lever

Rat

• So, pressing the lever REMOVED the electrocution.

• The rat was negatively reinforced to press the lever.


Negative ReinforcementA mum uses the ‘naughty step’ when her 4 year old boy is ‘naughty’.

He is only allowed to leave the naughty step when he has said sorry for his behaviour.

The child has a tantrum and refuses to say sorry. He is not allowed to leave the naughty step until he has calmed down and said sorry.

The child eventually calms down and says sorry.

Every time the child is on the naughty step he is not allowed to leave until he is calm and said sorry.

After a few weeks the child learns that he can remove the unpleasantness of the naughty step by displaying behaviour that his mum approves of (saying sorry and being calm.)

Have you been negatively

reinforced?

Operant ConditioningPunishment

Lever

I’m not

pressing that lever

again!

When behaviour causes something that is

unpleasant and horrible, this is called punishment.

Skinner changed the box to give an electric

shock when the lever was pressed.

The rats learnt that pressing the lever caused an electric shock which was unpleasant and

horrible.

Through punishment, the rats learnt not to press

the lever.


PunishmentLauren is 17 and has started smoking cannabis with her friends. Her friends enjoy it and it makes them feel happy.

Have you been reinforced through

punishment?

Lauren finds that when she smokes cannabis it makes her paranoidparanoidparanoidparanoid and she is scaredscaredscaredscaredand feels horrible inside.

The paranoia is punishmentof the cannabis smoking behaviour and so Lauren stops the behaviour.

ParanoiaParanoiaParanoiaParanoia

Operant Conditioning – Group Work

1. A nurseryGive examples of when it would be appropriate to use

positive, negative and punishment reinforcements. Give

examples of how you would do this.

2. A foster home

Explain how you would use operant conditioning to work with a 12 year old child in a foster home who was

displaying aggressive and violent behaviour towards other children in the home.

3. A residential care homeExplain how you would use operant conditioning to

work with an 89 year old in a residential care home who was displaying aggressive and violent behaviour

towards staff.

The Behaviourist Perspective

• In small groups discuss how useful

you think the behaviourist

perspective is in explaining human

behaviour.

• Discuss the criticisms of Pavlov and

Skinner’s experiments in explaining

human behaviour. Discuss the limitations of the behaviourist

perspective.