Download Psychological Perspectives

Psychological
Perspectives
“Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth
than plagues or earthquakes” (Voltaire – French
philosopher)
How cute are each of these???
Rate them and give reasons:
5 = most cute > 1 = less cute
What is a perspective?
A perspective is a way of looking at
something from a certain viewpoint
For example, where do people get their
personality from?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9
GBl7UmVs
Behaviourism
“Give
me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and
my own specified world to bring them up in and
I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train
him to become any type of specialist I might select
- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief, and yes,
even beggar-man and thief, regardless
of his talents, penchants, tendencies,
abilities, vocations, and the race of
his ancestors” (From Behaviourism,
by John Watson, 1924)
Behaviourism.
• Period: 1920’s to 1950’s
• Question: How is behaviour learned?
Behaviourism
 Goal was to explain complex behaviour in terms
of learning from simple behaviour
 Logic: if you can control the simple behaviour,
and have a theory of learning, you can predict
complex behaviour.
Key psychologists of behaviourism
John Watson
Ivan Pavlov
Behaviourism – main assumptions
• All behaviour is observable and it is impossible to
understand the mind
• The majority of all behaviour is learned from the
environment after birth. Therefore, psychology
should investigate how people learnt their
behaviour (e.g. afraid of spiders)
• We are all born a blank slate (the correct term for
this is ‘tabula rasa’)
continued
Edward Thorndike
Joseph Wolpe
2 key theories
• 1: Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)
• Argues we learn through stimulus and response
• A stimulus is something that causes behaviour
• A response is what follows
• E.g. show your dog a lead and what does s/he think
and do?
Classical conditioning
 Pavlov argued that we can learn to associate a
stimulus with a response, (even a stimulus that
shouldn’t cause a response) Something that
normally wouldn’t produce a response does so
when paired with something that does!
 E.g. think of three things that people are afraid of.
What is it that frightens people about them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7jcI8fAuI
How could classical conditioning
explain the following?
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/new
s/world-africa-29039041
• http://www.mirror.co.uk/ne
ws/world-news/ebolavirus-symptoms-start-sore3933920
• Africa is in the midst
of an Ebola epidemic
• Ebola is one of the
most deadly viruses
and there is no
known cure
• It spreads quickly and
through contact
• You bleed to death
https://www.youtub
• http://www.bbc.co.u
e.com/watch?v=xU
k/news/world-africa-
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=SLmE
Se9-7yg
Ebola virus and health and care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pd4H
3u9c_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_itlEa
mvBo
Generalization
Conditioned response occurs in response
to stimuli which are similar to the
conditioned stimulus

Discrimination: conditioned response does
not occur to all possible similar stimulilearned difference between stimuli

Reaction Patterns: specific reactionsconditioned responses-past experiencepositive response = likes
negative response = dislikes

Reactions-learned not innate

Operant conditioning
Key psychologists: John Watson, F.B. Skinner and Edward
Thorndike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4WF3
cSd9Q
What are the key principles of
operant conditioning?
• Rewards
• Reinforcement (positive and negative)
• Punishments
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_9ZZaPDtPk&
feature=related
• “Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its
consequences” - Skinner
Key theorists
B. F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUwCgF
Sb6Nk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk6H7U
kp6To
Key theory – The Law of Effect
• The Law of Effect
• Devised by Edward Thorndike
• Behaviour followed by favourable consequences would
cause the behaviour to be repeated
• One followed by negative consequences would result in
the behaviour being less likely in future
• How quick can the cat escape from the box?
Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
• the outcome of
• Increases the
behaviour is positive
probability that a
and we are more likely
behaviour will be
to repeat the behaviour
repeated because it
leads to escape from an
unpleasant situation
Applications of operant
conditioning
• You could apply operant conditioning to a
multitude of topics. Suggestions for the assignment
include:
• Punishment
• Gambling (variable reinforcement)
• Children’s behaviour
• Learning appropriate behaviours
• Token economy
Punishment – does punishment
work?
Applying
Operant
Conditioning
- We are going to
relate operant
conditioning to an
episode of
Supernany
(although it could
relate to almost
any type of
behaviour!)
• http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vHu-tUkYG18