Introductory psychologyLesson 1 of 5 in the course Behaviourist and cognitive learning theories

Behaviorism: Learning, Major Traditions, and Applications

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Behaviorism is an approach to psychology that explains behavior by examining observable actions and the environmental conditions and learning histories related to them. This lesson introduces its origins, central assumptions, and major branches.

Behaviorism treats behavior as a subject for systematic scientific study. Behavior may be elicited by antecedent stimuli, or shaped and maintained by consequences in an individual's learning history. Reinforcement, punishment, current motivation, and stimuli in the environment can all help explain why behavior occurs.

All flashcards

What is behaviorism?
A systematic approach to studying behavior and its relations to environmental events and learning histories; some forms also analyze private events.
What is the law of effect?
Thorndike's principle that consequences can strengthen or weaken the behavior that precedes them.
What is methodological behaviorism?
An approach that centers scientific analysis on publicly observable behavior and events.
What is radical behaviorism?
Skinner's approach that includes private events as behavior and analyzes them in relation to environmental conditions and histories.
What does psychological behaviorism emphasize?
Staats's approach emphasizes human learning and cumulative repertoires that enable people to acquire additional skills.

Quiz questions

  1. In operant conditioning, what makes a consequence positive reinforcement?Answer: A stimulus is added and the behavior becomes more likely.
  2. What happens in respondent conditioning?Answer: A stimulus comes to elicit a reflexive response after being paired with another stimulus.
  3. What does a discriminative stimulus signal, based on prior learning?Answer: That a behavior is likely to be reinforced in the current context.
  4. How does shaping build a new behavior?Answer: By reinforcing successive steps that approach a target behavior.
  5. What distinguishes cognitive-behavioral therapy from behavior therapy focused only on behavior?Answer: It combines behavioral methods with strategies addressing thoughts and emotional regulation.

Based on the Wikipedia article Behaviorism, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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