What is learning in psychology?
Learning is a permanent or lasting change in knowledge behaviour or potential for behaviour resulting from experience and can be for better or worse
How does Behaviourism define learning?
Behaviourism defines learning as a change in observable behaviour caused by external environmental stimuli
What is the core assumption of Behaviourism about the mind?
Behaviourism treats the mind as a black box and focuses only on observable behaviour
What is the S-R paradigm in Behaviourism?
The Stimulus-Response paradigm explains learning as a direct link between stimuli and observable responses
What is contiguity learning in early Behaviourism?
Contiguity learning is learning by association when events occur close together in time
What is Classical Conditioning and who proposed it?
Classical conditioning is learning by association between stimuli proposed by Ivan Pavlov
What did Pavlov’s dog experiment demonstrate?
That a neutral stimulus can become associated with an involuntary response through repeated pairing
How has Classical Conditioning been applied outside the lab?
It has been applied in advertising therapy and emotional learning
How did Gorn (1982) demonstrate Classical Conditioning in advertising?
Products paired with liked music were preferred showing conditioned emotional responses
How did Jones (1924) use Classical Conditioning to treat fear?
She reduced a child’s fear by pairing the feared object with positive stimuli forming the basis of exposure therapy
What are the limitations of Classical Conditioning?
It explains involuntary behaviour only and cannot account for voluntary goal-directed behaviour
How is Classical Conditioning relevant to education?
It explains how emotional responses become associated with classroom stimuli
What is Operant Conditioning and who developed it?
Operant conditioning is learning through consequences developed by B.F. Skinner
How does Operant Conditioning explain learning?
Behaviour is strengthened or weakened depending on consequences that follow it
What are antecedents and consequences in Operant Conditioning?
Antecedents occur before behaviour and consequences occur after behaviour
What makes a stimulus a reinforcer in Operant Conditioning?
A stimulus is a reinforcer only if it changes the likelihood of future behaviour
What is positive reinforcement?
Adding a desirable stimulus to increase behaviour
What is negative reinforcement?
Removing an aversive stimulus to increase behaviour
What is punishment in Operant Conditioning?
Adding or removing a stimulus to decrease behaviour
What is the Premack Principle and who proposed it?
David Premack proposed that more preferred activities can reinforce less preferred activities
What are reinforcement schedules?
Rules that determine how often reinforcement is delivered
What is continuous reinforcement?
Reinforcement after every response effective for learning but leads to rapid extinction
What is intermittent reinforcement?
Reinforcement after some responses effective for maintaining behaviour
How do variable reinforcement schedules affect behaviour?
They produce high persistence and resistance to extinction
