Behaviorism: Psychological Theories

Behaviourism
Psychological Theories

Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning is a type of learning which is modified due to the consequences of something that happens. This learning theory is based around a theory created by Skinner. Skinner invented a chamber where he kept pigeons and rats. In order for his theory to be successful the animals had to perform simple responses, Skinner recorded their responses by a graph monitor, the details that he recorded were how many times they responded correctly. The pigeons and rats had to do certain tasks to retrieve food from a dispenser, such as turning and tapping. If the animals did the correct action, food was dispensed from the food dispenser for each correct response. Therefore they learnt a new behaviour. The more they got food, the more they did the correct behaviour.
What does this theory tell you about human behavior?
This theory tells me that behaviours can be learnt by being awarded once an individual does something correctly, in relation to Skinner’s theory, following instructions. However, if they see somebody else’s behaviour, they conform to what they have seen, this explains why the children acted the way they did.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strengths for this Skinner’s theory would be that they give out good reinforcement when good behaviour is shown. If they didn’t perform the correct action then they wouldn’t be rewarded so therefore the animal would try again to get the correct response, then they would be awarded. There are a few weakness for this theory, Skinner didn’t test it on humans; they may not react the same way the animals did. Humans are more likely to be rebellious against being rewarded therefore it may not work for everybody.
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning is a form of learning, it would be the stimulus giving of a response and performing behaviour. Classical Conditioning is based around Pavlovian’s dog theory. Pavlov believed that an