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Behaviourism
- John Watson
- Psychology should be based on observable evidence
- Little Albert – rat fear
- Comparative approach
- Generalise findings from one species to another
- Learning - classical and instrumental/operant conditioning
- B.F.Skinner
- Studied effect of reinforcement and punishment on frequency of behaviour in response to stimuli
- Importance
- Hugely influential
- Offers viable explanations for many observations
- Behaviour modification i.e. phobias
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Sociocultural perspective
- Learning involves cultural tools (books, language etc)
- Learning embedded in interpersonal relationships, in turn embedded in social and cultural systems.
- Saijo (1999) - learning is an internal process combined with a use of tools
- Through enculturation we learn specific cultural practices and learn to behave in ways consistent with our culture
- Complex inter-relationships exist between tools and power and authority
- Importance
- Offers alternative view of learning
- Aims to make learning more effective
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Operant conditioning
- Operants - spontaneous everyday behaviours
- Form of instrumental conditioning pioneered by B.F.Skinner (learning is result of association between behaviour and consequence
- Pioneered Skinner Box
- Creates link between one of these natural behaviours and a desired outcome through reinforcement (negative or positive) e.g. lever pressing/food pellets
- Importance
- Important research tool
- Relatively efficient and flexible
- Used in classroom behaviour modification
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Classical conditioning
- Behaviourist perspective
- A form of learning, based on innate reflexes
- Ivan Pavlov’s discover of learning through association theory
- Proved efficacy of neutral stimulus in certain pairings
- John Watson showed effects in humans – Little Albert
- Importance
- Increased understanding of learning
- Important historical role (Watson - challenging introspection)
- Important in therapy e.g. phobia treatment
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Category learning
- Cognitive approach
- Sees learning as information processing
- Learn general relationships (i.e. concepts)
- Importance
- Emphasizes role of cognitive processes in learning
- Demonstrates influence of past experience.
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