THE BEHAVIOURAL MODEL

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THE BEHAVIOURAL MODEL
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What is the behavioural model?

• Developed out of the behaviourist approach to
  Psychology developed by John Watson and
  B.F.Skinner
• The model proposes that individuals with mental
  disorders possess maladaptive forms of behaviour
  which have been learned
• What does maladaptive mean?
• Most of the learning which takes place is in the
  form of operant or classical conditioning.

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What is classical conditioning?
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• Classical conditioning is a form of learning that
  was first demonstrated by Pavlov.
• A neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with a
  second stimulus.
• After a while the natural response to the second
  stimulus comes to be made in response to the
  neutral stimulus when it is presented on its own.

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Food which is the unconditioned stimulus produces
a sense of pleasure -the unconditioned response.
The food becomes associated with the bell which
then becomes a conditioned stimulus on its own
producing a sense of pleasure.
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Neutral Stimulus
BANG!
Fear Response
Unconditioned Stimulus
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Little Albert
Watson and Rayner demonstrated classical
conditioning involving an infant called Little
Albert. Their aim was to show emotions could be
classically conditioned the same as any response
could be conditioned.
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• Little Albert was an 11 month old baby. He was an
  orphan living in a hospital
• Both emotionally and physically he was healthy
• Watson and Rayner established at the start that
  items such as a white rat, a rabbit and cotton
  wool provoked no fear response from him
• They were the neutral stimuli (like the bell in
  Pavlov's experiment)

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• The next phase of the experiment was to introduce
  a FEAR response
• Fear is the unconditioned response- why?
• Watson and Rayner placed a 4 foot steel bar
  behind Albert and struck it with a hammer. Albert
  was startled and it made him cry.

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• They then gave Albert a white rat to play with
  and as he reached out to touch it they struck the
  bar to make him frightened.
• They repeated this 3 times
• And did the same a week later
• After this when Albert was shown the rat he began
  to cry, rolled over and started to crawl away so
  fast researchers had to catch him before he fell
  over.

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• Watson and Rayner found that the sight of any
  object that was white and furry e.g. white coat
  fur or a Father Christmas beard provoked a fear
  response.
• This is called GENERASLISATION
• Albert had learnt to generalise his fear of white
  rats to other similar objects
• They intended to recondition Albert, to take away
  these fears however he left hospital before this
  could be done

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If you have a phobia of dogs stand upRemain
standing if this phobia is due to having a bad
encounter with a dogStand up if you have ever
had a bad encounter with a dog stand up even if
you dont have a dog phobia
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• DiNardo found 50 of dog phobics had become very
  anxious during an encounter with a dog ,
  supporting conditioning theory
• HOWEVER they also found that about 50 of normal
  controls without dog phobias had experienced an
  anxious encounter with a dog.

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• Leitenberg suggested that anorexics have learnt
  that eating is associated with anxiety because
  eating too much makes people overweight. This is
  another example of classical conditioning

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Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning involves learning a new
  response as a result of the fact that in the past
  the same response has resulted in reward or
  reinforcement
• This reinforcement increases the likelihood that
  the behaviour will be repeated
• If a behaviour results in unpleasant consequences
  it is less likely to be repeated
• Can anyone think of any examples?

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DEPRESSION AND THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

• Lewinsohn argued that depression occurs as a
  result of a low level of reinforcement.
• When people receive less reinforcement the
  produce fewer responses
• As a result they receive less reinforcement.This
  causes DEPRESSION

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Social Learning Theory

• Bandura further developed the conditioning theory
  
• He said observational learning or modelling is
  important
• This is a form of learning where you learn by
  imitating someone else
• It is especially likely to influence behaviour
  when the other persons behaviour is being
  rewarded or reinforced
• This is called vicarious reinforcement because
  you are experiencing reward by watching someone
  else receive it

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• Observational learning or modelling may be
  relevant to mental disorders
• Mineka found that monkeys could develop snake
  phobia simply by watching another monkey
  experience fear in the presence of the snake.
• One could assume the same principles apply to
  humans

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Implications of the behavioural model for
treatment

• Assumed that mental disorders arose as a result
  of maladaptive forms of learning based on
  conditioning or observational learning
• Thus treatment involves a further form of
  conditioning to eliminate maladaptive forms of
  behaviour. If behaviour was learned then it can
  be unlearned using the same processes

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Liam has a keen interest in politics. His father
was a politician and wants to follow in his
footsteps

• A. The behavioural approach would explain that
  Liams father acted as a role model with whom
  Liam identified. He will have seen his dad give
  speeches and be applauded.
• So by the process of vicarious reinforcement,
  Liam now wants this reinforcement directly, and
  plans to become a politician himself. If he
  succeeds, then his sense of self-efficacy (a
  belief in his own abilities) will urge him to
  pursue a career in politics

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Assess the behavioural approach in explaining
Liams desire to enter politics

• This approach is established in the scientific
  tradition, and can therefore be tested.
• Liams learning was context dependent, (as part
  of his family environment) and behaviourists have
  shown that behaviour learned in one situation
  will be repeated in another if it is reinforced.
  
• In this case if Liam enjoys success in the
  political arena, then he will continue to seek
  these rewards. So the approach explains how
  Liams behaviour is determined by his past
  reinforcement history

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Assessment of behavioural approach re Liam and
politics

• However, as a reductionist approach, it does not
  take into account the possibility of genetic
  factors inherited from his father, such as a
  powerful voice and a charismatic personality.
• The effect of reinforcement and observational
  learning have been scientifically shown by
  Bandura to shape behaviour, so Liams and other
  politicians strivings can be tested and falsified
  by experiments.

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APPROACHES

• QUESTION D
• Evaluate the use of this method of investigation
  to explain why people hoard belongings

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HOARDING BEHAVIOURPART C

• THE Behavioural approach would investigate
  hoarding behaviour by using a laboratory
  experiment
• The aim of the experiment would be to establish
  whether hoarding is a result of conditioning
• The hypothesis would be People who are
  classically conditioned to hoard belongings are
  more likely to hoard than people who are not
  conditioned

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Part C - hoarding

• The design would be an independent measures, with
  2 groups of Ps.
• The IV will be whether they are reinforced or not
• The sample will contain a cross section of
  society so that the results are generalisable.
• The procedure will consist of both groups of Ps
  being given a number of useless items on a daily
  basis for a week. One group will receive
  positive reinforcement if they keep the items

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Part C

• The comparison group will receive no
  reinforcement
• If the hypothesis is correct, then those who
  received reinforcement will have more items in
  their possession
• The results will be at least ordinal (number of
  items in their possession) and as an independent
  measures design was used, a Mann Whitney U test
  can be applied to see if the results are
  statistically significant

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Part D

• Richards Reliability
• Very Validity
• Randy Replicability
• Daughter Demand chars
• Clare Cause and effect
• Is Investigator effects
• Extremely Ethics
• Gorgeous Generalisability

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ASSESSING THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

• Whilst this method is reliable and can easily be
  replicated, its validity can be questioned,
  because it is only investigating hoarding
  behaviour over a period of one week.
• Demand characteristics are likely to be present,
  so the behaviour could be amplified as people
  know they are in an experiment.
• This may cause them to keep the items which they
  would otherwise throw away in everyday life

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Part D - hoarding

• Investigator effects may be operating, if the Ps
  engage in conversation with the investigator, and
  the aims of the experiment are divulged to the Ps

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Part D - hoarding

• This raises an ethical issue, in that if Ps
  dont know the aims of the experiment, they do
  not have informed consent.
• But knowing the purpose of the experiment is
  liable to alter their behaviour.