From the perspective of a behaviorist, define learning and discuss its importanc
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Question
From the perspective of a behaviorist, define learning and discuss its importance. Provide ONE novel example, relative to your own life, during which you have learned via classical conditioning to respond to a stimulus. Be detailed and provide clear statement of US, UR, CS, CR. Describe at least one way in which your performance (expressing the CR) might be altered despite having learned this response From the perspective of a behaviorist, define learning and discuss its importance. Provide ONE novel example, relative to your own life, during which you have learned via classical conditioning to respond to a stimulus. Be detailed and provide clear statement of US, UR, CS, CR. Describe at least one way in which your performance (expressing the CR) might be altered despite having learned this response From the perspective of a behaviorist, define learning and discuss its importance. Provide ONE novel example, relative to your own life, during which you have learned via classical conditioning to respond to a stimulus. Be detailed and provide clear statement of US, UR, CS, CR. Describe at least one way in which your performance (expressing the CR) might be altered despite having learned this responseExplanation / Answer
Following are the responses to all parts of your question. Do note that I have given an example that you can use as a personal example. However, you may choose to tweak this example to create your own in accordance with your own life experiences.
Definition of learning:
As a behaviorist, learning can be defined as the acquisition of new behavior due to the impact of external stimuli or environmental factors. The principle of stimulus-response is the basis of the learning theory under behaviorism. The internal state of mind is not considered to be a driver of learning for a behaviorist. The focus is only on such activities that are observable.
Importance
A behaviorist considers that this approach to learning can be highly beneficial, as the behavior can be modified by modifying the stimuli. Learning through reinforcement is a positive method of learning. Even negative or undesirable behavior can be corrected or reduced through positively or negatively reinforced learning. New learning or modified learning under behaviorism is also fully observable.
Classic conditioning example:
In classical conditioning, an individual is conditioned to respond to a stimulus in the same way as he/she responds to a different stimulus. It is done by associating the two stimuli. An example from my childhood is when my mother used to come to my study room in the evening with a chocolate in her hand and used to give me if she would find me studying. I used to pick up a book and study in order to get that chocolate. Slowly, I noticed that when my mom knocks the door of my study room, it is time she has come to check on me and give me the chocolate. While earlier I used to grab a book when mom used to enter my room, I later learned to pick up a book as soon as there was a knock on the door of my study room.
In the above example, I was conditioned to respond to the knock on the door with the picking up of a book. Here, the following are the stimuli and responses before and after conditioning:
Way to Alter CR
One way to alter my performance (expressing the CR) despite having learned this response is following:
If my mom skips bringing chocolates on some evenings, then my conditioned response to the knock on the door can alter. While I have learned to pick up a book when there is a knock, my behavior would weaken when I don’t get a chocolate every evening there is a knock. This would happen due to the CS-US association getting weaker.
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