A researcher is conducting a study on learned helplessness in rats. In Phase 1, Group A rats are placed in a cage where they receive mild electric shocks that they can stop by pressing a lever. Group B rats are placed in a similar cage and receive the same shocks, but the lever does not work, meaning they cannot control the shocks. In Phase 2, both groups are placed in a new cage where they can easily escape the shocks by jumping over a low barrier.
Analyse how the principles of both classical and operant conditioning contribute to the different behaviours exhibited by Group A and Group B rats in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of this experiment. Justify your response with reference to the three-phase processes of each type of conditioning.
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Create Free Account Log inThis is a free VCE Units 3 & 4 Psychology practice question worth 8 marks, testing your understanding of Behaviourist approaches. It falls under How do people learn and remember? in Unit 3: How does experience affect behaviour and mental processes?. Submit your answer above to receive instant AI-powered marking and personalised feedback.
In this unit students investigate the contribution that classical and contemporary research has made to the understanding of the functioning of the nervous system and to the understanding of the biological, psychological and social factors that influence learning and memory. Students examine how the human nervous system enables a person to interact with the world around them and explore how stress may affect a person’s psychological functioning. Students investigate how mechanisms of learning and memory lead to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of new and changed behaviours. A student-designed scientific investigation involving the generation of primary data related to mental processes and psychological functioning may be undertaken in either Unit 3 or Unit 4, or across both Units 3 and 4, and is assessed in Unit 4 Outcome 3.
In this area of study students evaluate models to explain learning and apply knowledge of how learning occurs in a range of contexts. They explore memory as the process by which knowledge is encoded, stored and later retrieved, as illustrated by multi-store models of memory and the interconnectedness of brain regions in storing explicit and implicit memories. Students consider the use of mnemonics and the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges in understanding memory and learning.
behaviourist approaches to learning, as illustrated by classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning) that results in the involuntary association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response, and operant conditioning as a three-phase process (antecedent, behaviour and consequence) involving reinforcement (positive and negative) and punishment (positive and negative)
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