CIE A Level Psychology Learning Approach Exam Questions

About CIE A Level Psychology Learning Approach

The learning approach explains behaviour as the product of experience, through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning. On the Cambridge 9990 course it is assessed at AS in Paper 1: Approaches, Issues and Debates, through three compulsory core studies: Bandura et al. (1961) on the imitation of aggression, Fagen et al. (2014) on positive reinforcement training with elephants, and Saavedra and Silverman (2002) on the treatment of a button phobia. Examiners expect correct terms such as reinforcement, modelling and shaping. The approach links to the A Level options, especially anxiety and fear-related disorders, impulse control disorders and token economies at work.

What you need to know

• Learning approach assumptions Behaviour is learned from experience rather than inherited. Learning can happen through classical conditioning (association), operant conditioning (consequences such as reinforcement and punishment) and social learning (observation and imitation of models).
• Bandura et al. (1961) Seventy-two children from the Stanford University nursery saw an adult model behave aggressively or non-aggressively towards a Bobo doll, or saw no model. After mild aggression arousal, they were observed through a one-way mirror. Children who saw the aggressive model imitated more physical and verbal aggression, and boys showed more physical aggression than girls.
• Bandura et al.: same-sex models Sex of model mattered: boys imitated the male model's physical aggression more, and the effect of model sex on imitation was stronger overall for boys. Observers recorded behaviour using operationalised categories at five-second intervals, and inter-rater reliability was high.
• Fagen et al. (2014) Five juvenile working elephants in Nepal were trained to perform a trunk wash using positive reinforcement. The trainer used a bridging stimulus (a whistle) followed by food rewards, and shaped the behaviour step by step. Most of the elephants learned the full trunk wash, showing an alternative to traditional training based on punishment.
• Saavedra and Silverman (2002) A case study of a nine-year-old boy with a phobia of buttons, which began when he spilled buttons in a classroom. Exposure-based therapy with a fear hierarchy did not reduce his distress much, but adding disgust imagery and self-control techniques reduced it. Distress was measured using a feelings thermometer, and improvement was maintained at follow-up.
• Evaluation themes Bandura's controlled lab experiment gives quantitative data and shows cause and effect but has low ecological validity. Fagen et al. raises animal ethics and generalisation issues. Saavedra and Silverman gives rich detail but cannot be generalised from one child.

Common mistakes in Learning Approach

• Writing that children in Bandura's study were frustrated before seeing the model. Mild aggression arousal happened after the modelling phase and before the test.
• Describing Fagen et al. as using punishment or negative reinforcement. Training used positive reinforcement with a bridging stimulus and food rewards.
• Claiming Saavedra and Silverman's phobia was cured by exposure alone. Disgust imagery was the key addition that reduced the boy's distress.
• Calling the button phobia an example of social learning. It is explained as classical conditioning, with buttons associated with the distress of the spilling incident and disgust.
• Using 'reinforcement' and 'punishment' loosely. Reinforcement always increases a behaviour; punishment decreases it.

Try three Learning Approach exam-style questions