Assumptions of the Behaviourist Approach

• everyone is born as a 'blank slate' which life writes upon
• all behaviour is learned from the environment

  e.g. upbringing, neighbourhood, peers, education
• behaviour can be understood via

  • a stimulus-response approach (classical conditioning)
  • the mechanisms of reward and reinforcement (operant conditioning)
• Behaviours which can be directly observed only can be measured

  • Imitation of specific aggressive behaviours can be observed and measured
  • Memory cannot be measured as it cannot be directly observed
• Lab-based, scientific methods are the only way that behaviour can be studied
• Animal research may be used as a basis for understanding human behaviour
• Repeated behaviours become internalised and automatic

  e.g. hearing the bell ring for the end of the lesson triggers packing away and moving to the next lesson without any real thought involved
• Classical conditioning and operant conditioning underpin the principles of behaviourism