Behaviorist approach

• Behaviorists argue that behaviour is learned through experiences and interactions with the enviroment
• Behaviorism is..

  A theory of learning, based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning and conditioning occurs through interactions with the environment
• Behaviourists also argue that our actions are shaped by enviromental stimuli
• Some researchers of the behaviourist approach includes Pavlov with the use of dogs to explore mechanisms of classical conditioning and Skinner with the use of rats and other animals to explore the mechanisms of operant conditioning
• Assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  • All behaviour is learnt
  • Only interested in the behaviour that can be observed and measured
• The behaviourist approach proposes that

  • Everyone is born as a blank slate which life writes upon
  • Behaviour can be understood using a stimulus-response approach
  • Animal research may be used as a basic understanding for human behaviour
• Strengths of the behaviourist approach

  • Uses scientific study methods meaning that research into behaviourism is good reliability
  • Behaviourists take a nomothetic approach which seeks to establish general laws of behaviour which can be applied universally
• Weaknesses of the behaviourist approach

  • Overly simplistic , offering a reductionist view of behaviour
  • Ignores key factors (eg. personality and culture)
  • Scientific methodology is not the best way to study the human behaviour due to our complexity
• Supporting evidence for the behaviourist approach

  P - A strength of the behaviourist approach is that it gave psychology scientific credibility

  E - focused on the careful measurement of observable behaviour within controlled lab settings.

  E - Furthermore, Behaviourists emphasized the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication

  L - This brought the language and methods of the natural sciences into Psychology, giving the subject greater credibility and status
• Contradictory evidence for the behaviourist approach

  P - the use of animals in studies

  E - Extrapolating findings from animals to humans may not be appropriate as humans learn in a different way to animal species for example with language.  

  E - Furthermore, humans have emotions and thought processes that have been shown to influence behaviour

  L - This means that the behaviourist assumptions regarding learning must be generalised with caution from animal studies when explaining human behaviour.
• The behaviourist approach suggests that personality is largely shaped by environmental factors, such as the rewards and punishments that individuals receive for their behaviors