behaviorist approach

• assumptions:

  1. all behavior is learnt from environment through association
  2. all behavior is observable
  3. born as a blank slate
  4. animals and humans behave similarly
• they aim to find objective results, to do this they often use lab studies
• classical conditioning - pavlov's dogs

  the dogs had a unconditioned stimulus of food with an unconditioned response of salivating. there was a neutral stimulus of a bell which produced no response. when the bell was introduced when giving food the dog eventually started salivating at the sound of the bell. the bell became a conditioned response

  this supports the theory that animals and humans learn through association as the dog associated the bell with food which lead to a response
• operant conditioning - skinner

  positive reinforcement - adding something good for behavior

  negative reinforcement - removing something bad for behavior

  positive punishment - adding something bad for behavior

  negative punishment - taking away something good for behavior
• skinner rat box - operant conditioning

  hungry rat was introduced in a box with a lever that when pulled released food, when the rat realised that the lever leads to food it pulled it more consistently.

  this backs up operant conditioning as the positive reinforcement leads to repeated behavior
• evaluation

  pros:

  controlled, scientific research

  lead to increased therapy and real world application

  cons:

  low ecological validity

  reductionist as animal behaviors are just reproduced onto humans

  deterministic as no free will over behavior only past experiences affect behavior nothing else