behaviourist approach AO3

• what are strengths of the behaviourist approach

  • has well controlled research
  • has real world application
• weaknesses of Be A

  • Animal research has ethical issues
  • the form of environmental determinism
• + real world application

  • the principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems
  • e.g OC is the basis of token economy systems used in prisons and psych wards
  • these work by rewarding the appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
  • this increases the value of the behaviourist approach as it has widespread application
• - environmental determinism


  • BA sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences
  • Skinner says - what we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history - our past conditioning history determined the outcome
  • this ignores any influence that free will may have on our behaviour
  • this ignores the influence of conscious decision making processes on behaviour
• - animal research has ethical issues

  • procedures allowed b's to have lots of control on subjects - it was questioned
  • animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and kept below natural weight
  • due to harm to animals during experiments there are ethical issues involved
• + well controlled research

  • B's focused on measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings
  • broke down behaviour into basic stimulus response units and extraneous variables were removed
  • allowed cause and effect relationships to be established
  • skinner was able to show how reinforcement influenced an animals behaviour
  • suggests that behaviourists experiments have scientific credibility