Behaviourist Approach

• Overall assumptions:

  • the behaviourist approach focuses on how behaviour can be observed and measured to make it an objective and scientific approach
  • all behaviour is learned through our experiences from our environment. We are all born as blank slates
  • we can study animal behaviour and use the same principles for humans
• Classical conditioning - Pavlov:

  • classical conditioning is learning through association
  • this is where we learn to associate a reflex response to a neutral stimulus
  • Ivan Pavlov conducted research into this in a lab experiment
• Aim of Pavlov's experiment:

  • Pavlov wanted to see if dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell ringing alone without the presence of the food
• Method of Pavlov's experiment:

  • Pavlov did this by ringing a bell (a neutral stimulus) whilst presenting the dog with food (unconditioned stimulus) to cause the dog to salivate (unconditioned response)
  • he repeated this several times and measured the dog's salivation in ml (dependent variable) each time to gather quantitative data
• Results of Pavlov's experiment:

  • the dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell with the food and started salivating (conditioned response) to the sound of the bell (conditioned stimulus) without any food being presented
  • therefore, the dogs had learnt a response to a previously neutral stimulus
  • the experiments showed learning could be investigated experimentally and using non-human participants
• Reasons why Pavlov's study was scientific:

  • took place in a lab setting, this involved control
  • saliva was measured in ml. This is quantitative, objective and empirical data
• Operant conditioning:

  • operant conditioning is learning through reinforcement
  • when behaviour is reinforced, it is more likely to be repeated
• Positive reinforcement:

  • getting a reward for behaving in a certain way so you are more likely to repeat that behaviour
• Negative reinforcement:

  • taking something bad away so the behaviour is repeated (this isn't the same as a punishment. Punishment leads to stopping certain behaviours whereas reinforcement leads to repeated behaviours)
• Operant conditioning - Skinner:

  • Skinner's experiments into operant conditioning took place in controlled lab environments
  • these involved placing rats into a box with a lever to press
• Positive reinforcement - Skinner:

  • when the rat pressed the lever it received a reward, such as a food pellet. This reward increased the likelihood that the rat would press the lever again, as it is learned that pressing the lever would result in a positive outcome
  • the behaviour had been reinforced and therefore was more likely to be repeated
• Negative reinforcement - Skinner:

  • Skinner introduced an unpleasant stimulus such as an electric shock or a loud noise into the box. When the rat pressed the lever, the unpleasant stimulus was removed
  • this increased the likelihood that the rat would press the lever again, as it learnt that pressing the lever stopped the unpleasant experience
  • The behaviour had been reinforced and therefore was more likely to be repeated
• Explanation for operant conditioning:

  • ' the action is a desired response and results in a positive consequence to repeat a behaviour'
• Evaluation with the behaviourist approach:

  W - a major problem with the behaviourist approach is that it often oversimplifies human behaviour as is it based on animal studies

  S - there are practical applications of operant conditioning

  S - there are practical applications of classical conditioning in the treatment of phobias

  S/W - environmental determinism