Behavioural approach

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Created by
Emily Page

Cards (12)

  • According to the behavioural theory of human behaviour the cause is learning - external and environmental factors
  • Classical conditioning

    Operates by principle of association
    Ivan Pavlov
  • Operant conditioning

    Operates by principle of consequences
    BF Skinner
  • Positive reinforcement 

    Strengthens behaviour and increases likelihood of repetition
  • Negative reinforcement

    Weakens behaviour and decreases likelihood of repetition
  • Classical conditioning- Pavlov's dogs
    BEFORE
    Food (unconditioned stimulus (UCS)) elicits salivation (unconditioned response (UCR)).
    Bell (neutral stimulus (NS)) elicits no response
    DURING
    Food (UCS)+ bell (NS) presented at the same time elicits salivation (UCR) - this is done 3 times
    AFTER
    Bell (conditioned stimulus (CS)) elicits salivation (conditioned response (CR))
  • Operant conditioning - BF Skinner - Skinner's box
    The rats move around the cage and whenever it accidentally presses the lever a food pellet falls into the cage.
    The rat begins to press the lever in order to obtain food
  • Strength 

    It uses highly controlled lab experiments
    Behaviourists' concern with measuring observable behaviour revolutionised psychological research - gave psychology scientific credibility and status
  • Strength

    Real world application
    Token economies (operant conditioning) are used in prisons and psychiatric hospitals - rewarding appropriate behaviour for tokens which can be exchanged for privileges.
    Phobias are treated with systematic desensitisation (classical conditioning) - suggests that behaviour can be learnt and unlearnt
  • Limitation

    Ethical issues - rats in Skinner's box were exposed to stressful conditions which may have cause atypical behaviour which may have affected the validity of the results.
  • Limitation

    The behavioural approach regards animal and human behaviour as passive and mechanistic - ignoring conscious thought.
  • Limitation

    Environmental determinism - very deterministic - behaviour is pre programmed