Behaviourist approach

• What is the behaviourist approach?

  A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.

  • Early behaviourists e.g. Watson rejected introspection as it involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure.
  • So they try to maintain more control and objectivity in their research, relying on lab studies to do this.
• What do behaviourists believe?

  Behaviourists believe that all behaviour is learnt.

  • Describe a baby’s mind as a ‘blank slate’ written on by experience.
  • Following Darwin, behaviourists suggested that the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species.
  • Identified 2 important forms of learning: classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
• What is classical conditioning?

  Learning by association - occurs when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together.
• Explain research in classical conditioning

  • Pavlov showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food.
  • Gradually, Pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the sound of the stimulus (bell) with another stimulus (food) and would produce the salivation response every time they heard the sound.
  • So Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new conditioned response through association.
• What is operant conditioning?

  A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences include reinforcement and punishment.
• Explain research on operant conditioning

  • Skinner suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment.
  • Positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.
  • Negative reinforcement occurs when an animal avoids something unpleasant - the outcome is a positive experience (increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated).
  • Punishment is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour - finding a way to avoid that would be negative reinforcement.
• What is reinforcement?

  A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated - can be positive or negative.
• Evaluate a strength of the behaviourist approach

  Well-controlled research.

  • Behaviourists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings.
  • By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other possible extraneous variables were removed, allowing cause-and-effect relationships to be established —> scientific credibility.
• Evaluate a strength of the behaviourist approach

  Real-world application.

  • E.g. operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in institutions e.g. prisons.
  • These work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges.
  • This increases the value of the behaviourist approach because it has widespread application.
• Evaluate a limitation of the behaviourist approach

  Environmental determinism.

  • Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history.
  • When something happens we may think we made the decision to do that, but according to Skinner, our past conditioning history determined the outcome.
  • This ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour - this is an extreme position and disregards the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.
• Evaluate a limitation of the behaviourist approach

  Ethical issues.

  • Although procedures allowed behaviourists to maintain such a high degree of control over their experimental ‘subjects’, many have questioned the ethics of conducting such investigations.
  • Animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and deliberately kept below their natural weight so they were always hungry.