Behaviourist Approach

• Assumptions


  - only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured

  - not concerned with investigating mental processes of the mind as these were seen as irrelevant

  - early behaviourists such as John Watson rejected introspection as it involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure

  - behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies as the best way to achieve this

  - behaviourists believe humans are born 'tabula rasa' and this is written on by experience
• Classical Conditioning (CC)


  learning through association

  reflexes are made up of a stimulus and its naturally occurring associated response.

  when other stimuli consistently associated with this stimulus, and predict its arrival, then eventually they too can trigger the same response and the animal is said to have been 'classically conditioned
• Pavlov's Dogs


  researched the salivation reflex in dogs

  conditioned dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell

  UCS [food] -> UCR [salivation]

  NS [bell] -> no response

  UCS [food] + NS [bell] -> UCR [salivation]

  through repeated pairings:

  CS [bell] -> CR [salivation]
• Timing


  if the NS can't be used to predict the UCS then conditioning doesn't occur
• Extinction


  Pavlov discovered that the CR doesn't become permanently established as a response. after a few presentations of the CS in the absence of the UCS it loses its ability to produce the CR
• Spontaneous Recovery


  following extinction if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again, the link between them is made much more quickly
• Stimulus Generalisation


  Pavlov discovered that once an animal has been conditioned, they will also respond to other stimuli that are similar to the CS
• Little Albert


  A: investigate an emotional response e.g. fear can be classically conditioned into a 9month old baby

  P: Little Albert 1st exposed to a white rat during a baseline test to which he showed no fear.

  Little Albert began to cry when exposed to the sound of a hammer striking a steel bar

  a few months later, exposed to the white rat + hammer -> the loud noise made Little Albert cry

  Watson then exposed the baby to the white rat accompanied by the noise of the striking hammer continuously -> instilled the fear of white rats in Albert through CC

  F: accordingly, Albert feared the white rat the moment he saw it

  C: Watson + Rayner concluded they had successfully conditioned Albert to feat the white rat + his fear response generalised to other white, furry things
• Operant Conditioning


  learning through consequences such as reward and punishment
• Skinner


  rat moves around cage, accidently presses the lever, a food pellet falls into the cage

  hungry rat begins pressing the lever in order to obtain food.

  rat learned through positive reinforcement a particular action results in a positive consequence

  if food pellet stops, the rat presses the lever a few more time then abandons it

  Skinner experimented with unpleasant stimuli such as loud noises which could be switched off by pressing the lever.

  rat learned through negative reinforcement that performing a certain action resulted in the removal of an unpleasant stimulus which acted as a reward

  Skinner experimented with the use of punishment by delivering an electric shock following each lever press -> led to a decrease in lever-pressing by rat as the rat learned that performing a certain action results in an unpleasant consequences and behaviour weren't repeated
• Schedules of reinforcement


  continuous reinforcement schedule is most effective when establishing a particular response, a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement is more effective in maintaining that response and avoiding extinction
• Continuous


  every single response is reinforced e.g. receiving a tip for every customer you serve
• Fixed ratio


  a reinforcement is given for a fixed number of responses, however this takes long e.g. reward cards in cafes - 10th drink free
• Variable ratio


  a reinforcement is given on average every e.g. 10 responses but the number varies - the rewards is therefore unpredictable
• Fixed interval


  a reinforcement is given e.g. every 30s
• Variable interval


  a reinforcement is given on average every e.g. 30s (but interval varies)
• Positive Reinforcement


  adding something to the equation to make a behaviour more likely to occur in the future
• Negative Reinforcement


  removing something from the equation to make a behaviour more likely to occur in the future
• Positive Punishment


  adding something to the equation to make a behaviour less likely to occur in the future
• Negative Punishment


  removing something from the equation to make a behaviour less likely to occur in the future
• Strength - practical applications

  principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems

  e.g. CC led to the development of effective treatments that have been used to reduce the anxiety associated with various phobias.

  Systematic desensitisation is a therapy based on CC

  therapy works by eliminating the learned anxious response associated with a feared object or situation

  OC has led to the development of effective treatments such as token economy which is used in institutional settings to treat SZ patients

  therapy works by rewarding appropriate behaviour with token than can then be exchanged for privileges and has been in effective treatment for many patients

  HIGH EXTERNAL VALIDITY
• Strength - Scientific


  Skinner's research into OC relied on the experimental method, which used controlled conditions in an attempt to discover a possible causal relationship between 2 or more variables

  Skinner's box - by manipulating the consequences of behaviour, Skinner was able to accurately measure the effect of the rat's behaviour

  allowed him to establish cause and effect between the consequences of a behaviour and the future frequency of its occurrence.

  By emphasising the importance of scientific processes, such as objectivity and replicability, behaviourism was influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline, giving it greater academic credibility ana status
• Weakness - use of animals

  researched conducted by Pavlov and Skinner has been criticised as their experiment involved the study of animals.

  By using animals as substitutes for humans in the exploration of human behaviour, the assumption is that general laws relating to the behaviour of animals can be applied to describe the complex relations in the human world

  If assumption proves false, then the entire foundation upon which behaviourism rests studies can tell us little about human behaviour.

  they claim that, unlike animals, human beings have free will rather than having their behaviour determined by positive and negative reinforcement, or learning through association
• Weakness - Reductionist

  behaviourist approach has been criticised for being reductionist

  solely focuses on the role of learning via a single-stimulus response mechanism which breaks down human behaviour into its simplest constituent parts.

  It ignores the role of other factors in shaping human behaviour, such as cognitive factors, emotional states and biological influences

  Consequently a holistic approach is needed which considers all factors in combination when studying human behaviour
• Weakness - Determinism


  assumes that the environment and out experiences and only the environment determine the learning of our behaviour.

  problem -> it ignores the idea we have free will and choose how to behave: this approach could be used to excuse certain behaviours and remove personal responsibility an individual, in contrast to how our legal system holds people accountable for their actions.

  Skinner suggested that free will is an illusion.

  this HARD DETERMINISM view, rather than considering the spontaneity and individuality of people when they make decisions, reduces human behaviour to the factors that cause it