behaviourist approach

• assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  • studies behaviour which can be observed and measured.
  • rejected introspection
  • believe all behaviour is learned and that a baby's mind is a blank slate which is written on by experience
  • identifies classical and operant conditioning as important forms of learning
• classical conditioning

  learning through association

  Pavlov's research

  -> Showed how dogs were conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell.

  ->dogs learned to associate the sound of bell with food given at the same time.

  -> eventually they salivated every time they heard the bell.

  Showed a neutral stimulus (bell) could become elicit to a conditioned response (salivation) through association.
• operant conditioning

  Skinner suggested learning is an active process

  operant conditioning is shaped by consequences

  -> positive reinforcement

  -> negative reinforcement

  -> punishment
• positive reinforcement

  receiving a reward when behaviour is performed

  increases likelihood of behaviour repeating
• negative reinforcement

  when someone avoids something unpleasant which leads to a positive outcome

  increases likelihood of behaviour repeating
• punishment

  an unpleasant consequence to behaviour

  decreases likelihood of behaviour repeating
• strength - well-controlled research

  the behaviourist approach is based on well-controlled research.

  behaviourist focused on measurement of observable behaviour in highly controlled lab settings.

  removed extraneous variables and allows a cause-and-effect to be established

  Skinner was able to demonstrate how reinforcement influenced an animal's behaviour.
• limitation - oversimplification

  behaviourist may have oversimplified the learning process.

  by reducing behaviours to such little components, behaviourist may have ignored how mental processes may affect learning. (human thought) this is drawn to attention in other approaches such as the social learning theory + the cognitive approach.

  suggests learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone.
• strength - real-world application

  principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems.

  e.g. operant conditioning is the basis of token economies which have been successfully used in prisons and psych wards.

  e.g. classical conditioning has been applied to treatment of phobias.

  increases the value of the behaviourist approach.
• limitation - environmental determinism

  the behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as conditioned by past experiences.

  Skinner suggested everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history.

  this ignores the influence of free will on behaviour.

  the behaviourist approach is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes.