behaviourist approach

• What is the first assumption of the behaviourist approach?

  Psychologists should only study observable, quantifiable behaviour
• What is the second assumption of the behaviourist approach?

  That all behaviour is learned
• What is the third assumption of the behaviourist approach?

  Humans are no different from animals and should not be regarded as more complex and therefore, research on animal behaviour is directly relevant to humans
• What is classical conditioning?

  Learning through association
• What happens before learning according to classical conditioning?

  An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response
• What happens during learning according to classical conditioning?

  An unconditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus which leads to an unconditioned response
• What happens after learning according to classical conditioning?

  A conditioned stimulus leads to a conditioned response
• What is the conditioned stimulus?

  Previously the neutral stimulus
• Who studied classical conditioning and with what animal?

  Pavlov with dogs
• What was the unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov's study?


  The food
• What was the unconditioned response in Pavlov's study?

  Salivation
• What was the neutral stimulus in Pavlov's study?

  The bell
• What was the conditioned stimulus in Pavlov's study?

  The bell
• What was the conditioned response in Pavlov's study?

  Salivation
• What is operant conditioning?

  Learning through consequences
• What is positive reinforcement?

  Giving a reward to make a behaviour more likely to be repeated
• What is negative reinforcement?

  Taking something bad away to make a behaviour more likely to be repeated
• What is punishment?


  A negative consequence to make a behaviour less likely to be repeated
• Who studied operant conditioning and with what animal?

  Skinner with rats
• What was the positive reinforcement in Skinner's research?

  Receiving a treat for pressing the lever
• What was the negative reinforcement in Skinner's research?

  Electric current stopping for pressing the lever
• What was the punishment in Skinner's research?


  There wasn't one
• What are three evaluation points for the behaviourist approach?

  The behaviourists were influential in encouraging the use of animals as research subjects

  Real life applications

  The behaviourist approach can be credited with enhancing the scientific status of psychology
• How does the behaviourist approach use animals and why?

  According to behaviourists, humans are no different from animals and should not be regarded as more complex and therefore, research on animal behaviour is directly relevant to humans.
• Why might using animals be a problem?

  Human learning is likely to be significantly more complex, contrary to behaviourist assumptions.
• How is using animals a weakness of the behaviourist approach?

  It could be argued that findings from animal experiments are not generalisable to human behaviour and thus behaviourist explanations may not provide an understanding of human behaviour.
• What are real life applications of the behaviourist approach?


  The behaviourist approach has made important contributions to our understanding of human mental illness.
• What contributions has behaviourism made to our understanding of human mental illness?

  Many phobias are thought to be the result of earlier unpleasant learning experiences.
• What has understanding of human mental illness led to?

  This understanding has helped psychologists develop therapies, such as systematic desensitisation, that attempt to re-condition a patient's fear response.
• How is the behaviourist approach especially scientific?

  The experimental methods used by Pavlov and Skinner rejected the earlier emphasis in psychology on introspection and encouraged research that focused on more objective dimensions of behaviour.
• How is behaviourism more scientific than approaches that came before it?

  It is also far more scientific than the psychodynamic approach that focused on unfalsifiable concepts such as the unconscious mind.
• Why is it a strength that the behaviourist approach is especially scientific?

  This emphasis on the scientific method has led to an increasingly

  valid and reliable understanding of human behaviour.
• What else is it a strength that the behaviourist approach is especially scientific?

  These methods have also helped psychology gain credibility and status as a scientific discipline, which in turn attracts more funding and research opportunities.