The Behaviourist Approach

• What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

  • we can use animal research for human purpose
  • should use observable behaviour instead of mental processes
  • most behaviour is learnt
• What is classical conditioning?

  • learning through assosciation. It occurs when a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
• Who did research on classical conditioning and what was the research?

  • Ivan Pavlov
  • Pavlov's dogs - conditioned dogs to salivate to the ringing of a bell
  • UCS - Food - dogs salivated
  • NS - Bell - dogs did not salivate
  • UCS + NS = CR = dogs salivated when the bell was rung
• What is operant conditioning?

  • learning through outcomes. If a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence than that behaviour is more likely to occur again in the future.
• Who conducted on research on operant conditioning and how?

  • B.F Skinner
  • Skinner's Rats - rats were put in a cage and when they pressed the lever, food came out. They repeated pressing the lever. (positive reinforcement)
  • Skinner made the floor give electric shocks to the rats and when they pressed the lever, it stopped the shocks. They repeated pressing the lever. (negative reinforcement)
• What is positive reinforcement?

  • repeating a behaviour because that behaviour produces a pleasant consequence/outcome
• What is negative reinforcement?

  • repeating a behaviour to avoid a negative outcome
• What is punishment?

  • when you actually face the negative consequences
• What is a strength of the behaviourist approach?

  • One strength of the approach is that the research was highly controlled. This meant any extraneous variables were controlled so has high internal validity.
  • Another strength is that there is real world application. This is because the world is based on token economy systems in places such as prisons, schools and psychiatric wards.
• What is a limitation for the behaviourist approach?

  • One limitation of the approach is that it is environmentally deterministic. This is because it ignores biological factors.
  • One limitation of the approach is that there are ethical issues in B.F Skinner's rats. The rats were psychologically harmed since the floors gave electric shocks.