Behaviourist Approach

• Behaviourist approach


  • Critical of introspection
  • Emphasises observable processes (environmental stimuli and behavioural responses)
  • Prefers using a scientific approach to studying human behaviour
  • Believes basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so they use animals as experimental subjects and generalise their findings to human beings
  • Believes you can make general laws about how humans behave (prediction, patterns, etc.)
• Classical conditioning


  1. A neutral stimulus (e.g. a bell) can come to elicit a new response (conditioned response) through association with an unconditioned stimulus (e.g. food)

  2. Forward conditioning: the neutral stimulus appears about 30 seconds before the unconditioned stimulus

  3. Extinction: the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to disappear

  4. Stimulus generalisation: the conditioned response extends to similar stimuli

  5. Discrimination: an animal or person can be taught to discriminate between different stimuli

  6. One-trial learning: learning can occur from a single incident
• Operant conditioning


  1. Behaviour is based on the consequences after an action has been performed

  2. Positive reinforcement: rewarding a behaviour increases the likelihood of it being repeated

  3. Negative reinforcement: removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

  4. Punishment: a consequence for a behaviour decreases the likelihood of it being repeated

  5. Schedules of reinforcement: the frequency and ways in which reinforcement is administered can affect the likelihood of it affecting behaviour
• Pavlov introduced the law of extinction, which states that a behavioural response that is not followed by a reinforcement stimulus is weakened and less likely to occur again
• Strengths of the behaviourist approach

  • High scientific credibility due to the use of experimental methods and objective measurement
  • Practical applications in areas like therapy and behaviour modification
• Weaknesses of the behaviourist approach

  • Mechanistic view of behaviour that fails to consider the complexities of human behaviour
  • Deterministic approach that ignores human free will
  • Problems with generalising findings from animal research to humans
• Exam question: Explain what is meant by 'classical conditioning'