behaviourist approach

• Assumption 1: Humans Are Born Like A Blank Slate

  Tabula rasa - Latin for blank slate.

  We are not born with in-built mental content, internal events like thinking and emotion do not drive our behaviour.

  All behaviour is learned from interactions with the environment.

  We do not think about our behaviour, just respond passively to environmental stimuli.
• Assumption 2: Behaviour Learned Through Conditioning

  Classical conditioning- learning through association. 5 parts- unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response.

  Operant conditioning- learning through reinforcement. Behaviours are learned through positive and negative reinforcement and punishment.
• Assumption 3: Humans and Animals Learn in Similar Ways

  The laws of learning are the same for human and non-human animals. Therefore, we can study animal learning in a laboratory and make generalisations about human behaviour.

  Much research that has now been applied to humans was carried out on animals e.g Pavlov's dogs
• Relationship Formation


  Principles of operant conditioning are used in pet training and help form pet-owner relationships.

  Dog training involves rewarding good behaviour with a treat e.g waiting for the dog to sit and then giving it a biscuit. These rewards increase contentment in both dog and owner so the good behaviour is likely to be repeated. Studies show that pet-owners are less likely to suffer from depression and have lower blood pressure in stressful situations than those without pets.
• Therapy: Systematic Desensitisation(SD)


  Mainly uses the classical conditioning principles and a bit of operant conditioning.

  A client works with the therapist to create a desensitisation hierarchy, gradual steps that allow the client to become calm around a feared object. This is 'counterconditioning' as it is getting the client to re-associate something they were originally conditioned to fear with feelings of relaxation.

  2 types of SD: in vivo- client directly faces the feared object or situation.

  in vitro- client imagines the feared object or situation
• Therapy: Systematic Desensitisation- Evaluation

  Research Support- Generally SD has proven to be useful when the phobia is a learned one.

  Not Appropriate For All Phobias- Some research suggests it is not effective for more generalised fears and it may not be suitable for 'ancient' fears that we have been genetically programmed to have for survival - biological preparedness. ne

  Symptom Substitution- may not work with certain phobias because the symptoms are only the tip of the iceberg, there may be underlying reasons behind the phobia so the symptoms may just resurface in a different manner.

  Able To Provide Valid Consent- clients are 'in touch' with reality and healthy enough to understand so are therefore able to provide valid consent to therapy.
• Classic Evidence: Watson&Rayner- Little Albert


  Aim: to see if a phobia can be conditioned into someone.

  Sample: 1 male aged 9 months, referred to as Albert

  Design: controlled observation

  Procedure: Albert was tested to see what he did and didn't fear. Tested with a white rat, rabbit, a dog, a monkey, masks, cotton wool etc, all of which he was unafraid of. Then they stuck a hammer upon a metal bar which made Al cry and show fear. When Al was 11mths they brought he back. A white rat was presented to him and when he reached out for it, the bar was struck, creating fear. This joint stimulation occurred 7 times so that by the end Albert would cry just upon the sight of the rat. Wooden blocks were given as a control which Al happily played with. A few months after, his reaction was tested again and he still showed fear to the white rat and other white fluffy objects.
• Little Albert Study- Conclusion

  The study demonstrated the ease with which a feared response can be created and that such conditioned responses can be generalised on yo other similar stimuli. Watson&Rayner suggest it is probable that many phobias are acquired in this way.
• Little Albert Study- Evaluation


  Controlled Study- the study was in controlled conditions where extraneous variables could be controlled and not effect the results and films were used to record behaviour so that the findings can be confirmed by others.

  Sample- only had one participant so it is difficult to generalise results to everyone

  Ethical issues: psychological harm- creating fear in a child can be damaging and Watson&Rayner made it worse by not allowing him to suck his thumb for comfort.

  Lasting effects- Watson&Rayner did intend to remove the conditioned response however he was removed from the hospital before it was possible, meaning Al would likely be stuck with the fear. The researchers should have ensured procedures were put in place to prevent this from happening.
• Debate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of Children- Are Appropriate

  At Home -e The 'naughty step' is often used to correct wrong behaviours which is actually positive reinforcement; the way to deal with this is to avoid any reinforcement. Control over pocket money has long been used to increase positive behaviours, Gill (1998).

  In School- Education has been a major use of operant conditioning techniques. Gold stars etc are positive reinforcers, as is praise (McAllister et al 1969). Classical conditioning can used to improve student performance by increasing the positive stimuli in classrooms so that students associate the classroom with positive feelings.

  Peers- The influence of peer groups increases as we get older. In order to gain acceptance, we imitate the behaviours of the peer group and are therefore conditioned.
• Debate: Using Conditioning Techniques to Control the Behaviour of Children- Are Not Appropriate

  At Home- Techniques like the 'naughty step' are frequently criticised by experts. Morris (2014) claims that the naughty step can have long-term emotional effects as children do not have the same ability as adults to reflect and verbalise their feelings. Without help and empathy it could have a negative effect on development.

  In School- Some believe that rewards and punishments advocated by conditioning techniques are actually harmful to development and interfere with a child's internal drive to learn. In cultures where rewards and praise are hardly used, the children seemed to be internally motivated

  Peers- The influences may not induce desirable behaviours (Bickers et al 2006).
• Strengths of the Behaviourist Approach

  Scientific- studies behaviour that is observable and directly measurable. Feelings and thoughts are operationalised in terms of stimulus and response. This enables us to distinguish belief from facts.

  Focus On The Here And Now- doesn't focus on the past. This means that the treatment of mental disorders does not look for complicated causes but just focuses on the current symptoms and trying to remove them.

  Successful Applications- principles have been successfully applied in the real world, most notably in the treatment of mental disorders and in education.
• Weaknesses of the Behaviourist Approach

  Emphasis on Nurture- focuses exclusively on the surrounding environment. Behaviourists do not consider how our genetic make-up could influence personality and behaviour.

  Deterministic- behaviourists believe that behaviour is influenced almost exclusively by the associations we make between certain environmental stimuli, thus people are controlled by external factors. This means we do not have free will.

  More Relevant to Animals than Humans- the roots of the experiments are with non-human animals. Human anxiety may not always respond in the same way as animals.
• Bahaviourist Approach


  Behaviourist regard all behaviour as a response to a stimulus. The essence of the behaviourist approach is the focus on the environment and learned behaviour.
• Tabula Rasa assumption


  Behaviourist argue that we are all born "blank" and it is our environment that shapes our development.

  They believe that we learn everything for experiences

  They strongly argue the idea of nurture over innate biological factors (nature)
• Behaviour is learnt through conditioning (classical conditioning)


  Classical conditioning occurs when an association is made between a previously unlearned response and a neutral stimulus. If the two are paired enough times the neutral stimulus will produce the unlearned response.
• Example of classical conditioning


  Pavlov's Dogs

  Before conditioning - Food was the dog's unconditional stimulus which produced salivation the dog unconditional response.

  During conditioning - A neutral stimulus the sound of a bell is rung before the dog is given food. This is repeated until the dog has associated the bell with food and produceses its unconditioned response salivation.

  After conditioning - The bell is now a conditioned stimulus which produces a new conditioned response salivation when the bell is rung.
• Behaviour is learnt through conditioning (operant conditioning)


  Operant conditioning is when a new behaviour is learnt through reinforcement. The idea is that when people behave in a particular way and are rewarded for it they repeat it. If they are punished for it they will stop doing it.
• Example of operant conditioning


  Skinner's Box

  He demonstrated that animals can learn to behave in a certain way due to being rewarded with food.

  The animal might press the lever that gives food by accident thus the behaviour has been rewarded therefore the animal might repeat it. This is known as positive reinforcement.

  Behaviour is also learnt through punishment. This is because it weakens the behaviour and should reduce the likelihood that the behaviour will recur again.
• Humans and animals learn in similar ways

  Behaviourists study animal behaviour is laboratorys and make generalisations about human behaviour. One use of classical conditioning with humans is in a therapy called systematic desensitization in which the client learns to associate their phobia with relaxation and not fear. Operant conditioning is also used to shape human behaviour such as in schools and prisons. One example of this is "token economy" this is when good behaviour is rewarded by tokens that can be traded for things that are desirable.
• Systematic desensitisation


  Joseph Wolpe developed a technique in the 1950's where people with phobias were gradually introduced to the feared stimulus.
• Counterconditioning


  Firstly the client needs to learn a relaxation technique with the aim of acquiring a new stimulus response. This means moving from responding to a stimulus with fear to responding to the feared stimulus with relaxation. This is know as counterconditioning because the client is taught a new association that runs counter to the original association.
• Desensitisation hierarchy


  A series of gradual steps that are determined at the beginning to the therapy. The client and the therapist work out a hierarchy of feared stimuli from the least fearful to the most fearful.
• Different forms of SD

  In vivo - learning to relax when confronting part of the fear.

  In vitro (covert desensitisation) - getting clients to imagine the fear.

  Research has found that in vivo techniques are more successful than covert. However in practice often a mixture of the techniques are used.
• Outline Jones 1924 research on SD

  Peter was a two-year old who had an extreme fear of rabbits among other things. Jones put a rabbit in a wire cage in front of peter as he ate his lunch. Over a series of sessions the rabbit was brought closer and closer. After 17 steps, gradually breaking down peters barriers he ate lunch while stroking the rabbit on his lap
• Why does Jones 1924 research support SD

  Suggests that phobias can be conditioned to a new positive response therefore supporting the aim of systematic desensitization.
• Outline McGrath's 1990 research on SD


  Found that systematic desensitization is successful for a wide range of anxiety disorders, with 75% of patients with phobias responding to treatment.
• Why does McGrath's 1990 research both support and go against the effectiveness of SD

  Supports as 75% of clients respond positively to treatment.

  However it also shows that it is not effective for all phobias as 25% of patients didn't respond to treatment.