Behaviourist Evaluation

• One strength of the behaviourist approach is that it is scientific as it study's behaviour that is observable and measurable. Feelings and thoughts are operationalised in terms of stimulus and response behaviours. Behaviourist research is heavily scientific so causality can be identified e.g Skinner's rats, Pavlov's dogs.
• Another strength of this approach is that it has several successful applications. For example, principles established in classical conditioning are applied in SD to help people overcome phobias. In education, operant conditioning contributes to successful teaching strategies e.g doing homework avoids getting a detention (negative reinforcement).
• One weakness of the behaviourist approach is that it is deterministic. The approach believes behaviour is influenced by purely external/environmental factors e.g the associations we make between environmental stimuli (CC) or rewards and punishments (OC). The approach does not consider the thought processes that occur before we behave and instead believes we act based just on our environment.
• Another weakness is that the nature side of nature nurture debate is completely ignored. Behaviourists do not consider how our genetic make-up could influence our personality and behaviour. In addition, the nurture side of this debate is exaggerated within this approach. If learning was all that mattered then everyone could become a surgeon or a rocket scientist. Behaviour can also be governed by motivation and innate abilities.