Behaviourist approach

• Behaviourist approach assumption


  Psychology should study observable behaviours, hence, be based on empirical evidence
• Behaviourist approach assumption


  We can use animal research to reach conclusions about human behaviour because animals and humans learn in similar ways
• Animal research


  • Ivan Pavlov's experiment in 1890s on dogs shows evidence of classical conditioning
  • Skinner conducted a lab experimented on rats to research about operant conditioning
• Behaviourist approach assumption


  When we are born our mind is like a blank slate-tabula rasa. We are not born equipped with the ability to think, and emotions/ feeling have no control over our behaviour. What we learn through our interactions with the environment determines our behaviour
• Behaviourist approach assumption


  Behaviour is the result of a stimulus
• Classical conditioning


  A type of learning in which an existing involuntary reflex is associated with a new stimulus
• Classical conditioning


  • Originally discovered by Pavlov (1890s) while he was studying salivation in dogs
  • Pavlov tested it by associating the sound of ringing a bell with the food, so that the dogs would learn to salivate when they heard the sound of a bell
  • The bell (neutral stimulus) was associated with the food (unconditioned stimulus) which resulted in the dog salivating (conditioned response) whenever a bell was rung (conditioned stimulus)
  • The neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are paired contiguously
• Operant conditioning


  When an association is made with an action and an outcome
• Operant conditioning


  • Involves positive and negative reinforcement and punishment
  • Positive reinforcement is when the outcome of an action is rewarded so it is more likely that the action will be repeated
  • Negative reinforcement aims to increase specific behaviours by removing negative consequences
• Operant conditioning


  • Skinner's rats' experiment investigated the mechanisms of positive and negative reinforcement and provided evidence for these mechanisms
  • Skinner conducted a lab experiment on rats. He placed the rats in an electrified cage with a lever that if pushed will stop the electricity. The rats made an association between pushing the lever and the pain stopping so they experienced negative reinforcement
• Behaviourist approach


  • Has scientific credibility because the results were based on empirical evidence from Skinner's and Pavlov's experiments
  • Allows psychological data to be replicated and other psychologists to approve of Skinner's and Pavlov's theories
  • Allows behaviourists to make better predictions to how people will behave through the use of animal research
• Behaviourist approach


  Is environmentally reductionist as it rules out all other factors and only takes nurture into account, ignoring biological factors like genes, hormones and evolution that could determine behaviour
• Positive reinforcement


  The outcome of an action is rewarded so it is more likely that the action will be repeated
• Negative reinforcement


  Aims to increase specific behaviours by removing negative consequences
• Positive practical application of operant conditioning

  • Epstein (2006) used positive reinforcement to make individuals eat healthier food on the basis that the cost of food was reduced
  • Operant conditioning could be used to reduce an undesirable behaviour for a desirable outcome, helping to reinforce healthier lifestyle to the public and possibly reducing the number of patients with diabetes
• Behaviourist approach


  • Learning mechanisms of classical and operant conditioning can be used in psychological treatments, for example using tokens to help inmates carry out socially desirable behaviour in prisons