Evaluation of the Approach

• :) Scientific Approach

  • Seeks to study behaviour that is observable + directly measurable
  • Thoughts + feelings are operationalised in terms of stimulis + response behaviours
  • Believed we can analyse, quantify + compare behaviour
  • Enables us to distinguish mere beliefs from real facts
• :) Focus on here and now

  • Unlike other approaches which seek to explain a person's behaviour from past experiences in childhood, behaviourist are not concerned with events in a person's past
  • This means the treatment of mental disorders doesn't have to look for complicated causes but focus on current symptoms and trying to remove them
  • Example = Aversion therapy - treats alcoholism by teaching a new stimulus - response link between alcohol + nausea - doesn't try to understand why the person may have turned to alcohol
  • REMOVAL OF SYMPTOMS IS SOLE AIM
• :) Successful Applications

  • Have been successfully applied in the real world

  For example:

  • Classical - aversion therapy to help addictions
  • Operant - teaching strategies - positive reinforcement + punishment help shape behaviour in the classroom
  • Skinner = applied operant conditioning to teaching designing a mechanical programmed instruction device - students can work at own pace + receive reinforcements
• :( Emphasis on nurture

  • Focuses exclusively on the surrounding environment as means of shaping behaviour - role of nature is ignored
  • Role of external factors is exaggerated. Our behaviour is governed by many internal factors such as emotion, motivation + innate abilities
• :( Determinist Approach

  • Believe behaviour is influenced almost exclusively by associations we make between certain environmental stimuli (classical) + rewards/punishments provided by our environment (operant)
  • Controlled by external factors - doesn't consider thought processes that occur before we behave in a certain way - suggests we are not making a choice when we behave
• :( Determinist Approach 2

  • Believes our environment determines how we act - undermines the free will we have as a human when making decisions - In other words people cannot make choices and have no personal or moral responsibility for their behaviour
  • Implications = people cannot be held responsible for their wrongdoing + should just be punished to change their behaviour
• :( More relevant to animals than humans

  • SD initially developed with research with animals
  • Wolpe created a phobia in cats by placing them in cages + administering electric shocks
  • He then found by placing food near a cage diminished the anxiety response (reciprocal inhibition)
  • Human anxiety didn't respond in the same way (woman + insects - so didn't cure - husband nickname + didn't get along)