The behaviourist approach

• Classical conditioning

  • The behaviourist approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. Behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab experiments as a way to achieve this.
  • Classical conditioning is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Pavlov.
• Pavlov study

  • Dogs can be conditioned to salivate to a bell (NS) sound when presented with food(UCS)

  • Gradually, dogs associate the bell sound with food (UCS), resulting in a conditioned salivation response (UCR).

  • Pavlov demonstrated how a neutral stimulus can create a new learned response(CS) through association, leading to salivation(CR).
• Before conditioning : UCS > UCR

  During conditioning : UCS+ NR > UCR

  After conditioning: CR > CR
• Operant conditioning

  • Behaviour is learned through rewards and punishment 
  • An association is made between a behaviour and a consequence for that behaviour
  • The consequence can be positive or negative 
• What is reinforcement

  A consequence (outcome) of behaviour that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. 
• • Positive Reinforcement - getting a reward when a certain behaviour is performed. This then causes the behaviour that led to the reward to be repeated.
  • Negative Reinforcement - producing a behaviour that avoids something unpleasant. The person then repeats this behaviour to continue avoiding the unpleasant event.
• Positive reinforcement

  Skinner's Operant Conditioning Experiment

  • Skinner conducted experiments using animals in a 'Skinner Box'.

  • Rats were placed in the box with a lever, which knocked when moved.

  • Food pellets dropped into the box, causing rats to learn to press the lever.

  • The reward of food led to repeated actions, ensuring continuous reward.
• Negative Reinforcement in Rat Behavior

  • Skinner box used to subject rats to electric current.

  • Rats accidentally knocked off the current, causing it to switch off.

  • Rats learned to avoid the electric current, repeating actions to avoid negative consequences.
• • One strength of classical conditioning is its application to the treatment of phobias
  • Classical conditioning has led to the development of systematic desensitisation – a treatment which reduced the anxiety associated with phobias
  • Systematic desensitisation works by using the principles of classical conditioning to replace the learned response (anxiety) with another response (relaxation)
  • This matters because systematic desensitisation is an effective treatment for many phobias, e.g. fear of spiders.
• • One strength of operant conditioning is the use of experimental methods
  • Skinner’s research uses controlled conditions to discover the causal relationship between two or more variables (e.g. lever pulled and food released)
  • Skinner’s use of the Skinner box allowed him to manipulate the IV (food released) to measure the effect on the DV (rats behaviour)
  • This allowed him to establish a cause and effect relationship between positive/negative reinforcement and the likelihood of future behaviour
• • One weakness of the behaviourist approach is the reliance on non-human animals.
  • Some psychologists claim that Skinner’s reliance on rats and pigeons means that we are unable to draw conclusions in relation to human behaviour
  • This is because humans have free will and our behaviour is not shaped by classical or operant conditioning
  • This matters because psychologists may be unable to generalise findings from animals to humans
• • A final criticism of the behaviourist approach is that is ignores other psychological explanations
  • The behaviourist approach ignores cognitive and emotional factors, suggesting that humans learn only through association and reward/punishment
  • However, it could be argued that human interaction is far more complicated than a simple stimulus-reinforcement relationship
  • This matters because the behaviourist explanation may not provide a complete explanation of complex human behaviours