The Behavioural Approach

• Tabula Rasa

  Proposes that everyone is born as a 'blank slate' which life writes upon
• Behaviourist Approach


  1. All behaviour is learned from the environment e.g. upbringing, neighbourhood, peers, education

  2. Behaviour can be understood using a stimulus-response approach

  3. Reinforcement is key in terms of whether a behaviour will be repeated or not

  4. Only observable behaviours can be measured and investigated

  5. Using lab-based, scientific methods is the best way to study behaviour

  6. Animal research may be used as a basis for understanding human behaviour

  7. Repeated behaviours become internalised and automatic
• Classical conditioning


  Learning through association
• Operant conditioning


  Learning through reinforcement
• Research using the Behaviourist Approach

  • Pavlov's use of dogs to explore the mechanisms of classical conditioning
  • Skinner's use of rats and other animals to explore the mechanisms of operant conditioning
• Strengths of the Behaviourist Approach

  • The use of scientific methods means that research has good reliability
  • Behaviourism takes a nomothetic approach which seeks to establish general laws of behaviour which can be applied universally
• Weaknesses of the Behaviourist Approach

  • The approach is overly simplistic, offering a reductionist view of behaviour which ignores key factors such as personality, cognition, culture
  • Scientific methodology is not necessarily the best way to study human behaviour: humans are more nuanced and sophisticated than a single quantitative finding may suggest
• The Behaviourist Approach


  Differs from the Humanistic Approach in that it is overly deterministic and negates the idea of free will
• The Behaviourist Approach


  Differs from the Humanistic Approach in that it claims people are products of environmental forces and have little control over their behavioural responses, whereas the Humanistic Approach insists that humans have free will
• The Behaviourist Approach


  Differs from the Humanistic Approach in that it uses scientific/experimental methodology (nomothetic) whereas the Humanistic Approach takes a more ideographic approach to studying behaviour
• The Behaviourist Approach


  Differs from the Humanistic Approach in that it depends on empirical evidence whereas the Humanistic Approach is unfalsifiable, therefore unscientific
• The Behaviourist Approach


  Differs from the Humanistic Approach in that it is only interested in studying observable behaviour rather than thoughts, feelings and subjective opinion
• Classical Conditioning (CC)


  Learning via association
• Classical Conditioning


  • One of the core assumptions of the behaviourist approach
• Classical Conditioning


  Neutral stimulus substituted for original unconditioned stimulus to produce conditioned response
• Unconditioned stimulus


  Stimulus which produces a natural, unforced response
• Mechanisms of CC were discovered accidentally by Pavlov, a physiologist
• Pavlov's experiment


  1. Dog given food (unconditioned stimulus)

  2. Dog salivates (unconditioned response)

  3. Bell sounded with food (pairing of neutral and unconditioned stimuli)

  4. Dog salivates to bell (conditioned response)

  5. Conditioned response decreases when bell not paired with food (extinction)
• Operant Conditioning (OC)


  Learning via consequence
• Operant Conditioning


  • One of the core assumptions of the behaviourist approach
• Positive reinforcement


  Performing a behaviour to experience positive consequences
• Negative reinforcement


  Discontinuing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences
• Punishment


  A type of deterrent which can be positive (direct) or negative (indirect)
• Reinforcer


  The consequence that reinforces the behaviour
• Skinner's experiment


  1. Rat in Skinner box

  2. Rat presses lever to get food reward

  3. Rat learns via schedules of reinforcement
• Classical and operant conditioning

  • Highly deterministic, assuming specific responses follow specific stimuli or rewards
  • Reductionist, not considering other influences on behaviour like genes, personality, culture
• Operant conditioning


  Learning which takes place due to consequences that shapes both human and animal behaviour
• Types of reinforcement


  • Positive reinforcement
  • Negative reinforcement
  • Punishment
• Positive reinforcement


  Receiving a reward when performing a certain behaviour
• Negative reinforcement


  Performing a certain behaviour to avoid something negative
• Punishment


  Receiving an unpleasant consequence for your behaviour
• Both positive and negative reinforcement encourage the behaviour, increasing its likelihood, whereas punishment discourages the behaviour, decreasing the likelihood of it being repeated
• The work of Skinner

  B.F. Skinner (1953) suggested learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate in their environment
• Skinner


  • Studied how animals learn from the consequences of their actions
• The Skinner box experiment

  1. Skinner devised a box

  2. Placed one rat at a time inside the box

  3. Box contained different stimuli, including a lever that released food and an electroplated floor

  4. Rats learned how to release food by pressing a lever (reward = positive reinforcement)

  5. Rats learned to avoid the electric shock (punishment) by pressing the lever when the light came on (avoiding punishment = negative reinforcement)
• Social Learning Theory (SLT)


  A more nuanced explanation of behaviourism proposed by Bandura (1972)
• SLT


  1. Principles of behaviourism (people are shaped by their environment)

  2. Mechanisms of how people (particularly children) learn from others
• SLT


  • Children learn via observation of role models particularly parents but also other significant people such as teachers, older siblings, celebrities
• SLT


  1. Child observes behaviour of role model

  2. If behaviour is observed frequently, child imitates that behaviour in different contexts
• Child identifies with role model


  More likely to imitate their behaviour