behaviourist approach

• what is a key assumption of the behaviourist approach?

  we are born blank slates and this means that all behaviour is learned from the environment
• what is operant conditioning?

  learning through consequence
• what is positive reinforcement?

  • receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
  • increases the likelihood behaviour will be repeated
• what is negative reinforcement?

  • performing an behaviour to avoid something unpleasant
  • increases the likelihood behaviour will be repeated
• what is punishment?

  • an unpleasant consequence for behaviour
  • decreases the likelihood behaviour will be repeated
• how did skinner demonstrate positive reinforcement in his study?

  • positive reinforcement is shown when the rat pressed down on a lever to receive food as a reward
  • after rat learned to repeat this action
• how did skinner demonstrate negative reinforcement in his study?

  negative reinforcement was shown when the rat learned to press down on the lever to avoid the unpleasant consequence of an electric shock
• how did skinner demonstrate punishment in his study?

  punishment was shown when the rat pressed down on the lever and gets an electric shock
• what is classical conditoning?

  learning through association
• how does classical conditioning work?

  • before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus produces the unconditioned response
  • during, conditioning, the neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus, producing an unconditioned response
  • after conditioning, the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response
• how did pavlov's dog study demonstrate classical conditioning?

  • before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus, food produced an unconditioned response, salivation
  • during conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus was repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus, bell to produce the same unconditioned response of salivation
  • an association was made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus
  • after conditioning, the neutral stimulus became the conditioned stimulus, the bell producing the conditioned response of salivation
• how does a token economy work?

  • form of behaviour modification which uses operant conditioning
  • tokens, secondary reinforcers act as rewards for good behaviour and can be used to purchase something that is desired, primary reinforcers
  • the principle is that reinforcement leads to an increase in appropriate behaviour
• how does aversion therapy work?

  • based on classical conditioning to treat addiction
  • in addiction, the drug, alcohol or behaviour becomes associated with pleasure
  • aversion therapy uses the same principle but changes the association and replaces the pleasure with an unpleasant state
• give a weakness of the behaviourist approach

  • environmentally deterministic
  • this approach assumes all behaviour is completely learned from the environment, it ignores the role of the cognitive and biological factors in behaviour
  • this hard deterministic stance may be a more appropriate explanation for animal behaviour
  • therefore, the behaviourist approach may be a limited explanation for human behaviour
• give a strength of the behaviourist approach

  • real world application
  • e.g token economies have been used as a way of dealing with offending behaviour in prisons
  • inmates who carry out socially desirable behaviour like tidying up their cell and avoiding conflicts receive tokens (secondary reinforcers) which can be traded for privileges (primary reinforcers) e.g extra TV time
  • therefore, the behaviourist approach has had positive impacts on society
• give a strength of the behaviourist approach

  • has high scientific rigour
  • the behaviourist approach makes use of highly scientific research methods e.g lab experiments, which were used in Pavlov's dogs study and Skinner's rats study
  • the strictly controlled conditions reduce and control the effects of extraneous variables, increasing the reliability and internal validity of the findings
  • therefore, by focusing on behaviour which is observable and can be measured, the behaviourist approach increases the scientific credibility of psychology