Learning Approaches: The Behaviourist Approach

• Define 'behaviourist approach'

  A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
• Define 'classical conditioning'

  Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (UCS) and a neutral stimulus (NS). The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus alone.
• Define 'operant conditioning'

  A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement (positive or negative) and punishment.
• Define 'reinforcement'

  - A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. Can be positive or negative.
• Assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  - Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. Therefore, it is not concerned with investigating mental processes of the mind as they were seen as irrelevant.

  - Early behaviourists rejected introspection as it involved too many vague concepts that were difficult to measure. As a result, behaviourists try to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and rely on lab studies as the best way to do this.

  - Behaviourists believe that all behaviour is learned. They describe a baby's mind as a blank slate that is written on via experience.

  - Following Darwin, behaviourists suggested that the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species. This means that in behaviourist research, animals replace humans as experimental subjects.

  - Behaviourists identified 2 methods of learning: classical and operant conditioning.
• Classical conditioning - Pavlov's research


  - This is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov (1727).

  - He showed how dogs could be conditioned to continue to salivate (an unconditioned response) to the sound of a bell, if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that food was given.

  - Gradually, the dogs began to associate the sound of the bell (a neutral stimulus) with food (an unconditioned stimulus), and would produce a conditioned response of salivation every time they heard the sound.

  - Therefore, Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new learned response through association.
• Pavlov's dogs diagram

  
• Operant conditioning - Skinner's research

  - B.F. Skinner (1953) suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment. In operant conditioning, behaviour is shaped by its consequences.

  - Positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.

  - Negative reinforcement: occurs when an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant. This avoidance gives a positive outcome.

  - Punishment: an unpleasant consequence of behaviour.

  - Positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated. Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.

  
  

  - Skinner conducted experiments with rats, sometimes pigeons, in specially designed cages known as Skinner boxes. Every time the rat activated a lever (or pecked a disc in a pigeon's case) within the box, it was rewarded with a food pellet. From then on, the animal would continue to perform the behaviour. Skinner also showed how rats and pigeons could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus, for example, an electric shock.
• Evaluating the behaviourist approach: Well-controlled research (with counterpoint)


  - A strength of the approach is that it is based off of well-controlled research.

  - Behaviourists focus on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly-controlled lab settings. By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other possible extraneous variables are removed, allowing cause-and-effect relationships to be established. For example, Skinner was able to show how reinforcement influenced an animal's behaviour.

  - This suggests that behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility.

  
  

  - Counterpoint: However, behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process. By reducing behaviour into simple components, behaviourists may have ignored an important influence on learning - human thought.

  - Other approaches such as social learning theory and the cognitive approach have drawn attention to the mental processes involved in learning.

  - This suggests that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and that private mental processes are also essential.
• Evaluating the behaviourist approach: Real-world application


  - Another strength is that the principles of conditioning have been applied to real-world behaviours and problems.

  - For example, operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards. These work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges.

  - Classical conditioning is also used to treat phobias.

  - This increases the value of the behaviourist approach as it has widespread application.
• Evaluating the behaviourist approach: Environmental determinism

  - A limitation is that the approach sees all behaviour as conditioned by our past experiences. Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum of our reinforcement history.

  - When something happens we may think that we decided to do that, however, Skinner says that our past conditioning history determined the outcome.

  - Therefore, this ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour (Skinner also said that free will is an illusion).

  - This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour (as suggested by the cognitive approach).
• Evaluating the behaviourist approach: Ethical issues

  - Although procedures such as the Skinner box allowed behaviourists to maintain a high degree of control over their experimental 'subjects', many have questioned the ethics of conducting such investigations.

  - Animals were housed in harsh, cramped conditions and deliberately kept below their natural weight, so were always hungry.