behaviourist approach

• The behaviourist approach to psychology focuses on observable behaviour and environmental stimuli
•  It suggests that behaviour is learned through interactions with the environment and that it can be modified through rewards and punishments
• It involves classical conditioning in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits a response-unconditioned response . Over time, the neutral stimulus becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus and can elicit the response on its own- conditioned response and becomes the conditioned stimulus
• another approach to behaviourism is operant conditioning which is a form of learning in which behaviour is changed using rewards and punishments. 
• pavlov dogs experiment (classical conditioing)

  Ivan Pavlov rang a neutral stimulus (bell) every time he presented an unconditioned stimulus (food) to dogs. Soon, the dogs salivated in response to the bell alone, demonstrating classical conditioning.
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)


  A stimulus that naturally or automatically elicits a response in an organism, without prior learning or experience.
• Unconditioned Response (UR)

  A natural or automatic response to an unconditioned stimulus, without prior learning or experience.
• Conditional Stimulus (CS)


  A stimulus that becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus and triggers a conditioned response, through repeated pairings.
• Conditioned Response (CR)

  A learned response to a conditional stimulus, which is triggered by the association between the CS and US.
• it ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour
• assumptions:

  -born a blank slate, all behaviour is learnt

  -animals and humans learn in the same way

  -mind is irrelevant
• in operant conditioning behaviour is shaped by its consequences:

  -positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is preformed

  -negative reinforcement: occurs when something unpleasant is avoided which results in a positive consequence

  -punishment: an unpleasant consequence of a behaviour
• skinner experiments (operant conditioning):

  -conducted experiments with rats in specially designed cages called skinner boxes. every time the rat activated a lever within the box it was rewarded with a food pellet, from then the animal would continue to display this behaviour

  -skinner also showed how rats could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus e.g an electric shock
• supporting evidence ao3:

  -based on well controlled research within highly controlled lab settings

  -all possible extraneous variables are removed allowing cause and effect to be established

  -behaviouristic experiments have scientific credibility
• limiting evidence ao3:

  -may have oversimplified the learning processes

  -ignores the influence human thought may have on learning

  -other approaches e.g cognitive and slt have drawn attention to mental processes involved in learning

  -learning in more complex than observable behaviour alone and private mental processes are also essential

  -studies have low ecological validity
• supporting evidence, real world application ao3:

  -principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems

  -operant conditioning is token economy systems which have been used successfully in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards: rewarding appropriate behaviour for tokens that can be exchanged for privileges

  -used in treatment of phobias

  -increases value of behaviourist approach due to its widespread application
• limiting evidence ao3:

  -environmental determinism

  -sees all behaviour as conditioned by past experiences

  -ignores free will and role of nature which can affect our conscious decision making

  -ignores role of other factors