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 stimulus that naturally elicits a response. Over time, the neutral stimulus becomes associated with the natural stimulus and can elicit the response on its own.
• another approach to behaviourism is operant conditioning which is a form of learning in which behaviour is changed using rewards and punishments. 
• Ivan Pavlov's Dogs

  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.
• behaviourist relied on lab studies to maintain more control and objectivity within their research
• behaviourmust experiments have credibility as all extraneous variables are removed to establish cause and effect relationships
• behaviourists have oversimplified the learning process by removing other important influences on learning making it more simple than it is
• principles of conditioning have been applied for the real world. operant conditioning has been successfully used in institutions by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
• it ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour
• ethical issues regarding the animal investigations within the behaviourist approach
• What is one strength of the behaviourist approach?

  It is based on well-controlled research.
• Why did behaviourists focus on observable behaviour?

  To measure behaviour within highly controlled lab settings.
• How did behaviourists establish cause-and-effect relationships?

  By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units and removing extraneous variables.
• What did Skinner demonstrate regarding reinforcement?

  How reinforcement influenced an animal's behaviour.
• What does the scientific edibility of behaviourist experiments suggest?

  That they have a reliable basis for establishing findings.
• What is a counterpoint to the strength of well-controlled research in behaviourism?

  Behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process.
• What important influence on learning might behaviourists have ignored?

  The influence of human thought.
• Which other approaches have drawn attention to mental processes involved in learning?

  Social learning theory and the cognitive approach.
• What does the suggestion that learning is more complex than observable behaviour imply?

  That private mental processes are also essential to learning.