Learning approaches; The behaviourist appraoch

Behaviourist approach

A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning

Classical conditioning

Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditional (unlearned) stimulus (ucs) and a new ‘neutral’ stimulus (NS) . The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus alone.

Operand conditioning

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement (pos or neg) and punishment

Reinforcement

A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. Can be positive or negative.

Positive reinforcement :receiving a reward when certain behaviour is performed e.g praise from teacher for answering a question correctly

Negative reinforcement : occurs when animal/ human avoids something unpleaseant, outcome is positive. e.g student hands in essay so as not to be told off, the avoidance of something unpleasant is negative reinforcement.

What is punishment

Unpleasant consequence of behaviour, it decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.

Pavlov experiment (classical conditioning)

Showed dogs can be conditioned to salivate to sound of bell, if sound was repeatedly presented at same time they were given food.

The dogs eventually learnt to associate the sound of the bell (stimulus) with food (another stimulus) and produce salivation response everytime bell sound was heard.

Neutral stimulus (bell) can elicit new learned response (conditioned response) through association

Well controlled research

One strength of the behaviourist approach is its reliance on highly controlled lab settings. By breaking behaviour down into simple stimulus-response units, researchers successfully removed outside variables to establish clear cause-and-effect relationships, such as Skinner's work on animal reinforcement. This gives the approach strong scientific credibility.

Counterpoint: However, this approach may oversimplify the learning process. By focusing purely on observable actions, behaviourists ignore the vital role of human thought and internal mental processes, which are heavily emphasized by cognitive and social learning theories.

Real world application

Another strength is that the principles of conditioning have powerful, practical uses in society. For example, operant conditioning forms the basis of token economy systems used successfully in prisons and psychiatric wards, where appropriate behaviour is rewarded with tokens. This widespread, practical success greatly increases the overall value of the approach.

Environmental determinism

A major limitation is that the approach is environmentally deterministic, viewing all behaviour as entirely shaped by past conditioning. Skinner argued that free will is merely an illusion and that our conscious decisions are actually just the sum of our past reinforcement history. This extreme position completely ignores the influence of personal choice and conscious decision-making.