AO3 The behaviourist approach, including classical conditioning and Pavlov's research, operant conditioning, types of reinforcement and Skinner's research

Scientific credibility

Behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods of the natural sciences into psychology by focusing on the measurement of observable within highly controlled lab settings. By emphasising the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication, behaviourism was influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline, giving it greater credibility and status.

Real life application

The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real world behaviours and problems. Operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been successfully used in institutions and schools. Operant conditioning can also be used to explain the maintenance of behaviours such as phobias and addictions.

Environmental determinism

The idea that human and animal behaviour is the product, or is determined, by the environment is referred to as environmental determinism. Skinner suggests that everything we do is the product of our reinforcement history and that any sense of free will is merely an illusion.

Behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process

By reducing behaviour to such simple components, behaviourists may have ignored an important influence on learning. Other approaches 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.