Behaviourist Approach - A level psychology Eduqas

Main assumptions

• Tabula rasa (blank slate)

• Behaviour learned through conditioning

• Humans and animals learn in similar ways

Assumption 1 - Tabula rasa (blank slate)

• Our minds are born like a blank slate, internal events such as thinking and emotions don't drive our behaviour.

• All behaviour is learned from interactions with our environment - we respond to environmental stimuli.

• Cognitive psychologists ignore biological factors such as genetics, physiology and evolution.

Assumption 2 - Behaviour is learned through conditioning

Classic conditioning: New behaviours are learned through conditioning, Pavlov described this through salvation in dogs:
UCS (food) = UCR (salvation)
UCS (food) + NS (bell) = UCR (salvation)
CS (bell) = CR (salvation)

Operant conditioning:

• New behaviour is learned through positive and negative reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement = Skinners Box = When rat accidentally pressed lever, a treat fell through, increased chance of behaviour happening again

• Negative reinforcement = Good behaviour to avoid something bad, doing homework to avoid detention

Assumption 3 - Humans and animals learn in similar ways

• Laws of learning at the same for humans and animals, therefore research done on animals can be generalised to humans.

• Research done by Pavlov can be generalised to humans and has been used in behaviourist therapies such as systematic desensitisation

Therapy: Systematic Desensitization

• Used for phobias

• Uses the principles of classical conditioning

• Aims to remove fear response of a phobia by substituting with a relaxation response (counter conditioning)

• Desensitisation hierarchy is formed from least anxiety provoking to most

• Therapist and client works their way through whilst practising relaxation techniques

Main components of systematic desensitisation

• Counterconditioning - Learn relaxation techniques, acquire a new stimulus response, this is called counter conditioning as patients are taught a new association

• Desensitisation hierarchy - A hierarchy of feared stimuli from least to most anxiety provoking is created. patient and therapist work their way through this

• Different forms of SD: In vitro (imagines phobia stimuli) In vivo (exposed to phobia stimuli - more successful)

Evaluation of systematic desensitisation

Research support - Proven successful eg, Capafons (1998) showed clients with a fear of flying had lower levels of fear when in a flight simulator

Not all phobias - May not be suitable for fears such as agoraphobia. Also not suited for ancient fears as we are genetically programmed to fear these such as snakes, heights in order to stay alive.

Symptom substitution - May only remove symptoms and not the cause. Freud (1990) Little Hans had a fear of horses, however he actually feared his father therefore when fear of father was eradicated his symptoms went. May be treating wrong cause and just be supressing the symptoms.

Ethical issues of systematic desensitisation

Anxiety controlled - more ethical than flooding techniques etc. Conducted slowly and dictated by the client - anxiety is not an issue.

Consent - deals with phobias, not depression, so clients are in touch with reality and health enough to provide correct consent. Also attend at their own free will and can stop at any time.

Classic research - Watson and Rayner (1920)

• Can emotions be learned through classical conditioning

• Little Albert (9 months old)

  Procedures:

• Introduced to a white rat

• A steel bar was banged behind his head when he touched the rat

• Also presented with white wool and a rabbit

• At 11 months, Little Albert cried when presented with the rat

• He generalised his fear to all furry objects

Strengths of the behaviourist approach

• It is a scientific approach, thoughts and feelings are operationalised into stimulus and response, making easier to analyse and compare behaviour

• Focuses on the present current symptoms and how to remove them, doesn't dig into the past, focuses on teaching a new stimulus response link between feared situation and relaxation

• Successful applications in real world: classical conditioning principles used in systematic desensitisation, operant conditioning used in education and teaching strategies

Weaknesses of the behavioural approach

• Only focuses on surrounding environment, ignores nature (how genetics etc influences our behaviour), only focuses on nurture

• Deterministic, we are controlled by environmental factors so we have no free will to change our behaviour

• More relevant to animals than humans eg, pavlov = dog, skinner = rat, wolpe = cat. Human anxiety may not always respond in the same way animal anxiety does