2. behaviourist approach

what is the behaviourist approach

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

assumptions

• concerned with observable behaviour that can be objectively and scientifically measured

• psychology is a science so must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish causation

• when we are born our mind is a blank slate with no genetic influence so behaviour is learnt from the environment

• there is little difference between the learning that occurs in humans and animals

what is classical conditioning

learning by association - an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and reflex response (positive or negative)

who studied classical conditioning

PAVLOV

PAVLOV background

• initially focused on digestive system of dogs

• realised dogs salivate automatically when they see food and did when the door was opened even if food was not being provided - looked at this association

PAVLOV procedure

• rang a bell (NS) when dogs were given food to become associated

• eventually when the bell was rang the dogs would salivate even if no food was present (bell = CS)

• thus he showed how a NS (a bell) can come to elicit a new learned response (CR) through association

definition of = UCS, NS and CS

UCS = leads to an automatic response

NS = at first elicits no response

CS = leads to a response after being associated with the UCS

what is operant conditioning

works on the principle of learning by consequence

what are the three ways

• positive reinforcement

• negative reinforcement

• punishment

positive reinforcement

• performing a behaviour to experience the positive consequence eg completing homework for praise

recieving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed which makes this behaviour more likely to reoccur because of positive consequences

negative reinforcement

• performing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences eg completing homework to avoid detention

• increases the likelihood of certain behaviour occurring because it involves the removal of, or escaping from, unpleasant consequences

• behaviour is more likely to reoccur due to the avoidance of a negative consequence

punishment

an unpleasant consequence of behaviour which weakens it through deterrence

who investigated operant conditioning

SKINNER

SKINNERs procedure

developed ‘the skinner box’

• tested it on different animals like pigeons and rats

• hungry rat is placed in box

• inside box is a lever

• when the lever is pressed it would deliver a pellet of food

SKINNERs findings

• rat soon learned that pressing the lever would result in food (positive reinforcement)

• observed that as a consequence of its actions, the rat continued to display this new learned behaviour as it was positively reinforced

SKINNER and negative reinforcement

subjected rat to an electric shock (punishment)

1. rat initially accidentally triggered the lever while exploring box

2. after triggering, the current was switched off

3. rats quickly learned to trigger the lever immediately

evaluation

• well controlled research

• ethical issues

• application

• environmentally deterministic

• environmentally reductionist

• classical conditioning limitation

• operant conditioning limitation

well controlled research

• experiments focus on observable behaviour in highly controlled labs

• eg SKINNERS research

• by emphasising importance of scientific processes (objectivity & replicability) it was influential in developing psych as a scientific discipline

ethical issues

• experiments like those conducted by SKINNER involve keeping animals in harsh conditions such as underfeeding them to motivate responses

• these violate ethical standards for animal welfare

• raises concerns about how findings from ethically questionable experiments generalise to humans

real world application

1. techniques like token economies have been successfully applied in prisons & psychiatric wards, where desirable behaviours are awarded with tokens exchangeable for privileges (operant conditioning)

2. understanding of phobias through the two process model proposed by MOWRER has led to therapies such as systematic desensitisation

environmentally deterministic

• views behaviour as entirely shaped by past conditioning ignoring free will

• SKINNER suggested that free will is an illusion, believing we feel as though we have free will but it is just our past conditioning that determines our decisions 

• deterministic stance ignores influence of conscious decision making processes

environmentally reductionist

• research is oversimplistic

• humans are more complex and sophisticated than animals and operate at a higher cognitive level

• people are more able to take control of their behaviour via mechanisms such as self-efficacy than behaviourists give them credit for

classical conditioning limitation

• not universal as cannot explain all forms of behaviour

• ie behaviour which is spontaneous or original like dying your hair neon pink, or behaviour that resists conditioning like someone brought up in a strict religious household who then rejects the religion

• low external validity

operant conditioning limitation

• cannot explain why some people may repeat behaviours that are unpleasant

• ie people who self harm may do so for the relief it brings them but such behaviours are not recognised as positive reinforcers by operant conditioning