Approaches in Psychology - Behaviourist Approach Flashcards
What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
Focus on observable behaviour only.
The behaviourist approach is only concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not concerned with mental processes of the mind. Introspection was rejected by behaviourists as its concepts were vague and difficult to measure.
Controlled lab studies.
Behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies to achieve this.
Use of non-human animals.
Behaviourists suggest the processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so animals (e.g. rats, cats, dogs and pigeons) can replace humans as experimental subjects.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association.
Give an example of classical conditioning.
Pavlov’s research - conditioning dogs to salivate when a bell rings.
Before conditioning:
UCS = food
UCR = salivation
NS = bell
During conditioning:
UCS = food
UCR = salivation
NS = bell
After conditioning:
CS = bell
CR = salivation
What is operant conditioning?
Learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment. Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.
Give an example of operant conditioning.
Skinner’s research - rats and pigeons, in specially designed cages (Skinner boxes).
When a rat activated a level (or a pigeon pecked a disc) it was rewarded with a food pellet. A desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated. If pressing a lever meant an animal avoided an electric shock, the behaviour would also be repeated.
What is positive reinforcement?
Receiving something pleasant for behaviour, so we repeat it.
What is negative reinforcement?
The avoidance of something unpleasant, so we repeat the behaviour.
What is positive punishment?
Receiving something unpleasant for a behaviour, so we do not do it again.
What is negative punishment?
Removing something pleasant so we do not repeat the behaviour again.
What are the strengths of behaviourism?
- it gave psychology scientific credibility
- the laws of learning developed by behaviourists have real-life application
What are the weaknesses of behaviourism?
- the behaviourist approach portrays a mechanistic view
- behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism
- animal research has ethical and practical issues
Why is a strength of behaviourism that it gave psychology scientific credibility?
The approach focused on the careful measurement of observable behaviour within controlled lab settings. Behaviourists emphasised the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication. This brought the language and methods of the natural sciences into psychology, giving the subject greater credibility and status.
Why is a strength of behaviourism that the laws of learning developed by behaviourists have real-life application?
The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems.
Token economy systems reward appropriate behaviour with tokens that are exchanged for privileges (operant conditioning). Successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards.
Treatments like these are suitable for patients who lack ‘insight’ into their condition and are not capable of talking about their problems.
Why is a limitation of behaviourism that it portrays a mechanistic view?
Animals and humans are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment, with little conscious insight into their behaviour.
Other approaches, such as social learning theory and the cognitive approach, have placed much more emphasis on the mental events that occur during learning.
The processes that mediate between the stimulus and response suggest that humans play a much more active role in their own learning.
Why is a limitation of behaviourism that it is a form of environmental determinism?
The approach sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned and ignores any influence that free will may have on behaviour.
Skinner suggested that free will was an illusion. When something happens we impose a sense of having made the decision but our past conditioning determined the outcome.
This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour (as suggested by the cognitive approach).
