The Behaviourist Approach

The Behaviourist Approach

1. Assumptions

   • The approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measure
   • Behaviourists like John B. Watson rejected early psychological methods like those proposed by Wilhelm Wundt as he thought that theories like introspection were not scientific enough
     • These Behaviourists preferred to maintain more control and objectivity through the use of lab studies
   • Behaviourists believe that humans are born 'Tabula Rasa', meaning that they are 'blank slates' that are written on with experiences
   • Following Darwin, Behaviourists said that the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so it is valid to use animals to replace humans as experimental subjects in research

2. BF Skinner

   • Operant Conditioning is learning through consequence such as reward or punishment
   • Skinner believed that organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours. If the outcome was positive, then the behaviour was repeated, if it was negative the behaviour was not
   • The Skinner Box
     • 1) A rat in a box presses a lever that gives the rat a food pellet (the 'reinforcer').
     • 2) The rat accidentally presses the lever, and then, through positive reinforcement, keeps pressing the lever to obtain food
     • 3) If the food pellets stop, then after a few presses, the rat abandons the behaviour ('Extinction')
     • 4) If the lever is pressed to stop an unpleasant stimuli, eg a loud noise, then the rat learns through negative reinforcement to press the lever
     • 5) Finally, punishment, like pressing the lever to cause an electric shock, shows how the rat would quickly abandon the behaviour
   • Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated, whereas punishment decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated

3. Evaluation

   • Applications
     • Classical Conditioning has been used for Systematic Desensitisation, by eliminating the learned anxious response (CR) that is associated with a feared object or situation (CS)
     • Operant Conditioning is used for the Token Economy in institutional settings. If a patient or convict does something good, they get a priviledge (eg, a phone call home) as a form of positive reinforcement
     • The approach, therefore, has high external validity
   • The approach uses the scientific method, which allows it to establish cause and effect
   • The use of animals by Pavlov and Skinner relies on the belief that the complex workings of human behaviour can be likened to that of all animals. Some say that unlike animals, humans have free will, and so do not have behaviour that can be determined with reinforcement and learning through association
   • Reductionism
     • Behaviourism is criticised for breaking down human behaviour into its basic constituent parts, therefore ignoring the role of other factors like biochemistry, thought processes and mood on behaviour
   • Determinism
     • By saying that only the environment can effect the learning of our behaviour, it could be seen as removing personal responsibility from people, which undermines the entire basis of the legal system and reduces human behaviour to the factors that cause it