The Behaviourist Approach

The Behaviourist Approach

1. This approach focuses on the environment and learned behaviour. They assume that we are born neutral, with no inherent personality.

   • They believe that behaviour should be studied scientifically and that it is the environment that shapes us.
     • This approach acknowledges that thoughts and feelings do exist but are not measurable, so are not studied.

2. Assumption 1 - Humans are born as a blank slate.

   • We are not born with built-in mental content and internal events like thinking and emotion do not drive our behaviour.
     • All behaviour is learned from the environment and is a passive response to stimuli. Nothing is innate.
       • They ignore factors such as genetics and evolution.
         • People do not have free will, early experiences pre-determine later behaviour.

3. Assumption 2 - We learn through conditioning.

   • Classical
     • Learning through association.
       • Pavlov (1902)
       • Before
         • UCS - UCR
           • NS
             • No Response
       • During
         • UCS + NS = UCR
       • After
         • CS = CR
   • Operant
     • Learning through rewards and punishments.
       • BF Skinner (1938)
     • Positive and negative reinforcements.
       • Both reward behaviour to make it happen again. Punishments stop undesirable behaviour reoccuring.

4. Assumption 3 - Humans and animals learn in similar ways.

   • Both are products of the environment.
   • We are able to study animals in a lab experiment and generalise findings to human behaviour.
     • For example, the development of classical conditioning by Pavlov and Phobia therapies such as SD.