the behaviourist approach - operant conditioning

the behaviourist approach - operant conditioning

1. rejected the vagueness of introspection.

   • focused on observable events

2. learning through reinforcement or punishment. If a behaviour is more likely to occur again the future

3. Skinner ( 1953)

   • every time a rat pulled a lever it would be rewarded with food (the reinforcer)
     • the rat kept pressing the lever in order to get food (postive reinforcement)
       • he also showed how rats and pigeons could be conditioned to avoid an unpleasant stimulus eg electric shock (negative reinforcement)
         • occurs when you remove something unpleasent
       • occurs when behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying

4. strengths

   • it is universally true that some people will do things in order to avoid punishment
   • ethical as you aren't using humans in your experiments
   • practical application
     • dog training
     • rewards in video games
   • scientific method
     • controlled lab experiment
       • established a cause and effect relationship
         • consequences of behaviour and the future frequency of it occurrence

5. weaknesses

   • mechanistic perspective and reductionist approach
     • ignores consciousness, emotions etc
     • doesn't consider free will ( deterministic)
   • non human animals
     • humans have bigger and more complex brains
       • it extrapolates data
   • lacks mundane realism
     • as people aren't placed in boxes in order to see their behaviour response
   • individual differences
     • some people want punishment eg re-offend to stay in prison