Behaviourist approach

Behaviourist approach

1. primarily concerned with Observable behaviour

   • not all behaviour is learnt from environment e.g. biological
   • it can be objectively measured

2. Classical conditioning: learning by association (Pavlov's Dogs)

   • Ivan Pavlov's dogs

3. Operant conditioning: B F Skinner claimed that all behaviour as a result of consiquences (skinners box

   • Positive reinforcement: increases likelihood of response occurring again
   • Negative reinforcement: Also increases likelihood of response occurring again because it involves the removal of / escaping from unpleasant experience
   • Positive punishment: The consequences of receiving something unpleasant, decreases the possibility of the behaviour being repeated
   • Negative punishment: consequence of removing something desirable, decreases probability of the behaviour being repeated
   • skinner's box
     • Skinner conducted experiment with rats (and sometimes pigeons) in specially designed cages called skinner boxes. Every time the rat activated a lever with a food pellet. From then on the animal would continue to perform the behaviour
       • Rats and pigeons could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus (e.g. electric shock)
       • demand characteristics not present in animals
       • issue of extrapolation from animal research from animal research to humans

4. Behaviour is the result of stimulus - response

   • more deterministic than approaches such as social learning theory - free will

5. There is little difference between learning that takes place in humans that is in other animals (animal research - extrapolation)

   • extrapolation from animal research

6. highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect

   • low ecological validity
   • more objective and replicable results