Behaviourist approach – a shift in focus the mind to the environment
and learned behaviour
John B. Watson argued that psychologists should only study observable
behaviour, as it is the only way to measure human behaviour in an
objective scientific way
Assumptions
1. We are born a blank slate (tabula rasa) and all behaviour is
learnt
- Environmental learning
- Nurture not nature
- We are passive recipients of our environments
Example: criminal behaviour
- Learnt through observation and imitation (vicarious
reinforcement)
- Learnt through positive reinforcement behaviour that is rewarded
is more likely to be repeated
- Individuals do not commit crime for fear of punishment
2. Behaviour is learnt through conditioning
- Classical conditioning
- Classical conditioning is learning through association
- Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – any stimulus that causes a
physiological automatic response without any learning taking
place
- Unconditioned response (UCR) – an unlearned physiological
response to an unconditioned stimulus
- Neutral stimulus (NS) – a stimulus that does not produce a
desired response – it becomes a conditioned stimulus after being
paired with the unconditioned stimulus
- Conditioned stimulus (CS) – a stimulus that only produces the
desired responses when presented on its own after pairing with
the unconditional stimulus
- Conditioned response (CR) – the response created by the
conditioned stimulus presented on its own – a new stimulus
response association has been learnt so that the conditioned
stimulus causes a CR
Example: Watson and Rayner (1920) – conditioned emotional
responses: Little Albert
- Aim: to see if emotional responses such as fear can be learnt
through classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
, - Behaviour is determined by conditioning
- Skinner (1938) – skinner demonstrated using the Skinner box
that animals can learn to behave in certain ways due to being
rewarded or punished
- Positive reinforcement – a behaviour is rewarded with a
pleasant sumptuous. This increases the likelihood that behaviour
will be repeated
- Negative reinforcement – a behaviour that is rewarded by
removal or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus. This increases
the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated
- Punishment – a behaviour is punished with an unpleasant
stimulus. This decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being
repeated
3. Humans and animals learn in similar ways
- We can study animal behaviour and make generalisations from
them to human behaviour
Example: classical conditioning – aversion therapy
- The patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being
subjected to some form of discomfort
- This conditioning causes the patient to associate once
pleasurable stimulus with unpleasant sensations
THERAPY – aversion therapy
- Based on the principles of operant conditioning and classical
conditioning
- Aim:
o To condition a patient to associate their addiction with an
unpleasant aversive stimulus
o Help the individual to relearn how to behave in a more,
healthy way
- Aversion therapy (AT) – causes individuals to develop dislike or
feeling of disgust
- Can be used to treat:
o Addictions
o Deviant sexual behaviour
o Compulsive nail biting
- Components:
o How it works (classical and operant conditioning)
o Covert sensitisation
o New developments
- How it works: classical conditioning
and learned behaviour
John B. Watson argued that psychologists should only study observable
behaviour, as it is the only way to measure human behaviour in an
objective scientific way
Assumptions
1. We are born a blank slate (tabula rasa) and all behaviour is
learnt
- Environmental learning
- Nurture not nature
- We are passive recipients of our environments
Example: criminal behaviour
- Learnt through observation and imitation (vicarious
reinforcement)
- Learnt through positive reinforcement behaviour that is rewarded
is more likely to be repeated
- Individuals do not commit crime for fear of punishment
2. Behaviour is learnt through conditioning
- Classical conditioning
- Classical conditioning is learning through association
- Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – any stimulus that causes a
physiological automatic response without any learning taking
place
- Unconditioned response (UCR) – an unlearned physiological
response to an unconditioned stimulus
- Neutral stimulus (NS) – a stimulus that does not produce a
desired response – it becomes a conditioned stimulus after being
paired with the unconditioned stimulus
- Conditioned stimulus (CS) – a stimulus that only produces the
desired responses when presented on its own after pairing with
the unconditional stimulus
- Conditioned response (CR) – the response created by the
conditioned stimulus presented on its own – a new stimulus
response association has been learnt so that the conditioned
stimulus causes a CR
Example: Watson and Rayner (1920) – conditioned emotional
responses: Little Albert
- Aim: to see if emotional responses such as fear can be learnt
through classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
, - Behaviour is determined by conditioning
- Skinner (1938) – skinner demonstrated using the Skinner box
that animals can learn to behave in certain ways due to being
rewarded or punished
- Positive reinforcement – a behaviour is rewarded with a
pleasant sumptuous. This increases the likelihood that behaviour
will be repeated
- Negative reinforcement – a behaviour that is rewarded by
removal or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus. This increases
the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated
- Punishment – a behaviour is punished with an unpleasant
stimulus. This decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being
repeated
3. Humans and animals learn in similar ways
- We can study animal behaviour and make generalisations from
them to human behaviour
Example: classical conditioning – aversion therapy
- The patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being
subjected to some form of discomfort
- This conditioning causes the patient to associate once
pleasurable stimulus with unpleasant sensations
THERAPY – aversion therapy
- Based on the principles of operant conditioning and classical
conditioning
- Aim:
o To condition a patient to associate their addiction with an
unpleasant aversive stimulus
o Help the individual to relearn how to behave in a more,
healthy way
- Aversion therapy (AT) – causes individuals to develop dislike or
feeling of disgust
- Can be used to treat:
o Addictions
o Deviant sexual behaviour
o Compulsive nail biting
- Components:
o How it works (classical and operant conditioning)
o Covert sensitisation
o New developments
- How it works: classical conditioning
