Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach. (16 marks)
The behaviourist approach assumes that human behaviour can be explained through
conditioning and is shaped/learned by the environment. Conditioning includes making a
learned association between stimuli and a response. Behaviourists also believe our minds
are blank when we are born and there is no genetic influence on our behaviour.
Behaviourists are only concerned with behaviour that can be measured and observed. There
are two types of conditioning that explain human behaviour, which are classical and operant
conditioning.
Classical conditioning originated through the work of Pavlov and occurs through learning by
association. Pavlov was able to show how association work in his study on dogs. In his
experiment whenever he brought food (UCS) for the dogs they would start salivating (UCR).
Pavlov wondered if he could associate the dog to salivate to another stimulus. In this case a
bell the bell was a neutral stimulus and by Pavlov’s association it became a conditioned
stimulus and the dog would salivate whenever he heard it (CR).
Another type of conditioning is operant conditioning. The principle of operant conditioning
is learning through consequences. There are three main ways behaviour is learned; positive
and negative reinforcement and punishment. Positive reinforcement is being rewarded
whenever a certain behaviour is performed. Whereas negative reinforcement is avoiding
something unpleasant. Skinner created and explained operant conditioning through his
work on rats.
A strength of the behaviourist approach is that it can be considered scientific as it
concentrates on behaviour that is observable. Therefore, if behaviour can be observed we
can replicate it to check for reliability. This is because cause and effect is established due to
the high control over extraneous variables. For example, Banduras experiment into
aggression levels in children using the social learning theory. Thus, these principles of a
science give this approach scientific credibility.
However, a limitation of the behaviourist approach is despite the high controls some studies
involve animals. As a result, there are many critics regarding the ethics of animals. For
example, Skinners study on rats resulted in the rats being exposed to stressful conditions.
This could have affected how they reacted to experimental conditions. As well as this
animals and humans are hugely different therefore finding can’t be generalised as they lack
external validity. This is due to human behaviour being more complex and not so easily
determined by positive or negative reinforcement.
Another limitation for the behaviourist approach is that it is mechanistic. It considers that
humans work on a reward system that is robotic-like and easily programmable. Therefore,
the theory is too reductionist as it doesn’t include that people have free will and can
consciously decide what they are going to say and do. This is due to behaviourists like
Skinner believe that free will is an illusion and everything we do is due to past history
reinforcement. However, this is inaccurate as humans have free will and may not follow
reward systems as they are more complex than animals.
The behaviourist approach assumes that human behaviour can be explained through
conditioning and is shaped/learned by the environment. Conditioning includes making a
learned association between stimuli and a response. Behaviourists also believe our minds
are blank when we are born and there is no genetic influence on our behaviour.
Behaviourists are only concerned with behaviour that can be measured and observed. There
are two types of conditioning that explain human behaviour, which are classical and operant
conditioning.
Classical conditioning originated through the work of Pavlov and occurs through learning by
association. Pavlov was able to show how association work in his study on dogs. In his
experiment whenever he brought food (UCS) for the dogs they would start salivating (UCR).
Pavlov wondered if he could associate the dog to salivate to another stimulus. In this case a
bell the bell was a neutral stimulus and by Pavlov’s association it became a conditioned
stimulus and the dog would salivate whenever he heard it (CR).
Another type of conditioning is operant conditioning. The principle of operant conditioning
is learning through consequences. There are three main ways behaviour is learned; positive
and negative reinforcement and punishment. Positive reinforcement is being rewarded
whenever a certain behaviour is performed. Whereas negative reinforcement is avoiding
something unpleasant. Skinner created and explained operant conditioning through his
work on rats.
A strength of the behaviourist approach is that it can be considered scientific as it
concentrates on behaviour that is observable. Therefore, if behaviour can be observed we
can replicate it to check for reliability. This is because cause and effect is established due to
the high control over extraneous variables. For example, Banduras experiment into
aggression levels in children using the social learning theory. Thus, these principles of a
science give this approach scientific credibility.
However, a limitation of the behaviourist approach is despite the high controls some studies
involve animals. As a result, there are many critics regarding the ethics of animals. For
example, Skinners study on rats resulted in the rats being exposed to stressful conditions.
This could have affected how they reacted to experimental conditions. As well as this
animals and humans are hugely different therefore finding can’t be generalised as they lack
external validity. This is due to human behaviour being more complex and not so easily
determined by positive or negative reinforcement.
Another limitation for the behaviourist approach is that it is mechanistic. It considers that
humans work on a reward system that is robotic-like and easily programmable. Therefore,
the theory is too reductionist as it doesn’t include that people have free will and can
consciously decide what they are going to say and do. This is due to behaviourists like
Skinner believe that free will is an illusion and everything we do is due to past history
reinforcement. However, this is inaccurate as humans have free will and may not follow
reward systems as they are more complex than animals.
