Paper 2
Approaches in Psychology
Question: Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach.
AO1: • Behaviourist approach --> proposed by John Watson in 1915, who
6 rejected the idea of introspection as it was too vague. He claimed
everyone has a ‘blank slate’ at birth, and we can become anything.
- This approach focuses on the idea that all behaviour is learnt,
with thoughts and feelings being unimportant.
• Classical conditioning --> a learning process which builds up an
association between two stimuli through repeated pairings.
- Pavlov was the first to explain the idea of classical conditioning.
He showed that dogs could associate a bell with food. He presented
the dog with a bell (NS), which produced no response. Then
presented the dog with food (UCS), which gave an UCR of salivation.
During conditioning, he repeatedly presented the bell (NS) and the
food (UCS) which gave salivation (UCR). After conditioning, the
dogs were presented with the bell only (CS), and the dog salivated
(CR).
• Operant conditioning --> a learning process because of the
consequences in our environment. We can learn via reinforcement
which increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated or
punishment which decreases the likelihood of that behaviour being
repeated.
- Skinner was the first to explain the idea of operant conditioning.
He used rats to show how shaping and continuous reinforcement means
that the rat learnt how to acquire food. He placed the rat into a
box, and only released the food when the rat was in a certain area.
Then he released food once the rat was next to the lever. Then,
when the rat pressed the lever. Through OC, the rat learnt to press
the lever to get food (positive reinforcement).
AO3: • Practical applications for the behaviourist approach
10 - This approach has been applied to many psychological contexts to
produce desirable behavioural results. Conditioning has helped
people overcome phobias and reduce their anxiety (two-process
model). This is due to the ability to modify behaviour, by changing
the association, and eliminate the conditioned response. The most
common treatments are flooding and systematic desensitisation. This
approach has given real world application, supporting the external
validity.
• Scientific approach
- Behaviourists have studied this approach using lab experiments
which have lots of control, high internal validity, and consistent
findings. This allows the reduction of cofounding variables,
increasing the scientific creditability of the approach. The
methods are replicable, using objective and observable techniques.
This has led to the development of psychology as a science,
emphasising these techniques.
• Validity of animal studies
- Psychologists argue this theory is based on invalid research as
behaviourists have studied behaviourism using extrapolation. These
methods use non-human animals to investigate their hypothesis’.
Animals are different to humans (both physically and cognitively),
so it’s argued that everyone’s own experience is important in their
response. Therefore, it’s arguable that the conclusions drawn from
studies on animals may not always be true to human psychology, as
2
, the individual differences of each human being has not been
accounted for.
• Environmental determinism
- Behaviourism ignores other possible influences on behaviour, such
as free will, and conscious choices. Cognitive factors and
emotional states are emphasised by other psychologists and could
impact shaping behaviour. Behaviourism suggests that humans and
animals are mechanical in terms of responding to the environment,
and our conscious ability to recognise and influence our behaviour.
This theory shows environmental determinism, contradicting people’s
everyday experiences of decision making.
3
Approaches in Psychology
Question: Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach.
AO1: • Behaviourist approach --> proposed by John Watson in 1915, who
6 rejected the idea of introspection as it was too vague. He claimed
everyone has a ‘blank slate’ at birth, and we can become anything.
- This approach focuses on the idea that all behaviour is learnt,
with thoughts and feelings being unimportant.
• Classical conditioning --> a learning process which builds up an
association between two stimuli through repeated pairings.
- Pavlov was the first to explain the idea of classical conditioning.
He showed that dogs could associate a bell with food. He presented
the dog with a bell (NS), which produced no response. Then
presented the dog with food (UCS), which gave an UCR of salivation.
During conditioning, he repeatedly presented the bell (NS) and the
food (UCS) which gave salivation (UCR). After conditioning, the
dogs were presented with the bell only (CS), and the dog salivated
(CR).
• Operant conditioning --> a learning process because of the
consequences in our environment. We can learn via reinforcement
which increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated or
punishment which decreases the likelihood of that behaviour being
repeated.
- Skinner was the first to explain the idea of operant conditioning.
He used rats to show how shaping and continuous reinforcement means
that the rat learnt how to acquire food. He placed the rat into a
box, and only released the food when the rat was in a certain area.
Then he released food once the rat was next to the lever. Then,
when the rat pressed the lever. Through OC, the rat learnt to press
the lever to get food (positive reinforcement).
AO3: • Practical applications for the behaviourist approach
10 - This approach has been applied to many psychological contexts to
produce desirable behavioural results. Conditioning has helped
people overcome phobias and reduce their anxiety (two-process
model). This is due to the ability to modify behaviour, by changing
the association, and eliminate the conditioned response. The most
common treatments are flooding and systematic desensitisation. This
approach has given real world application, supporting the external
validity.
• Scientific approach
- Behaviourists have studied this approach using lab experiments
which have lots of control, high internal validity, and consistent
findings. This allows the reduction of cofounding variables,
increasing the scientific creditability of the approach. The
methods are replicable, using objective and observable techniques.
This has led to the development of psychology as a science,
emphasising these techniques.
• Validity of animal studies
- Psychologists argue this theory is based on invalid research as
behaviourists have studied behaviourism using extrapolation. These
methods use non-human animals to investigate their hypothesis’.
Animals are different to humans (both physically and cognitively),
so it’s argued that everyone’s own experience is important in their
response. Therefore, it’s arguable that the conclusions drawn from
studies on animals may not always be true to human psychology, as
2
, the individual differences of each human being has not been
accounted for.
• Environmental determinism
- Behaviourism ignores other possible influences on behaviour, such
as free will, and conscious choices. Cognitive factors and
emotional states are emphasised by other psychologists and could
impact shaping behaviour. Behaviourism suggests that humans and
animals are mechanical in terms of responding to the environment,
and our conscious ability to recognise and influence our behaviour.
This theory shows environmental determinism, contradicting people’s
everyday experiences of decision making.
3
