Alison A03

Question 1

A03 TALKING POINTS

Answer 1

• real life application
• scientific credibility
• deterministic

Question 2

Real Life Application

Answer 2

• Principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems
• E.g operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards which work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
• Treatment such as these have the advantage of requiring less effort from a patient bc the patient does not have to think about their problem as they do in talking therapies

Question 3

Deterministic

Answer 3

Doesn’t consider role of free will, actions are beyond our conscious control and are controlled by external factors
Focuses on only nature
Weakness - doesn’t consider any other factors e.g. genetics, individual and personality differences, states we are all born as blank slates
Counter point - makes it easy to understand and apply to behaviour

Question 4

Scientific Credibility

Answer 4

based on skinners rats (animal study)
Can’t assume same results would be observed for humans as we have more complex brains
Weakness - can’t be generalised to people/population so doesn’t tell us anything about human behaviour
Counter point - more ethical than using humans for the experiment and very scientific
Based on studies that use very scientific and objective methods in research - minimised EVs
Skinner used controlled lab conditions to gather empirical evidence
Cause and effects established