Behaviourism Evaluation

Question 1

Strength- explanatory power

Answer 1

Behaviourist only look at observable behaviour- this means results are objective and aren’t making any assumptions-high explanatory power

Question 2

Strength/weakness- method

Answer 2

Behaviourist use lab experiments on animals. This allows for control, causing effect, scientific and can check reliability. However low generalisability as it uses animals.

Question 3

Strength- real life application

Answer 3

Schools and prisons use operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is used for treatments of phobias.

Question 4

Weakness- deterministic

Answer 4

Deterministic as they believe our behaviour has a cause and is learnt by stimulus response. In reality we know that humans have free well and this ignores the role of free will

Question 5

Weakness- reductionist

Answer 5

Behaviourism is mechanic reductionism-treats humans as a robots (stimulus-response). Humans actually think and process information but behaviourism ignores cognition. It is too simple for complex humans – research has findings maybe because animals are much more simple than humans.

Question 6

Weakness- nature and nurture

Answer 6

Behaviourism is an extreme nurture point of view (tabula rasa). All behaviour is learnt. Weakness as it ignores the role of biology in human behaviour.

Question 7

Weakness- ethics

Answer 7

People believe that studying animals is morally wrong. Unethical as we study animals for the benefit of humans, not animals.